As I sat down to write my reflection over this past week I realize I have done a lot of firsts this past week in education. I went to parent teacher conferences at new schools and I created my very first blog. It really was a wild week.
It started last Monday. I went to my first parent teacher conferences at both the high school and middle school. My daughter is a freshman at the high school this year. Her teachers remarked about how well behaved she is in their classes and how her grades are really good. My daughter was diagnosed with ADHD in the second grade. She has been medication free for the past three years but still struggles with her grades. I was extremely proud of her and couldn’t wait to tell her daddy about her accomplishments.
Now on to the second first of last Monday, I headed to the middle school where my son is a seventh grader. He has always done really well in school, so when he brought home his progress report and it contained a failing grade I was really shocked. The failing grade was only in one subject, Language Arts. All of his other grades were either low A’s or high B’s. As I walked into the school I was mad at the teacher because I felt she should have told me about my son’s grade earlier. If I had known about his grade I could have been working with my child and helping him improve his grades and test taking skills. I talked to his other teachers first so I could spend more time with the teacher my son was struggling with. As I walked down the hall to his Language Arts class I realized there was a long line of very angry parents waiting to talk to his teacher. At this point I realized it wasn’t just my child who was failing in this class. I took my spot in this line and waited to talk to his teacher. I could hear all the parents complaining about the grading system of this particular teacher. I was mad at his teacher when I came into the school but as I stood in line waiting I started to feel sorry for her. By the time I entered my son’s Language Arts room the conference was supposed to be over but there was still a long line that wrapped around the corner. I am not sure what time his teacher made it home that night or if she was able to talk the next day. I entered his school at 4:00 in the afternoon and I left at 6:45. After standing in line for what seemed like an eternity and not receiving an answer to why he was failing this class, I walked to my car thinking how I would handle this type of situation when I have my own classroom.
With the question how would I handle this type of situation still fresh in my mind I entered into module 2 of my ELED 3300 Technology class. This is when I was hit with an easy answer of how to prevent situations like this one. In module 2 I had to create a blog. I had never created a blog but was really excited about the challenge. I could use this blog for my own classroom after I graduate. I could relay information to my students’ parents about upcoming test and homework assignments on my blog. I could remind parents to always check their students’ homework and look for any notes from the teacher. I could post links to helpful websites that would provide students with extra help with skills they are having trouble understanding. I could use this classroom blog to help both parents and students understand rules and core concepts of the classroom. By using this blog students could reinforce the technology skills they will need later in life. I think communication between teachers and parents are essential for a successful education and one way I plan to provide each of my students a successful education is by using this blog.
This past week was a challenge in many different ways but I can handle anything that is thrown in my direction. I will attack these challenges with dignity and conquer each and every challenge.
