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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Altruism is about putting others first and in this case it means a teacher putting the education of their students first. Anyone who has the ability to put their students first would not have time to hang out in the teachers lounge and discuss .stud and parents who they have backlisted as CRAZY.

If you consider every student and every parent CRAZY, who asks you a few simple questions then you have obviously chosen the wrong profession. Clearly, your level for tolerating life's minor annoyances is far to low for you to be successful at any profession and especially so for teaching.

The truly great teachers are altruistic. They are not in it for the money, they work many more hours than they are paid creating dynamic comprehensive lessons, they ask probing questions to assess mastery, they read their students essays and problems, they mark them up and grade them fairly, and they develop teacher/student relationships on their own without being mindless slaves to the Teacher's Lounge Groupthink about students, parents, administrators.

Altruistic teachers are kind and gentle, and they put their students. Great teacher never allow themselves to become part of the cool teacher clique. They never used uneducated uninformed pejorative terms in which they can't substantiate like crazy, insane, pita and helicoptering. Those are just the verbal expressions of selfish weak minded individuals who have clearly entered the wrong profession.

If your teaching skills are being challenged it's not because your student's parents are crazy, it's because you are less than an effective teacher. If you are a less than an effective teacher then in all likelihood you enter this profession for the wrong reasons. You didn't enter the field of education teach because you have a true passion for the content matter in which you teach, you entered it to have your summers off, or to coach, or to one day become an administrator and you can't wait to get out of the classroom.

Take this weekend to think about the real reasons you entered the profession of teaching. If you come up with any other reasons besides having a burning passion to teach children everything you know about your subject and life in general, then you've chosen the wrong profession.

If my advice to you makes me crazy in your opinion then you are a hopelessly flawed human being who has no chance of improvement or ever becoming a skillful teacher. [/quote]

As a teacher, you do your best to teach every child and help them reach their full potential. Not every parent makes this easy, whether they realize it or not.

I've had some quote on quote "crazy" parents although often I try to take it in stride and see the full picture. Sometimes they don't mean to come across strongly and only mean and want the best for their child. That I can understand.

I've had some legit ones though, I had a parent stalk me when I'd stay late to work in the classroom. They'd wait outside the school, talk to me about their child, ask why they brought this artwork home, why they got this grade, that so-and-so wouldn't play with their child, etc. It would be 5pm and I'd been at the school since 7 and all I wanted to do was go home, eat dinner, and relax a little bit. I don't mind discussing concerns with parents that's part of my job, but there is a time and place to do so not following me around.

I had another parent scream in my face because their child forgot their lunchbox and then didn't eat their sandwich at lunch. Really? We emphasize responsibility and do provide reminders but it's their child's ultimate responsibility to do so. We can't force-feed a child or check 26 backpacks before they leave to make sure they have their belongings.

I wasn't this child's teacher, but one parent stormed past the office into the classroom in the middle of the school day to scream the teacher out because the child got in trouble the day before (back-talked and threw a chair). The parent had tried to call the teacher, but with it being instructional time the phone went straight to voicemail. Instead of waiting to resolve the issue she came into the classroom and threw a fit swearing and screaming in front of the teacher and students. As a teacher how could you have stopped that?

Lawyers have so-so clients, doctors have tough patients, waiters have pain-in-the-butt customers, and yes sometimes teachers have tough parents. It happens.

Just because the above events happened doesn't mean I'm a lousy teacher. I can't stop how some parents act, I have no control over their actions, and I'm not their boss. No offense, but you sound a little high and mighty to me. Are you a teacher? I doubt it.[/quote]

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