Make the Call!

The phone calls home to the families of your students…
When?
How?
Why?

I am going to jump up on my soapbox here for a second, but in my career, if I have learned anything, it is that real, meaningful relationships are the key to teaching success. You must build these relationships with administrators, support teachers, teaching teammates, other teachers, and, most importantly, your students and their families.

Building relationships with students can, at times, be an incredibly easy task, and at others it can feel like a daunting undertaking. My bulleted responses to the questions below are not a textbook plan (in fact, the textbook plan I tried failed miserably). Instead, this is the procedure that I have found works for me and the population of students that I work with.

When?
· Before you “need” to. – The first call home for the school year for my students comes at the end of the second full week of school.
· A week or two before conferences
· A week or two before the end of the year

Why?
· I call home during the second full week of school to make sure my first personal contact that I have with a parent after meet the teacher is a positive one. I get a strange feeling of mischievous satisfaction when Mom answers and hears that it is her son’s teacher. I can hear her sit down and brace herself for the news. Then I get to say that Johnny is off to a wonderful start this year and I am so glad that I am lucky enough to be his teacher. I imagine this as a rollercoaster ride for some parents.
· Calling home a week or two before conferences is something that I will absolutely do for the rest of my career. Almost every teacher I have ever spoken with dislikes the time they must spend at night completing conferences, but they also feel the frustration of trying to fit so much information into a 20 minute conference. Because I speak with parents a week or two before conferences there are no “surprises” when we meet face to face. They know my concerns and I know there concerns because we spoke on the phone a week ago.
· You should see my classroom the day after I have made phone calls home. The students come in absolutely glowing. They know I care about them so much, and I am so proud of them, that I took the time to call and tell their parents.

How?
· It might not be very fun to hear this, but calling parents does take time. I have made these calls with groups as small as 20, and others of close to 30.
· I do what I call the “Call Home Marathon Night.” The janitor knows to come back and vacuum later when he sees my student information cards spread all over my desk. I have found that many of my conversations last 2-3 minutes while others can last 10-15 minutes. I try to limit the time to about 15 minutes, but they rarely get this long. Typically I can call and speak with or leave a message with every student’s family in less than 2 hours.
· At the beginning of the year I usually start my conversations with “Johnny is off to an absolutely wonderful start. He is learning the classroom procedures, making friends, etc. I then ask the parents if they have any questions or concerns about the first two weeks of school. I am always surprised that almost every parent I talk with has at least one little question that they ask. I also often hear, “this is the first call we have had from a teacher before, thank you!”
· Before conferences/report cards I usually start with, “I was just looking over Jessica’s report card and I guess I wanted to share the good news with you before you see it at home.” I then discuss some of the positives and end with any of the opportunities for improvement that I see. These calls take a little longer, but again, they make conferences a breeze.
· At the end of the year, I reiterate to families, that when a student is in my class, I fully intend to maintain my relationship with the student and his or her family. I usually share a sentimental memory or two about the school year, and then I end by reiterating to the families that I fully intend to maintain my relationship with their child and continue to be a part of his or her education.

Judging just by the length of this blog entry, relationships and home communication are something that I am very passionate about. This entry was sparked by an email that I received tonight from a parent of one of my students. In it she wrote, “We are indeed moving to the new school that you and I discussed on the phone. She is disappointed to leave her friends and school, and essentially start over, but I think she will be ok. You were kind enough to say that you knew some teachers at other schools and might be able to provide some information that might help soften the blow.” --If it wasn’t for the phone call I made home to this family, because of a relatively shy student, I would not have known that this family was moving.

Ask a Preschooler

Ask a preschooler what he or she wants to be when they grow up. I bet I can tell you what you will hear.

In college I did some research at the campus daycare. I asked 24 three and four year olds what they wanted to be when they grew up. I expected to hear gender specific, stereotypical answers, but what I heard astonished me.

For the 12 girls (I am leaving nothing out) I heard princess, teacher, nurse, movie star, and police officer.

For the 12 boys I heard scientist, baseball player, doctor, garbage man, army guy, teacher (he said he wanted to be one like me), and police officer.

I found it interesting that there were two children, a boy and a girl, that wanted to be police officers. I decided to ask each of them why they wanted to be a police officer. The boy told me that it was so he could "get the bad guys." The girl said, "I want to help kids cross the street."

By conducting this short study I learned that gender stereotypes and deeply engrained in children as young as 3 years old. What I didn't learn was why. Is it society? Is it nature? Is it such a bad thing?

Gender issues have been something that I am mystified by on a regular basis. Any thoughts?

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says, "Horton Hears a Racist"

First, check out the entry of the NBA hall of famer's blog at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/kareem/

Here is the comment I left on his blog:

Kareem,
Thank you so much for the blog. I don’t have daughters. In fact, I have no biological children. However, each school year I “adopt” 25-30 children. Each year my third grade students become a part of my family (I place them right under my wife, and just ahead of my dog). I do all I can to help them achieve academically, but I find myself caring even more in the fact that they believe in themselves when their time with me is done.

You comment about Horton Hears a Who really struck me. After initially seeing the title of the movie in your blog, I assumed that it had something to do with the pro-life controversy. Instead, I found myself running upstairs and reading the entry to my wife (we went and saw the movie last week) I really felt enlightened by the question that you asked: “Why doesn’t he groom one of his much more enthusiastic daughters?” As you put it, “The daughters? They get to cheer from the sidelines.”

