It's Been Awhile

I apologize for the gap in postings but we just recently ended our 3rd marking period and in order to get my grades in on time I had to read and grade 50 journals. Since the topic of grades is fresh in my mind and to respond to a comment left on my page I want to talk about parental responsibility tonight.

Over the past week or so I have been taking the time to try and connect with parents whose children earned an E in my class this 3rd marking period of the school year. For those who don't know, in Maryland our school years are broken into 4 marking periods; each equaling 9 weeks worth of school hours. One parent in particular was incensed that she didn't know about her child's grade sooner. She was of the opinion that I should be calling her often to tell her how her child is doing. As an 8th grade teacher on the down swing of the year I believe that my students need to learn a level of responsibility toward managing their education. I told her that she was sent an interim report half-way through the marking period that reflected the student's grade and that a separate grade sheet was sent home a few weeks after that. This did not appease her either. So I also indicated that numerous times the school has promoted our new ParentConnect system that allows parents to access their student's grades on the internet. She still wants a phone call!

At what point is it no longer the teacher's responsibility but the parent's and student's responsibility to be aware of what is going on? As a parent I will make it my business to know not only when interim reports and report cards come out but also to sporadically find out how my daughter is doing in her classes. If a parent is not going to take charge of their child's education they should not expect others to do it for them. We say we want our children to be independent learners but we allow parents to bully teachers into bending over backward for them. In what sense does this create independence? Instead we create a generation of children who believe that whatever goes wrong is never their fault but rather everyone else is to blame and mommy and daddy will make it all better. It is no wonder our nation has trouble competing globally when we are raising children who do not know how to manage their own lives.