Mr. C.’s Random Thoughts

I saw this at Scream-Free Living and it really resonated with me.  Hope you enjoy it as we start the new school year!

Top Ten Things Teachers Really Want to Say on Parent-Teacher Night

10.
We can tell when you do your children’s projects for them. No matter how old your child may be, we know their work and we know yours. You are not doing little Billy any favors when you take over his assignment for him. In fact, you are really telling him that you don’t think he’s capable enough or smart enough to do well on his own…not a lesson we think you want to share.

9.
Just as your children tell you stories about us, they tell us stories about you. How about we strike a deal? You believe half of what you hear about us and we’ll return the favor.

8.
We do not take pleasure in giving your child a poor grade. In fact, many of us object to the idea that we “give” grades in the first place. Chances are, if a teacher is worth her chalk at all, she gives opportunities and the students either take them or they don’t.

7.
If your child ever complains that one of his teachers doesn’t like him and is out to get him, there is a slight chance that he’s overreacting. Really hating a kid takes more time and energy than most of us have. As fun and entertaining as it sounds, we are simply too busy to plot against 15 year olds with any real conviction.

6.
Please don’t swoop in to rescue your child when they forget an assignment at home, even if it is a big one…especially if it is a big one. There is great value in your child learning that she is the one responsible for her own grade. A poor grade now because of her lack of organization could be just the thing she needs to learn better habits for the future.

5.
Don’t try to be your child’s best friend. It embarrasses them and you.

4.
The ultimate goal of education is not for your child to get into Harvard or MIT. Some of the most successful people in life are C students. Teach them kindness, patience, boldness, perseverance. Allow them to trip in school so that they don’t fall flat once they get out.

3.
Support them in their passions, not your own. By the time many students reach high school, they are already tired of the sport or activity they once loved. The chances of you producing the next great shortstop or piano virtuoso are pretty slim. You have a much better shot at creating a vibrant, self-directed adult if you give them some space and allow them to make their own mistakes…besides, that’s the kind of people the world needs more of anyway.

2. Listen to your kids more than you talk to them. Many of us forget how really hard it is to be a kid. Instead of lecturing them about how important school is, ask them what they worry about, what they look forward to, what they fear. Just listen and then listen some more. If your kid pulls the old, “I don’t know” response, try saying, “Well, if you did know, what would you say?”. Before they know it, they are talking away. I guarantee, you’ll learn something about your son or daughter that you didn’t know before and you will be one step closer to seeing them as the unique, individual person that they are. And lastly, the number one thing that teachers wish they could say to parents is…

1.
Please, please, for the love of Pete, no more apple Christmas ornaments, apple coffee mugs, or apple canvas bags. We all have enough of these hideous items to last a lifetime, thank you very much. We would much prefer a simple note of appreciation from you or your child every now and again - preferably on stationary that doesn’t have yellow pencils or school busses, either.

I finally got my class schedule for the fall.

It’s:

1st - BCIS II-DC
2nd - Web Design
3rd - Conference
4th - Lunch
5th - BCIS II-DC
6th - BCIS I
7th - BCIS I
8th - BCIS I

No programming this year.  But we had almost twice as many course requests for Web Design as opposed to programming so I can understand why we had to drop it.

Exciting stuff, huh?

I cannot believe that there’s only two weeks of summer left.  And, as usual, I haven’t achieved nearly as much as I thought I would over the break (even though we got an additional week this year).  But we did finish repainting our daughter’s bedroom.  Three of the walls are now look like the inside of a bottle of Pepto and the fourth is still a sky blue with clouds at the top.  The sky wall might one day have a castle mural on it or (more likely) a Disney princess poster.

By the time summer’s over, I hope to have our dining room chairs reupholstered and a desk for my daughter’s room painted and looking spiffy with new hardware.

Other than that, I’m going to enjoy afternoon naps (as if that happens when you have a one-year-old and a four-year-old tag teaming you all day long!)