Once again report can time has come and I have gone through all of my 575 students carefully and thoughtfully and assessed them and tabulated the numbers and put together their grades. According to my school district, I must grade them on the Skills/Concepts of music, their behavior, and their participation. Remember, 575 children. Most people have a hard time remembering what name to call their kids when they have 3+. I care immensely about my students and I want every one of them to be successful. There is no child who I want to give bad grades to. Hey, if every kid learned at the same pace my job would be a 574 times simpler. But, we believe in differentiated instruction or an individual education for every student. I am not complaining, just stating the reality of being a teacher in the world today.
So, when I get scathing emails and phone calls about how I am unfairly grading your student and how they enjoy my subject so, they must be good at it it is upsetting.
I will answer questions at any time, explain what we are doing, call/email home weekly if I need to. I do not consider myself to be an unfair teacher or one who expects too much from her first graders.
Nearly every parent believes their kid is gifted. Get over yourself people, your kid has an attitude problem and is not an angel. Your kid is average in my class. Not a bad thing. I am not going to change the grade on your first grader's report card because you apparently think he/she is good at my class. You have never come to visit, asked what we are doing, or even put your name on my parent volunteer list for tasks that we send home with the kids to have you complete. Just because your kid enjoys music does not make them talented. I am also not asking them to be the next big thing. What I am asking is that if we are singing your child sings. When their just look at you. We are not meeting standards. When you ask them to sing their name to you 7 times and they just say it with a speaking voice, we are not meeting our goals. When your child cannot perform on an instrument appropriately and most other kids can, we are not meeting goals.
My favorite part about this parent is that I was on the phone with them about another one of their children nearly every two weeks last year. They just don't remember because I got married and changed my name.
I really do think that there are way too many people who do not understand what goes into teaching small children. I get comments about how cute my job is or how teaching small kids who are adorable must be so easy because little kids like music. Yes, they are usually adorable and cute but, I am a professional with extensive amounts of time spent learning my craft and learning the development stages of a child. I spend countless hours creating age appropriate lessons that teach a concept but in a way that is fun and engaging to your student. Yes, your student is smart, but that does not change that they are 6,7, and 8 years old and still need a lot of guidance, assistance, and comfort. I love my job, but it takes a lot of effort to be an emotional sounding board to that many children and address all of their needs. If someone is crying in my classroom, I not only have to take care of them but the other 20 some kids in the room who are concerned about so and so, misbehaving, making fun of so and so, or just plain clueless about what is going on.
In conclusion, trust that your teachers care about your kids and want the best for them and don't assume that working with small kids is easier than your job, whatever it may be.
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