11-10-08 Lecture

At our lecture tonight for Ed. Psych., we had three parents from the area come speak to us: Steve Becay, Rebecca Sullivan, and Mary Kay Lynch. Each parent discussed the characteristics found in teachers they considered to be the "favorites," and then also discussed those teachers they were not so fond of. All three parents shared most of the same ideas. They liked the teachers who expected a lot from their children. When Mary Kay's son was in school, he took part in Special Education. Something that she said bothered her, was when the teachers set such low expectations for her son, just because he had special needs. She would have preferred the teachers to have more expectations for him, instead of having the attitude, "Well what do you want me to do with him?"

Something that I noticed about the parents was that they are all on different levels of involvement with their children. Steve said that he rarely got involved with his son's schooling, unless he really needed it. Steve believed it was more important to let his children deal with their problems alone. Rebecca was extremely involved with her children's school experiences. She volunteered in the classrooms of her children as often as she could. She tried her hardest to do whatever she could to be involved with her children. Mary Kay was sort of in the middle. She wasn't constantly getting involved, but she always made sure to get involved when it was necessary. She also taught special ed., so she was more aware of everything going on in regards to her son's IEP.

I learned a great deal from these parents. All three kept stressing the point that teachers should NOT be afraid of parents. The parents simply want what is best for their children. I also learned that the most important thing is COMMUNICATION. When I am a teacher, I am going to try my hardest to make sure the parents are always aware of what is going on. I think my job as a teacher will be much easier if I have the parents involved.

The last thing that the parents have taught me, is to set high expectations for all children, regardless of the setbacks they might have. No parent wants to feel like a teacher is giving up on their children. I will make sure to set expectations for all my students, while also providing them with the appropriate tools needed for success.

I really enjoyed this lecture a lot. I learned so much!