School

What teachers want to tell parents

Following the popularity of our article « What daycare workers say », we decided to provide an opportunity for teachers to talk about their reality in the classroom with your kids!

What happens in the classroom

As a parent, we may assume that we know what goes on in a classroom since we used to be a student and we’ve met our share of teachers (good or not so good!). This experience, combined with our relentless desire for our child to have a pleasant and rewarding academic experience can sometimes create a lot of misunderstandings of the work teachers actually do. « When we hear parents complain sometimes, I’d like to invite them to spend just a day with us to help them understand the full scope of our job. We don’t just teach them that 2 +2 = 4. School is like an extension of the home. Teachers are asked to juggle all these kids who are completely different and to make something relevant and profitable out of t hem. It’s not always easy! »

Indeed, it’s easy to blame teachers for not responding quickly to a note or criticize them for their excessive school lists, but for most of us, we don’t actually have a clue what goes on in the classroom, how many different types of personalities the teacher has to manage simultaneously or even why they made certain demands that seem outlandish to us. « A year, out of 22 students in my class, 11 were failing in reading (some of them also in writing and math). In that class, I had to apply 12 different teaching plans for various difficulties. I had three children medicated for ADHD, one unmediated hyperactive student, one with a behavioral disorder, two with dyslexia and one with dysphasia. In addition to having to manage this daily, I had to justify the results my students were getting to the direction because schools’ results are compared to a national average, and we are asked to be competitive. When a class does badly, the pressure rises. And that’s not just a headline for a newspaper, that’s a glaring reality of today’s classrooms and it should be raising more concerns than it does now. Unfortunately, I don’t feel any commitment from the ones in charge to change the situation. For example, we’re closing special-education classes under the pretext that the demand is declining. But that’s not true! It’s because they are diluted in regular classes. It feels really discouraging sometimes. »

Teachers understand that what they ask of parents can sometimes appear excessive, but they would like to sensitize parents a bit more about their reality in class so they can be more aware of the context before accusing them of exaggerating. Their reason is simple; they have chosen this profession with passion, and even though they sometimes have to give their own school supplies to your kids (yes, even with that long school list!), they are happy to be doing what is best for their students.

What happens at home

The teachers we spoke with are sometimes a bit worried about some of the things they see or the behaviors they can observe in some students. They talk about students who fall asleep several times a day during lessons indicating a clear lack of sleep, students who wear clothes and shoes that are too small, kids who have no warm coats, hats or mittens and they’re just sad to realize that some families don’t appear to make an effort to make sure their children have everything they need.

In addition, they also have to deal with students who carry prejudices they’ve learned from the parents, which is quite tricky. « We see children bullying other kids because they are overweight. I’ve had a little girl in 5th grade that came crying to me because her boyfriend, another student of mine, had threatened to beat her if she broke up with him. How can we not react? ».

The lunchbox

We all know how important it is for our kids to have balanced meals and snacks so that they can be concentrated and have the energy to learn during the school day. However, teachers sometimes notice that what kids bring to eat does not correspond at all to what is considered a balanced meal, and they can see the results on their behavior in the classroom. « There are children, and they’re not from a disadvantaged family, far from it, they come to school with an incomplete lunch, no vegetables, and no snacks, nothing to drink. There is still much work to be done to raise awareness among parents about the importance of having a healthy and balanced lunch and snacks to help their children maximize their potential in school. ».

When your child is sick

Just like the daycare educators, teachers urge parents to keep their sick child at home instead of sending him at school. If your child is ill, it will be hard for him to concentrate on his lessons, he is putting his classmates at risk of being contaminated and his teacher won’t have the time to give him the attention he needs, as she will be busy with the rest of the class. « We know parents have to work, today’s reality is often unfair and the parents have to carry a lot on their shoulders. But if your child is really sick, taking him to school is useless: not only does it disrupt our day in the classroom, but the child would have been better off taking a day off to rest and get better than to spend the whole day fighting fatigue and trying to follow the rules. ».


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