The main reason I became a teacher is that I wanted to help children learn. Empowering students’ learning and watching them grow brings me joy. Diversity and differences in learning needs are what make my job fun.
If I could speak candidly to parents, I would also want them to know:
–It is my goal that every child achieve a minimum of one year’s academic and social development growth. If your child is performing below grade level, we will work with him/her to close the gap. If your child is high achieving, we will provide additional challenges in our differentiated instruction. My goal is to get to know your child so that I can personalize instruction so your child can be successful.
–Education works best when teacher, parents, and student work together toward common goals.
–Communication is important, but it is usually difficult for me to talk spontaneously before class or after school. In a classroom setting, I am working to maintain communication with a large number of people, so we have a few options: notes, email, and appointments in person or by phone.
–It is likely that I am just as frustrated as you are regarding issues in education and some of the decisions/policies/procedures that are made on behalf of students.
–Most often, parents have more power than teachers when advocating for students regarding issues to administrators and school district, state, or national policy.
Marti Beeck started her career in education as a parent volunteer in her three children’s classrooms. Her teaching experience, including adult school, intervention, and the primary classroom, was inspired by her background in psychology and interest in brain-based learning. Marti currently works in the field of educational publishing as an editor.