“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” ~ I Timothy 4:12
Communication with parents is one of the most terrifying things for a novel teacher and especially a student teacher. What if a parent asks a question I don’t know the answer to? What if I stumble over my words? What if they look down on me because I’m young? What if they get angry? These are all thoughts I am sure most new teachers have had at some point in their first years of teaching. For any new teachers out there, I am by no means an expert, but allow me to tell you something you may or may not already know: interacting with an angry parent is inevitable, but HOW you deal with an angry parent is not. In other words, conflict is going to happen whether you like it or not. I loathe conflict; some people avoid conflict because it is so petrifying to them. Dealing with parents is a different arena for me, too, because I am most afraid of learning how to speak my mind in a loving professional manner, without allowing parents to walk all over me or make false claims about me or my classroom. The reality is, at some point, teachers are going to face false claims against who they are as a person. Lucky for me, I guess I got that out of the way on the front end of my teaching career because of a recent interaction with a parent. One mom decided to reach out to my CT (cooperating teacher), my co-teacher, the AP (assistant principal), and the principal of my school to “report” my co-teacher, CT, and me for allegedly threatening children and calling them names. Now, I do not want to go into too much detail to protect the anonymity of all those involved, yet I also promised to be honest on this page (as much as I can be professionally anyway). Of course, none of these claims were actually true, and the mom seemed to be taking out her frustration on some of the best teachers in the school (my CT and co-teacher). Of all the teachers and student teachers to accuse, this mom attacked the teachers that the administration knew would never intend any harm toward students and who cared more than a lot of other teachers do. Not only this, but these two women are my mentors as teachers and watched me like a hawk (as they should), so they had my back as well. The situation was honestly so bizarre, and I have been running the situation through my head for multiple days now. My chronic migraines have also been acting up, and the stress from the situation is probably not helping my overall well-being. Despite the chaos of it all, I know I can rest in the fact that I am doing what God wants me to do, my teachers have my back, and now I see just how important it is to work at a school where the administration has your back too.
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AuthorKelsey Hayes is a student teacher finishing up her Senior year at Regent University. Through this blog, Kelsey Hayes will share the raw, honest truth about teaching and how both its joys and challenges motivate her to continue pursuing teaching. Archives
April 2021
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