This year will mark my 14th year teaching. Amazingly, I have not given up. Many have given up on me and I still plug along working each year as if it is my first. At times it has felt like my first year all over again. Each year students change in little ways. As society changes, they change. Addictions to media, technology, and helicopter parents creates a student that is easily distracted with excuses galore. I myself have to stop using excuses to mask my problems. It hurts to see students manipulated by their parents and vice versa.
With the school year now approaching fast.... (1 week of vacation left for teachers) I am optimistic of who my students are and their parents. Information has already been shared that the parents have lost sight of what is the most important thing about education, the student. My personal goal this year will be to redirect the parents to focus on what the student needs and not what they want. Education is not a game played to receive services. Meetings can be quick and easy if approached with forewarning and caution. (That might go out the window half way through the year... ;) I just hope to bring some light and focus back into this school.
