A Parent Offers Feedback

Email is the way my students' parents communicate with me. I know some teachers give out their cell phone numbers so that parents can text, but I am not there yet. I prefer to keep my phone for family and friends and do not want alert chimes going off 24/7. I need time off at the end of the day, and I am not available on weekends by choice. (A teacher friend of mine recently had a parent phone her THREE times on a Sunday afternoon!)

I have had a couple of unhappy emails from one parent recently, but most of mine, fortunately, are in a positive vein, usually with an offer to donate something, to volunteer, or asking for a clarification about homework or something. 

And sometimes you get one that helps you remember why you put in those long hours - the kiddos. Yesterday I got the following email from a mama whose child was presenting her Children's Classic paper and project that day - a big assignment that each student does once a semester. My class LOVES classic books, and considers Fridays the best day of the week not because the weekend is looming, but because two children will be sharing about the classic books they have read. We smile and celebrate wonderful books for a good part of the morning.

Yesterday's selections were The One Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith (which is on my personal list of favorite books) and Treasure Island, one of Robert Louis Stevenson's masterpieces. ("What?? The restaurant "Long John Silver's" is named after a character in this book? I never knew that until you shared that in your paper!" exclaimed a student Friday.)

LM was one of yesterday's presenters and her mother wrote:

Hi Lynn,

I thought this story would make you smile.  :)  L is the type of child who loves her sleep.  When I wake her up, she is always grumpy and drags herself down to the breakfast table.  This morning as I was downstairs getting breakfast ready, I heard noises from upstairs.  I thought "Who on earth is up so early?"  It was L!  She came bouncing down the stairs, dressed and ready a full hour early.  She greeted me with a big smile and said she was very excited for this day.  I asked her why, and she said "Because it's my classic day!!!!"

Whoever would think that a child would be so excited to go to school to read their report to their class?  I don't know what kind of magic you are working in your classroom, but when you've got children who are so excited to read their report to their class that they get up early, you're doing something right!

~Pam

I think the next time I am feeling a bit bruised by an email from a parent, I will reread what Mrs. S. wrote and remember that the most important thing I can do is to focus on the children and making their learning the best experience that I can.