Feb 17 2007
I just wanted to say that I’m proud of my wife. :)
Today, we were sitting with some family talking about her job. In the course of this conversation, I found out some interesting things about my wife’s job.
She is a child psychologist, etiquette instructor, behavioral analyst, physician’s assistant, Bible professor, daycare professional, and a family therapist. What does she do? Oh yeah, she’s an elementary school teacher, so I’m sure somewhere among her other duties, she finds time to actually teach something.
Now, I’m not knocking this particular school, nor am I knocking particular parents. I don’t know what their individual situations are, etc. However, I do have a problem with my wife being saddled with all the responsibilities I listed above, and then being expected to teach these children, while all the time dodging parents’ accusations about her challenging the students too much, not challenging the students enough, being too hard on their discipline, being too lax on their discipline, being a wonderful teacher who makes learning fun, and being a horrible teacher who makes learning boring. All of this in one class…
What are the actual responsibilities of being a teacher? More to the point, what SHOULD they be? I’m sure there are parents out there who are wondering why she has to do all these things. They know their kids behave well, because they’re involved in their kids’ lives. These are not the parents I have a problem with. My wife has a couple mothers of kids’ in her class that really help out with both their own children as well as the others. My wife is lucky to have these mothers there, because without them, there is no way that she would be able to manage the class. You see, there are parents out there who don’t bother to teach their children etiquette. It’s rude to talk when others are talking. Don’t take others’ things. Don’t poke your neighbor in the eye. When children are exhibiting these behaviors, my wife can’t teach class. No one is paying attention because Little Jonny just pulled on Little Suzy’s hair, and laughter ensues. My wife then has to switch roles, teaching the children to respect others’ property and person. While she’s doing this very individual activity, she can’t teach! She has to get past the behavioral problems so that she can move on to teaching while the class is behaving as they ought.
At any rate, my wife manages this class admirably. I don’t think I would be able to take care of it all without a couple swats on the bottom. (Yes, that’s required sometimes, and no, it’s not child abuse…I wouldn’t actually swat another parents’ child, even if they should. This is why I am not a teacher.)
So yes, I’m proud of her.
Yeah, Kim pretty much rules, right? :) Something tells me that she would be exactly the kind of teacher I always loved in highschool. You keep encouraging her! :)
She does, indeed. I need to make sure she reads this post. lol.
She’s a great teacher, but she gets discouraged, sometimes because she has to spend more time doing those primary activities than teaching sometimes, but I don’t think she understands the impact she’s having on these kids’ lives.
Thank you for the encouragement of my encouragement. :)