Who You Gotta Call?

No, I'm not a Ghostbuster, although I think it would be an adventurous job. I'm a teacher. And who do teachers call? Sometimes other teachers, many times they call on students. But sometimes we have to call parents. I can't remember a teacher calling my parents or even me as a parent. As a teacher, though, I have to call parents.

Honestly, I'd just rather write an email, check it twice and send it off. Many times this works, but lately I don't get responses from my emails and then I must call. I'd love to call parents just to tell them their child did something amazing. And occasionally, I do. But it has to be big. Not just pretty intelligent. That can wait for parent/teacher conferences.

When it comes right down to it, I don't like to call parents. You are probably thinking, What's your problem? You teach and parents want to know what's going on at school. And you are right to think that. I do know teenagers don't always tell their parents what's going on at school. I hear it from parents all the time. They never bring home any work. They say they got their work done at school. I get it!

Here's my side. One, I take grades on homework, quizzes and tests. I report it on our online grading system. This system is accessible to students and parents. It's a username and password away, if you have internet. Students have internet at school and they know when they didn't turn in an assignment because I distribute the graded papers back.

Two, most parents that I have to call I don't know. I may have met them once at open house, but I meet so many parents, that I can't recall all of them. Hey, it takes me a few weeks to get the students' names down. In this strange situation, I end up feeling like a phone solicitor without a magic product. That's an awkward situation to be in. You wouldn't like it either.

And since I don't know these parents, I have no idea about their schedule. This is the most grueling part for me. Am I calling during supper? Are the parents even home or am I going to get the student on the phone? Did I wake them because they have a different work schedule? All these thoughts flash through my head as I go home and call a parent. ( I like to call from home because I know I won't get interrupted and I never know how long a call will last.)

So as I work up my nerve. Yes, I really have to do this. Maybe I'll tell myself, "No fun, until you finish your work. Even if you don't get through, you've tried." Most of the times, I call and the parent answers and something good happens. We have communication, a plan of action.

A few times I've been in the awkward situation where a parent starts yelling at the kid while I'm on the phone. This really bothers me. Do they need to know about the situation? Yes! Do I need to know how they are going to handle it? No!

Today was one of those days that I went through the working up my nerve. Told myself the emails weren't enough. I called and it went fine. We talked and made plans. We looked at the future. All I have to say is, "Whew!" I'm glad that's over until the next time I've got to call.