Late night musings
It's 1:48am on Monday morning and I cannot sleep. So here I sit with a piece of bread with jam (which I never eat) and my iPad.
This is the first time in my teaching career that I find myself awake at night and thinking of work and the children in my class. I have always been very good at switching off and never letting work to seep into my thoughts too much. However, Room 9 has gotten under my skin.
I keep coming back to the conversations I have had with some of the parents in my class. It appears that some of them have had a difficult start to their school lives. Two particular parents were very concerned at the start of the year that their boys were "naughty" and Emily and I might find them difficult. Sadly too, we had other parents asking us not to sit their child next to these boys. All I could say to them was that this is a new school year, new class, new teachers and time for a fresh new start. (Thankfully those parents haven't mentioned this again.) The two parents mentioned earlier have recently been in to see both Emily and they both cannot believe how happy their children are now to come to school. I have been told that they are now ready to leave for school by 7:30am and their home environments have greatly improved due to the fact that the boys are now happy to come to school. It is such a wonderful thing to hear! Especially since I feel like I have had to be particularly firm with this class. But in saying that, I have high expectations for both learning and behaviour and treat each child fairly and with respect.
This has got me thinking about what an impact we have not only our students but their families too. Perhaps becoming a mother recently has also given me another way to view the teacher/child/parent/whanau relationships. As I have progressed in my career, I am also more honest in my conversations with parents and let them know what is going on in class so that parents can support their childs learning and follow up on things at home. When I first started teaching, I was not as honest with parents about what might be perceived as 'negative' news. This year, I have talked to many parents about incidents that have happened at school (I also make sure to praise the things that stand out - they are of just as much importance) and I am beginning to notice a real shift in some of the students. Having a strong home/school relationship where parents and teachers are on the same page makes such a difference.
I am back to school tomorrow, after my days off and I'm looking forward to seeing the positive changes that are occurring in the class. I feel that Emily and I have begun to turn the behaviour around and now I'm going to begin to tackle the phonics and spelling side of things!!! I hope that doesn't keep me up as much!
This is the first time in my teaching career that I find myself awake at night and thinking of work and the children in my class. I have always been very good at switching off and never letting work to seep into my thoughts too much. However, Room 9 has gotten under my skin.
I keep coming back to the conversations I have had with some of the parents in my class. It appears that some of them have had a difficult start to their school lives. Two particular parents were very concerned at the start of the year that their boys were "naughty" and Emily and I might find them difficult. Sadly too, we had other parents asking us not to sit their child next to these boys. All I could say to them was that this is a new school year, new class, new teachers and time for a fresh new start. (Thankfully those parents haven't mentioned this again.) The two parents mentioned earlier have recently been in to see both Emily and they both cannot believe how happy their children are now to come to school. I have been told that they are now ready to leave for school by 7:30am and their home environments have greatly improved due to the fact that the boys are now happy to come to school. It is such a wonderful thing to hear! Especially since I feel like I have had to be particularly firm with this class. But in saying that, I have high expectations for both learning and behaviour and treat each child fairly and with respect.
This has got me thinking about what an impact we have not only our students but their families too. Perhaps becoming a mother recently has also given me another way to view the teacher/child/parent/whanau relationships. As I have progressed in my career, I am also more honest in my conversations with parents and let them know what is going on in class so that parents can support their childs learning and follow up on things at home. When I first started teaching, I was not as honest with parents about what might be perceived as 'negative' news. This year, I have talked to many parents about incidents that have happened at school (I also make sure to praise the things that stand out - they are of just as much importance) and I am beginning to notice a real shift in some of the students. Having a strong home/school relationship where parents and teachers are on the same page makes such a difference.
I am back to school tomorrow, after my days off and I'm looking forward to seeing the positive changes that are occurring in the class. I feel that Emily and I have begun to turn the behaviour around and now I'm going to begin to tackle the phonics and spelling side of things!!! I hope that doesn't keep me up as much!
This post really resonates with me as I can remember when I too had this exact epiphany about the impact we have on students and their families and it was when I became a mother too! Reminds me of this quote -
ReplyDelete"The three most important words in education are: Relationships, Relationships, Relationships. Without them we have nothing." (Couros, 2015)