I wouldn’t see any problem in having a movie out like this presented to millions of children, if (and a big if here), there were plenty of movies that carry the same message with the roles reversed. The problem is, there are very few such films that I am aware of. For every Matilda (a girl heroine), there are a dozen Monster’s Inc, Shrek, Cars, Nemo, Toy Story, and Snow Whites out there where female characters do nothing more than sit on the sidelines as the male characters save the day.

Mr. Educator
http://www.educatormr.blogspot.com/

The Single Days...

A special thanks to Mr. Teacher who left this short and honest comment on the blog. I have to admitt, when I was single I too enjoyed the thought of being the one single male that all single females had to choose from.

When I first started teaching at my school, there weren't that many male teachers. The number has increased quite a bit over the past few years. I find that a bit unfortunate, as every teaching spot occupied by a male teacher takes away a spot that potentially could be filled by a hot, single young female. :)

Are Male Elementary Teachers "On an Island"?

The following message was left in response to my Children First poem. It is messages like me that wish there was a place/cohort/organization/etc. for male elementary teachers. Is there a place like this? Does anyone else think there is a need for this?

I am a male elementary teacher and I too the only male classroom teacher on my staff.

I have been an elementary teacher for 25 years. I'll be retiring in two years. It's been an adventure to be the only male teacher in our school for most of that time. When I started we had eight male classroom teachers. By my seventh year, I was the only one left. We've only had one other male teacher since then; and he lasted for two years. It's nice to be idealistic, but the reality is that a male in an elementary school is a "sitting duck" for accusations and law suits. Thankfully, I haven't had to deal with that, but other male teachers in our building have. Also, most men are not content to stay in an elementary classroom. They usually move to the middle school or to administration.While I'm happy to have been an elementary teacher, and to have touched so many young lives in a positive way, this is not a job I would choose again or encourage my own two children to pursue. Mr. Educator, I pray that you'll always find satisfaction and fulfillment in your elementary classroom, as I have. Our society NEEDS good male role models in our elementary schools more today than ever. God bless you!

Poll

The "straw" poll to the right is something that I often wonder about. As an elementary educator, I often hear from parents of my students that the work I am doing (as a teacher) is "honorable" work. If it wasn't for teachers we wouldn't have doctors, scientists, etc.

I could live blindly and believe that everyone respects and admire educators, but my life experiences tell me otherwise.

In college, I constantly found myself defending education as a major. I actually had a friend say to me "You are going to be a teacher? I thought you were smart in high school."

Now that I have been teaching a few years, I am so incredibly tired of hearing, "Well, you only work 8 months out of the year." Yes, I said 8, not 9. I teach over 9 months a year and then I start my full time summer job the Monday following the last day of school.

Please vote to the right!

Children First

Below is a "poem" that I wrote 4 years ago before I ever received a paycheck for teaching. I read this on a regular basis, and to this day, I don't disagree with one part of it...not even the "well paid" part at the end, haha.

Mr. E


Children First
A note to self, from the teacher

Children First
Make it your crying call and your constant reminder.
Make it your lifelong goal.
Make it a self defining personal truth.

The most important part of your job is the child.
A runny nose, a good grade, a learning disability, a hidden talent, a paper cut.
Seemingly unrelated,
But they're not.

The relationship is the importance.
Big or small, every part of a child's day is significant and important if you are truly putting the child first.
Treat dyslexia the same as a paper cut? Be realistic.
Do, however, treat both with the same care and compassion.

Never classify the whining student as a whiner.
Instead, put the child first.
Determine the source of the whining and help to make it stop.
Remember, you were a whiner once too.
It is a big deal.

Never spend a moment of your day out of your student's shoes.
You are blessed with the uncanny ability to teach a class of twenty-five students while simultaneously sitting and learning in that same class.
You treat others like you want to be treated.
Teach your students the way you would like to be taught.

If learning is not the result, teaching never took place.

Always remain informed and aware of educational standards, current events, etc.
But NEVER allow your students to feel any ill effects as a result of any of the above. The complaining (yes, necessary at times) is better left to a staff lounge.
Any negative fallout has no place in your classroom.

When students graduate from your classroom there are no regrets.
You did everything that you knew how to create a learning environment sensitive to each child's individual needs.
Your students always received your very best.

Make it your goal each year to watch the students leave your class upset that your time learning together is over, but optimistic and well prepared for what is to come in the next years of their lives.

What are the lasting effects that you will have on a child's life?
Just look around.
Ask any child. Ask any adult.
Who was your favorite teacher?
Then ask why.
Let the response inspire and motivate you.
Twenty years from now, it is you they will still be talking about.

Teaching students
Loving students
Respecting students
Caring for students
Encouraging students
Listening to students
Challenging students
Involving students
Inspiring students
Loving students (worth mentioning twice)
Never stop adding to this list. It's what you do.

Looks and sounds like monumental work.
Because it is.
Work that you are entirely capable of.

Well paid?
Honorable work?
It doesnt really matter.
Those things aren't important; not in this context.
It's about putting the children first.

Put the children first, and remember that you Love what you are doing!

Mr. Educator '04