Tonight I struggle with my role as an educator and a mom. I teach in the same district where my daughter attends. Most times this is a blessing, but nights like tonight make it a struggle. I am caught between what I know is best practice as an educator and what is right as a mom and what is best for my child.
How do you tell your high school daughter that sometimes you don't have to do the assignment you were assigned? Sometimes you have to step back and look at things with a new perspective. Sometimes you have to step back and stand up for what's right for you. Sometimes you just have to say, I chose not to do the assignment and here's why.
Well, I chose to tell my daughter what I thought about the assignment and why. Then I asked her to weigh the options, and I stood back and let her make the choice…sigh.
Then, as a mom I couldn't let it go, it's not just my child in this situation, it's an entire 3 classes of overwhelmed and over worked kids doing PARCC prep homework tonight. So, I emailed the teacher, I said my piece, I hit send. I am a mom and educator and an advocate for kids. These three can't be separated, it's just who and what I am.
Tonight when I go to bed I will say an extra prayer for the passion of learning for all these poor children, subjected to one more prep, one test, one more stressful day at school.
Living this right now - and I do not blame my sixth graders parents. We start testing tomorrow...and then that's that. back to normal. Thank goodness.
ReplyDeleteMy heart hurts for every child, regardless of age, stuck in test-prep hades. For my money, and as a fellow educator, you made all the right moves. The education world I entered 34 years ago knew no such madness as the test-prep reductive nature of teaching we so often see now. I'm lucky in that I teach mostly seniors, and they are done w/ their testing. Still, I don't give tests, except in the dual credit class I teach, in my English or speech classes because my students have had enough testing, and I must help them see that learning is not synonymous w/ passing a test. Best to both you and your daughter.
ReplyDeleteIt's good that you shared your concern with the teacher.
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