The Parent Trap

I knew that I would be becoming a "real teacher" during Intenstitute, but it never occurred to me that I would be doing real teacher things like calling parents during my time at Agua Fria. So when they dropped this bombshell on us last week, that we would have to make contact with our parents over the weekend, I was terrified.

Who am I to speak to these people? What do I say? "Hey, I'm about 3 weeks into my career as a teacher, I've got no real idea what I'm doing, and I've known your kid for 4 days...here's what you should do to support Jose's education!"

Turns out I couldn't even say that to Jose's mother, because she speaks Spanish and I don't. This is only one of the things I have to work around.

The parents of our students genuinely want their kids to succeed; it's part of Investing in our kids' success that we reach out to them and form a student-centered partnership to encourage learning and growth.

But I really had no clue what to say.

I called the easiest kid first. Jimmy is one of my favorites; he has a great attitude and has been through so much that it's really an inspiration and a pleasure to work with him. (And he told me he was going to Tucson to visit his great-great-great grandmother - I'm skeptical - for the weekend, so I knew he wouldn't be home and I could leave a voicemail ;)

"This number has been disconnected..."

One down, two to go.

So I called Kristy next. Kristy missed the past two days of school and if she misses one more she'll be dismissed from the program. After all, it's only 19 days long, and please believe we have a llllooooonnnggggg way to go with Kristy. Kristy's Mom and I were on the same page...I stammered and she had a thick accent, but eventually we came to the conclusion that it is really important to have Kristy in class and that I would indeed see her tomorrow. "After all, her education is very important," as Mom would say. (I use "Mom" in the teacher sense. Kristy's mom is "Mom" when we're talking about Kristy, Joseph's mom is "Mom" when we're talking about Joseph, so try to follow along)

Then came the big challenge: Jose. Now Jose is really quiet, and definitely wants to learn. But he comes from a Spanish-speaking household, and I didn't know what to expect when I called Mom. But she answered in English, and I took that to mean that I could respond in English, so there we were, embarking on a monosyllabic discourse in Simple English about the importance of progress reports and attendance. I think we understood each other; I'm not quite sure. (I know this is imperfect, and my school in the fall has a translator on the payroll, as most schools here do, so I know that I have a ways to go to improve my practice in this regard - that's another things. TFA calls teaching a "practice", just as a doctor "practices medicine" or a lawyer "practices law" - another aspect of our lingo)

I survived my first parent call; I felt like the Lindsay Lohan character in "Mean Girls" after she survives her first three-way calling attack. It was tough, but I did it.

Like everything else here, it was tough, but I did it.

peace and love from the grand canyon state,

pb