Anonymous wrote:The ones who open up a bit - I don't need the whole life story, but I hear a little about their friends and family and home life. It helps me who they are as people, and what their goals are. I am not in a private school, and college is not an option for some of my students, so understanding what is realistically next for them helps me prepare them for what's next.

I like the ones who pop in to chat during off times, the ones who come in to tell me they passed a test in another class. The ones who are cold and grumpy are hard to get to know, and harder to teach, and less enjoyable to work with.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do.
It makes me a better teacher, to be honest.

People are blunter than they would be in an email which can be infuriating, or it can be an opportunity examine how your choices impact people when they are unflitered.

For example, my kid won an essay contest today.
I read a thread the other day that children of teachers should not be permitted to enter contests because the other parents assume there is a bias.

I know not everyone feels that way, but it helps to know that a small percentage of the room may feel that way, so I was sure to praise him in private, and praise the others in public.

My favorites are the ones who others find annoying. Some kids need to hear that someone is proud of them and sees their hard work and effort.

I struggle to connect with children whose parents challenge the staff on every small thing. I feel the more involved I get in the lives of those children, the more scrutiny I will be subjected to, so I keep it on a very surface level. Polite, sure, but I don't want to go the extra mile if I am going to be told I did it all wrong. This happens to teachers a lot, in my experience.

When parents help (coach, help with carpool, make cookies) I really try to remember to thank them, and I tell the child to thank their parents for helping the school. I don't think children always notice the selfless things their parents do, and the parents deserve that feedback. The volunteering parent doesn't make a kid a favorite, but kids feel "seen" when they know their parents are pitching in.

Kids that need to be a favorite (need extra attention) often seek out the adults who have extra space/time for them.

Great. So those parents with little money, little work flexibility, and little to no time to volunteer are punished. Lower income families, single parents, double earners, etc... might struggle to volunteer that much. I find amazing you penalized this type of families.

PP here.

Sorry you took the comment that way. It would be amazing if I penalized single-parent families.


Our school has lots of opportunities on weekends and evenings to volunteer, and some families are asked to do fewer hours because of their circumstances, but extra effort is appreciated.

Thought that appreciation was worth mentioning, and I think children should appreciate the things their parents do on their behalf, from writing a tuition check to keeping score at their weekend basketball game.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do.
It makes me a better teacher, to be honest.

People are blunter than they would be in an email which can be infuriating, or it can be an opportunity examine how your choices impact people when they are unflitered.

For example, my kid won an essay contest today.
I read a thread the other day that children of teachers should not be permitted to enter contests because the other parents assume there is a bias.

I know not everyone feels that way, but it helps to know that a small percentage of the room may feel that way, so I was sure to praise him in private, and praise the others in public.

My favorites are the ones who others find annoying. Some kids need to hear that someone is proud of them and sees their hard work and effort.

I struggle to connect with children whose parents challenge the staff on every small thing. I feel the more involved I get in the lives of those children, the more scrutiny I will be subjected to, so I keep it on a very surface level. Polite, sure, but I don't want to go the extra mile if I am going to be told I did it all wrong. This happens to teachers a lot, in my experience.

When parents help (coach, help with carpool, make cookies) I really try to remember to thank them, and I tell the child to thank their parents for helping the school. I don't think children always notice the selfless things their parents do, and the parents deserve that feedback. The volunteering parent doesn't make a kid a favorite, but kids feel "seen" when they know their parents are pitching in.

Kids that need to be a favorite (need extra attention) often seek out the adults who have extra space/time for them.

Great. So those parents with little money, little work flexibility, and little to no time to volunteer are punished. Lower income families, single parents, double earners, etc... might struggle to volunteer that much. I find amazing you penalized this type of families.

Anonymous wrote:I do.
It makes me a better teacher, to be honest.

People are blunter than they would be in an email which can be infuriating, or it can be an opportunity examine how your choices impact people when they are unflitered.

For example, my kid won an essay contest today.
I read a thread the other day that children of teachers should not be permitted to enter contests because the other parents assume there is a bias.

I know not everyone feels that way, but it helps to know that a small percentage of the room may feel that way, so I was sure to praise him in private, and praise the others in public.

My favorites are the ones who others find annoying. Some kids need to hear that someone is proud of them and sees their hard work and effort.

I struggle to connect with children whose parents challenge the staff on every small thing. I feel the more involved I get in the lives of those children, the more scrutiny I will be subjected to, so I keep it on a very surface level. Polite, sure, but I don't want to go the extra mile if I am going to be told I did it all wrong. This happens to teachers a lot, in my experience.

When parents help (coach, help with carpool, make cookies) I really try to remember to thank them, and I tell the child to thank their parents for helping the school. I don't think children always notice the selfless things their parents do, and the parents deserve that feedback. The volunteering parent doesn't make a kid a favorite, but kids feel "seen" when they know their parents are pitching in.

Kids that need to be a favorite (need extra attention) often seek out the adults who have extra space/time for them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a teacher but it's clear that some of our kids are 'favorites' and some aren't. It seems that my kid who struggles a bit but is a delightful, humble, incredibly hard-worker (with a sense of humor) is a favorite. As is my super introverted, quirky, relatively 'smart kid' who has the occasional clever 'zinger' is also a favorite of a small number of teachers. My super-smart, literal kid is no one's favorite - I think she annoys them all!

Ha. I still think about the parent teacher conference in 5th grade where the teacher told us she loved and trusted our son so much she'd even be willing to lend him her car. He always understood sarcasm from a very young age, super polite, very kind, and not afraid to contribute. She told a story about how there was a ton of girl drama going on in the classroom and she was at her wits end and was very frustrated and telling them something like 'girls you have your whole lives this is nonsense and you need to work it out and be kind--I can't really remember' but she said when she looked up she saw my son in the back row with a huge grin and was giving her the thumbs up and a wink.

OMG. This post is for teachers to talk about THEIR favorite students. Not you blathering on about how great your son is.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a teacher but it's clear that some of our kids are 'favorites' and some aren't. It seems that my kid who struggles a bit but is a delightful, humble, incredibly hard-worker (with a sense of humor) is a favorite. As is my super introverted, quirky, relatively 'smart kid' who has the occasional clever 'zinger' is also a favorite of a small number of teachers. My super-smart, literal kid is no one's favorite - I think she annoys them all!

Ha. I still think about the parent teacher conference in 5th grade where the teacher told us she loved and trusted our son so much she'd even be willing to lend him her car. He always understood sarcasm from a very young age, super polite, very kind, and not afraid to contribute. She told a story about how there was a ton of girl drama going on in the classroom and she was at her wits end and was very frustrated and telling them something like 'girls you have your whole lives this is nonsense and you need to work it out and be kind--I can't really remember' but she said when she looked up she saw my son in the back row with a huge grin and was giving her the thumbs up and a wink.

Anonymous wrote:Not a teacher but it's clear that some of our kids are 'favorites' and some aren't. It seems that my kid who struggles a bit but is a delightful, humble, incredibly hard-worker (with a sense of humor) is a favorite. As is my super introverted, quirky, relatively 'smart kid' who has the occasional clever 'zinger' is also a favorite of a small number of teachers. My super-smart, literal kid is no one's favorite - I think she annoys them all!