Parent Talk: What Do St. Michael-Albertville Parents and Teachers Want Each Other to Know

Many of us read and "liked" the CNN article "What teachers really want to tell parents," by Ron Clark this past September. It spread through the "interwebs" like wildfire.

I read the article eagerly, soaking it up and nodding along with the writer about the crazy things parents sometimes get wrapped up in with teachers.

With six weeks of the school year and the first round of conferences under our belts, it's not unusual for parents and teachers to have feedback.

I did some polling of both parents (ranging from preschool-post high school) and teachers (elementary and middle school) to find out what it is they want the other to know. Surprisingly, their answers and requests for each other are fairly similar.

What Parents Want Teachers To Know

1. Communicate with us. When we don't know what's going on, whether it's the PTO meeting or a homework issue, we feel in the dark.

2. Make learning fun. With all the standards of education, we know your job is huge. Please take time to let kids be kids even if it's a short game of Heads Up, Seven Up. One St. Michael mom shared that it's important to teach our kids more than the book smarts, show them what caring and giving at school with others means.

3. "Please don't judge us," asks one Albertville mom. If our child is struggling, please don't assume we aren't working with them or slacking off. If our middle schooler is showing up without their homework over and over, don't assume it's because we don't care, we might be trying to teach some self responsibility.

4. Believe half of what you hear and we will do the same, a seasoned mom of post-high schoolers shared. So if Henry tells you I won't be at pick up because of my hip replacement, you can pretty much bet I'm not getting the hip replacement but someone in our family (great grandma) might be. When they tell us something equally silly or absurd we'll do our best to read it the same way.

5. Trust us.

What Teachers Want Parents To Know

1. We really do care about your kids.

2. Work with us. Rather than defending or arguing about an issue let's look at it from a "How can we solve the problem together?" standpoint.

3. It's O.K. to ask questions. Not asking or getting the clarification you need will only lead to misunderstandings and frustrations.

4. One middle school teacher shared the importance of "letting go". Middle school is the time where they need to learn independence and responsibility. We can't hold their hands through it and we'd prefer, you didn't either.

5. Trust us.