your child's education

As you know I am am 1st grade teacher(I still think of myself as one...plan to go back someday!), and I feel very passionate about public schooling. With all the private and charter schools going up it makes me think about it on a regular basis.

My beef...
people(parents, teachers, educators, etc) don't invest enough time, money and effort into our public school system.

I was listening to Studio 5, as I was sewing...imagine that...and there was a conversation about parent teacher conferences or SEP's as we call them now(Student Education Plan). It is no longer a time for parents to come "check up" on their child. It is for the parent, child, and teacher to meet together to discuss their child in the classroom. The questions was whether SEP/PTC are worth it or a waste of time. Of course I immediately scoffed at the t.v and said..."worth it"...duh! I can see how some parents may feel the early conferences are not worth it because your child has only been in school for 1 month and they feel we don't know their child yet. This is true, but you can learn a lot about a child in 1 month, especialy their behavior and the beginning of the academic needs. Plus, conferences are a time for PARENTS to tell the TEACHER things about their child. Information like that is so imporant to teachers, and helpful

Anyway, my main point of this raint is that the guest, Matt Townsend put the role of parents and teachers into place. Too often, parents think it is the teacher's job to teach their child everything, when in reality what we teach in the classroom can be totally forgotten by the time the child gets home. It is then the parents job to continue what they learn, by being INVOLVED! I would always tell my parents at the being of the year:

"You are your child's 1st and most important teacher!"

I could go on and on about how we need to stop complaining about public schools(Utah has amazing schools )...and start investing in them.

Here are some of the points the guest speaker made that I really liked...

*Remember they(teachers) don't get paid overtime, even when they already work it, so respect their time. Respect their workload.

*Get Involved

*Become the change you seek in your child's class…don't just talk about it.

*You'll also see the other perspective more when you're in the classroom more.

*Understand their perspective first.

*Don't play mama bear.

*Remember that they're your partners

*You both want what's best for your children.

...ahh I feel much better, and to all my teacher friends...
I know you know where I am coming from...
keep up the good work!