Oh sweet summertime, you are missed already. One of my kids said that the school year is the beginning of a 180 day sentence. Makes a mother with a teaching degree sad. I love learning. I don't love the system of education and why I am not a classroom teacher anymore but I understand some of her complaints.
I am the mother of a freshman in high school. At a brand new school. No one went to school there ever until a couple of weeks ago. I told her the first couple weeks could be hard. The plus to being a freshman in a new school is that it is new to everyone. I knew that even though the building cost 75 million to build that things were not going to be ideal. Boy was I right, I don't always like being right.
Some things are a mess. Some things are getting better each day. There are things I can not understand and probably will never understand. Even as a parent that has been a classroom teacher with two degrees in education I can't make sense of the things that happen. At least I have been in their shoes and might be a little more understanding about the situations.
I got a text from her one day at lunch time, the hour they can use their phones. She told me there were 40 kids in one of her classes. 40! Then I saw a parent say that there were 60 kids in another class and I immediately thought, 40 isn't so bad (but it is bad). I had 32 kids one year. Not fun. So in typical FB fashion parents are complaining. Not that their complaints aren't valid but the salty part of me wants to post, "You wonder why we don't have enough teachers? Just read back through all your comments." I couldn't get paid enough to deal with some of these parents.
Then my kid gets in the car and starts to complain about her science teacher. Here we go. What is it with science teachers and my kid? Anyway, she was saying things that made me giggle. "It was the first day in her class and she was all on me about being 30 seconds late, can't she at least give us a couple of days?" I tried to hit that maybe the teacher needed a few days too and that maybe 60 kids were in her class before her class. I can even imagine 60 kids showing up to the first day of class and not having room for the kids to even sit. It might make me a little irritable. Honesty, I would be very irritable.
Then last week a daddy blogger that writes about our local education system posted on FB. All ways negative. I am beginning to wonder if he even has a clue about what he writes about. I view him as a pot stirrer and doesn't offer solutions or even does anything other than complain about our system. This is not the first time he has made me mad. He doesn't have a student at the high school but he posted a negative news article. I was trying to be positive and give my professional experience in the matter and he only commented on my comment. The one positive comment made was mine and his reply was laced with his negative agenda.
His point is that our system doesn't communicate. How does he know if the system has communicated or not. He is just a dad watching from the outside. Teachers and education employees make too little and work to hard for a daddy blogger to bad mouth them left and right. Just because social media and blogging gives you a platform to write doesn't make you right or creditable.
With that being said I sat on this blog for almost a week and I have to say things are no less frustrating in the world of social media. I am so over parents that get on social media to complain, complain and complain some more. It really only seems to be a few but they bother me and I want to comment but I just don't want to argue.
I am not a saint, but I did go in and try to help with the computer distribution. I was one of three parents in a school with 1,800 students, plus or minus a hundred. THREE PARENTS! These parents complained so much on FB but no more than three people were available to help? 1,800 times just one parent is well, 1,800 parents. Simple math. Say half are single parents that is 2,700 parents to help. That is .002% that showed up and I rounded up! I know some of the ones complaining don't work so I don't want to hear people have to work.
Social media gives us an immediate outlet to complain and demand action. It is really sad to watch. I am not a perfect parent but I don't sit behind my computer all day complaining without action. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.
On a side note my daughter got the highest score out of all the classes on the AP test without a computer. Why? Because she marched her problem solving self down to the library on day two of school and checked out a text book. Simple as that. Didn't need mommy to call and complain, didn't need mommy to email the teacher, didn't need me on FB raising cane. These kids are in high school, they should know how to learn. I do email teachers when needed, for things that she has not been able to solve first. Am I the only one that sees social media parenting as a decline in our society?
I am the mother of a freshman in high school. At a brand new school. No one went to school there ever until a couple of weeks ago. I told her the first couple weeks could be hard. The plus to being a freshman in a new school is that it is new to everyone. I knew that even though the building cost 75 million to build that things were not going to be ideal. Boy was I right, I don't always like being right.
Some things are a mess. Some things are getting better each day. There are things I can not understand and probably will never understand. Even as a parent that has been a classroom teacher with two degrees in education I can't make sense of the things that happen. At least I have been in their shoes and might be a little more understanding about the situations.
I got a text from her one day at lunch time, the hour they can use their phones. She told me there were 40 kids in one of her classes. 40! Then I saw a parent say that there were 60 kids in another class and I immediately thought, 40 isn't so bad (but it is bad). I had 32 kids one year. Not fun. So in typical FB fashion parents are complaining. Not that their complaints aren't valid but the salty part of me wants to post, "You wonder why we don't have enough teachers? Just read back through all your comments." I couldn't get paid enough to deal with some of these parents.
Then my kid gets in the car and starts to complain about her science teacher. Here we go. What is it with science teachers and my kid? Anyway, she was saying things that made me giggle. "It was the first day in her class and she was all on me about being 30 seconds late, can't she at least give us a couple of days?" I tried to hit that maybe the teacher needed a few days too and that maybe 60 kids were in her class before her class. I can even imagine 60 kids showing up to the first day of class and not having room for the kids to even sit. It might make me a little irritable. Honesty, I would be very irritable.
Then last week a daddy blogger that writes about our local education system posted on FB. All ways negative. I am beginning to wonder if he even has a clue about what he writes about. I view him as a pot stirrer and doesn't offer solutions or even does anything other than complain about our system. This is not the first time he has made me mad. He doesn't have a student at the high school but he posted a negative news article. I was trying to be positive and give my professional experience in the matter and he only commented on my comment. The one positive comment made was mine and his reply was laced with his negative agenda.
His point is that our system doesn't communicate. How does he know if the system has communicated or not. He is just a dad watching from the outside. Teachers and education employees make too little and work to hard for a daddy blogger to bad mouth them left and right. Just because social media and blogging gives you a platform to write doesn't make you right or creditable.
With that being said I sat on this blog for almost a week and I have to say things are no less frustrating in the world of social media. I am so over parents that get on social media to complain, complain and complain some more. It really only seems to be a few but they bother me and I want to comment but I just don't want to argue.
I am not a saint, but I did go in and try to help with the computer distribution. I was one of three parents in a school with 1,800 students, plus or minus a hundred. THREE PARENTS! These parents complained so much on FB but no more than three people were available to help? 1,800 times just one parent is well, 1,800 parents. Simple math. Say half are single parents that is 2,700 parents to help. That is .002% that showed up and I rounded up! I know some of the ones complaining don't work so I don't want to hear people have to work.
Social media gives us an immediate outlet to complain and demand action. It is really sad to watch. I am not a perfect parent but I don't sit behind my computer all day complaining without action. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.
On a side note my daughter got the highest score out of all the classes on the AP test without a computer. Why? Because she marched her problem solving self down to the library on day two of school and checked out a text book. Simple as that. Didn't need mommy to call and complain, didn't need mommy to email the teacher, didn't need me on FB raising cane. These kids are in high school, they should know how to learn. I do email teachers when needed, for things that she has not been able to solve first. Am I the only one that sees social media parenting as a decline in our society?
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