Attached is the "Teach For US" link by Teach for
America. Teach for America is a national organization that is made up of recent
college graduates teaching throughout the United States. I enjoyed navigating through
this blog site because the blogs are by teachers in urban and rural public
schools in many different regions across the United States. To the right there
is a section called "Other Interesting Things" where you will be able
to find links to other blogs. I especially enjoyed reading the blogs about the
various things that students say. As you navigate through the site just click
on the links and you find yourself reading blogs from other teachers, about
many different things from all over the country. The “Browse Network” link, at
the top of the page, allows you to specifically connect to blogs from teachers
in other states. I found this especially interesting because of the ability to compare
the blogs of New Mexico teachers to those of teachers in other states.
Currently, an elementary school teacher from New Mexico is
the featured blog. The teacher’s blog is called “EminNM” where they discuss
what it is like to be an educator in New Mexico. I found a post on this blog intriguing.
The teacher discussed that they had sent out a parent survey, several times as
they put it, “to get parent voices involved.” The teacher explained that they
had only received three back after havening sent it out twice. As I read this
particular blog, I found myself wondering if this something that I may
encounter as an educator in New Mexico, and how I might overcome certain things
like a lack of participation from parents in the classroom? Overall, there are
many different blog sites on the internet and I found that I enjoy reading the
blogs from teachers in New Mexico.
Only with my early experience have I come across the two extremes of parenting. One spectrum where the child is completely neglected and the other where the parents are questioning your every move. It's incredible to me that there is still a perception of teachers as the whole bearer of students education. I hope when we have our own classrooms we can establish a positive partnership with our students' parents and emphasis that their involvement is just as important in their student's education. It doesn't surprise me that this teacher only received three back. The teacher is facing, one: we are lucky if the student even gives the note to their parents and two: unfortunately parents either could care less about a survey or feel they just don't have the time to fill it out. Makes you wonder if they don't have the time to fill out a simply survey, do they even find the time for their child's education??
ReplyDeleteThis issue of parental involvement is one that greatly concerns me. I have heard stories from friends who are teachers here in Albuquerque. Sadly, there are many parents out there who do not work with their kids to ensure that their education continues beyond the classroom. One friend told me about a parent-teacher conference she called for a student who never did his homework. The mother stated that she never required her son to do his homework because she didn't think it was important. She said that she dropped out of school, and so she didn't think school was important for him, either.
ReplyDeleteHow do we deal with a situation like that?? It is sad that sometimes teachers can be solely responsible for the education of a child. Why doesn't the system enforce parent responsibility as much as it does for teachers?
When faced with an unfortunate situation like that, we need to step up and work even harder to inspire these kids to WANT to learn. We need to find a way to get through to them, regardless of the messages they may be getting from outside. If we start giving up on them, they'll continue to fall through the cracks. Sometimes we are all they have. They need us.
I was saddened to hear about the problem the elementary teacher in New Mexico is having with parental involvement. Unfortunately, I think this is a problem everywhere in this day and age. Families are just so busy. I interviewed an 8th grade teacher in a private school this week and she mentioned the same issue. She has sent out many letters and notices and rarely receives a reply. She even has trouble contacting parents when there is an issue with a student. She said she has noticed a drop in parental involvement over the years. It's a sad thing. I am reading "Letters to a Young Teacher," by J. Kozol, for our Independent reading assignment and he writes of a time when he would make home visits and even eat dinner with the families of his students. This gave an environment of mutual respect, care and concern that was advantageous to the student. We don't see this kind of relationship between parents and teachers any more. I'm not sure how to fix this sort of problem.
ReplyDeleteI literally could not stop reading this blog. There was something about it that was so heartfelt and honest that I really felt for and appreciated what he is going through. I agree that parental involvement is inevitably an issue we are all going to face as teachers. It is so sad to me that so many children don't have support or encouragement from home. It's of no fault of their own, yet they have to struggle for it. I was also drawn to the post where he reaches out to the new teachers in the program and talks about how "often times you feel that no matter how hard you work you have to come to the realization that nothing you do will ever be enough for some students. They are stuck in a broken system that not one person can change, no matter how hard you try." How sad..but true. I know this is an issue that most educators face and one that is very hard to come to terms with. We would all like to think we are the ones that are going to change things and give every student exactly what they need. But the reality is..this is not possible. Yikes. Love this blog and definitely going to keep reading-thanks for directing me to it!
ReplyDelete