Teacher Thoughts from July 24 (First new post in a long time!)

**Disclaimer: I am not a parent yet at this point in my life.  I know parenting is hard work.  I do not intend to sound harsh.  I’m just sharing my own observations and thoughts.**

In the last few years, there has been a lot of talk about how Michigan schools are failing and how the problem could possibly be fixed.  In the last week, it was announced that two Michigan school districts will be dissolved, due to missing funding deadlines.  Today, it was announced that there is a new proposal being presented to the state legislature, which would have teachers’ jobs depend on evaluations and student scores on standardized tests.  This announcement is what prompted me to write this post.  I don’t want to write too much in depth about the new proposal or other existing policies because, honestly, I don’t know enough to write competently about them.  However, the new proposal has made me think of an issue I’ve been thinking about for a while, and one that, in my opinion, is not discussed as often as it should be.

In my time in the education world, which, granted, has not been that long, I frequently get the feeling that we’re are always trying to come up with new policies to fix schools, fix funding, fix school administration, or fix teachers.  Michigan students are not performing at the level they need to, so we need to fix it in any way possible -- charter schools, standardized tests, teacher professional development, merit-based pay, teacher effectiveness ratings, etc. -– anything to fix the problem.  We hear from editorials, polls, and pundits that our schools are failing our students, our government is failing our students, or our teachers are failing our students.  Yet what I see more often in my own experience is something that can’t be fixed by any of the solutions that have been proposed so far.  What I see more often, and think to be one of the more important issues in this whole mess, are parents failing their own children.

When I was in school, I knew that I was there to learn.  That knowledge came from my parents.  My parents made sure I did my homework, helped when they could, went to parent teacher conferences and PTA meetings, and made sure that I always understood that school was for learning – the extra curricular activities and friendships were good bonuses, but I knew that my first priority in school needed to be academics. 

What I see frequently in my classroom now are kids whose parents have told them repeatedly that they can be and do anything they want, but have not given them the skills or drive to do so. 

Some students that I’ve seen seem to have no appreciation for learning or can even give a reason for why they’re at school, other than “It’s the law.  I have to be here.”  These aren’t necessarily the students who do poorly in classes either.  This attitude leads to apathy and boredom in the classroom for some students, even when the teacher does his or her best to present the material in a way that is interesting and relevant.  This isn’t helped at all by the fact that most students now have a handy distraction device (read: phone) with them at all times.  One time, I took a phone away from a student because he was missing important information, only to get an angry phone call later from the boy’s mother.  She wanted the student to have his phone on him at all times, in case she needed to get ahold of him.  Fast forward a week, and I got another angry phone call from the same parent because the boy failed a test, which was on the material he missed because he was on his phone.  It’s also happened several times that I’ve asked a student to put their phone away, and they say “But my mom/dad is texting me.”

If parents don’t respect their children’s time at school, how can they expect their child to do so?  I’m not saying that all kids couldn’t care less about school and learning, but I do think there too many parents and students who just don’t care.  And most of those students don’t care because their parents don’t care.  That is why it’s scary for me to have my job security, really any teacher’s job security, partly determined by students’ standardized test scores.

For me, as a high school teacher, I see each of my 160 or so students for an hour a day.  That’s it.  Do I try to have as much of a positive impact as possible during that hour?  Yes.  But, especially as a high school teacher, there are kids who come into my classroom years behind where they need to be – academically and socially.  One teacher can’t make up for those years of deficits in every single student in just one hour a day.  We can try to make a dent in it, but it needs to be a team effort and there needs to be support from home.  Parents need to teach their kids how to behave appropriately at school, so teachers can spend more time actually teaching and less time correcting behavioral problems.

So, do I think we need to have policies that rate teacher effectiveness? Yes. Do I think teachers need to be doing everything we can to help our students do well?  Yes.  But if we really want to see schools get better, parents, teach your kids to put down the phone and open a book.  Have meaningful conversations with your kids about the world around them.  Teach your kids how to respect themselves and others.  Be an example of someone with determination and purpose, rather than apathy.  Ask and answer questions.  Encourage creativity.  Point out the value in hard work, delayed gratification, and setting goals, and reward your kids for meeting their goals.

I think this issue is also relevant to those of us who are not parents.  We are all members of a community, and we pretty much all have at least some contact with kids at some point.  When you talk with a young person who is still in school, ask them how school is going.  When you share your experiences from your time as a student, try to focus on the opportunities and benefits you got through school instead of how math class was boring.  Invest your time in sharing value instead of negativity. 

Do we need to expect more of teachers?  Yes, absolutely.  They are entrusted with educating the future generations of our nation and our world. But more importantly, I believe, we need to expect more of ourselves, as parents and as members of a community who could have an influence on the life of a young person.