Saturday, January 21, 2012

Who are you to tell me...?

I have a couple of hostile aunts who think that I share my opinions too often.  The quote was something like, “Not everyone wants to know what you think.”

You can read my previous post about the cousin who dropped out of college before midterms if you’d like to figure out how that little family spat came about.

Since I’ve put my darling 8th grader back into “the general population” as she puts it in order to facilitate my participation in my Masters of Arts in Teaching program, I’ve decided to continue our little “homeschooling” adventure with commentary on the curriculum I encounter.

Have you ever felt scrutinized and judged during parent-teacher conferences?  Have you felt nervous, wondering if your life was being graded along with your child’s work?  Have you ever wondered what, exactly, qualifies a teacher to pass judgment on you and your life and give you advice on your kid? 

Me, too.

I LOVE all of Colleen’s teachers, I know I go WAY above and beyond the call of duty regarding her educational enrichment, but when it comes to Parent-Teacher Conference time I get all sorts of sweaty.  What does that failed spelling test say about my shortcomings as a parent?  How am I letting my daughter down?  Is that “C” in band because I told her to quit practicing while I was trying to watch that episode of Sherlock?

So…  Hopefully my exploration of this curriculum will give me some insight as to what it is teachers are looking for and some tricks they use to help kids become better students.  It’s supposed to make me into a good teacher, right?  It better, for the price I’m paying for it.

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