Are teachers the "weak" link?
Someone is dropping the ball. Could it be us?
Why are schools, teachers and anyone associated with education always looking for ways to complicate a relatively simple system and make it harder for themselves and those we serve? Why can’t we just “keep it simple”? (You know, K.I.S.S.)
Every time we turn around, schools make it harder by trying to fix everything except what really needs fixin’. First came school lunches that began nationally in the mid-twentieth century and the reason would surprise you. National security! It seems that many of our young men were rejected for military service in WWII because of diet-related health problems. Problem solved. Well almost. What about breakfast? LBJ started the School Breakfast Program because, after all, kids can’t learn on an empty stomach, right? This led to the providing of meals for childcare centers, homeless shelters, and adult daycare centers. It seems that a lot of people weren’t eating before the government stepped in. So now we have nutrition covered. Oh, and don’t forget after school snacks!
After feeding, schools then took on many of the services once relegated to the family, such as:
counseling (mental health, self-esteem, coping with trauma…)
health care (eye exams/glasses, asthma care, dental, immunizations…)
school supplies (paper, pens/pencils, calculators…)
physical activity (though many opt out)
social work (for parents and families)
While these are wonderfully altruistic things we do for the community, let’s not lose sight of the big picture. According to the Bridge to Success Community Partnership, “School is the basic foundation of knowledge being imparted to a child. It gives a chance for children to acquire knowledge in various fields of education, such as people, literature, history, mathematics, politics, and other numerous subjects.”
This is job #1 - impart a foundation of knowledge. So while we are doing a bang-up job of counseling, nursing, exercising and feeding (my daughter’s elementary school brought in a national celebrity chef!), we are universally plagued by poor attendance, chronic lateness, unacceptable behavior, incomplete work and other problems that one would think shouldn’t exist considering all the extra perks we offer in addition to teaching… which again, is job #1. Clearly, something is missing.
At the start of each year, we go over a list of Policies and Procedures we expect students to follow throughout the year which includes: getting to class on time, behaving appropriately, handing in completed work in a timely fashion and more. We all do this. In fact, we usually spend the first two days going over this with students. We even have both students and parents sign a contract saying they will abide by these guidelines. These first two days are critical. Policies and Procedures start in kindergarten and cover everything from school arrival, entering the building, holding hands with a partner, snacks, naps, dress code, homework and even more. Those little ones are so wonderfully compliant! So if they follow this routine in kindergarten what happens to create today’s system where teachers are leaving this wonderful profession because of a total breakdown of Policies and Procedures that we - the teachers - have instilled in our children from the first day they entered our building?
What is happening between the time we start every single student in this great system of learning until the time it all goes to poop? I am willing to entertain ideas, but I’ve got three reasons of my own:
There is a “chain of command” (an organizational structure that determines how each member of a group reports to one another) that is being broken - and purposely or not, teachers are breaking it. The school chain goes from Parent to Child to Teacher and back. If a parent breaks that chain, we may see that in a child’s behavior or physical appearance and we will attend to that faster than a speeding bullet! In fact, we are legally mandated to report anything we deem suspicious - with or without parental or administrative consent. If the teacher breaks the chain (corporal punishment, inappropriate behavior, poor instruction) you can be certain they will feel the wrath of administrators, parents and the student faster than a cat on a mouse! But if a student breaks the chain (lateness, behavior, disruptions, etc…) what do we do? Most times nothing aside from a verbal correction - but then what? Does that solve the problem? This is where teachers are breaking the chain and not fixing it! How many teachers make calls home for every lateness or every instance of misbehaving? If not, then you (yes you, the teacher) are breaking that chain and are not only subverting your authority, but are sabotaging the parent’s authority while increasing rebellion by the student. This is a big problem. Parents need to be called as soon as an issue arises! How many of you have heard during a Parent Teacher Conference, “If this was a problem, why didn’t you call me sooner?”
We often forget we are dealing with children up until the age of 18 (especially when they are dropping the f-bomb). But they are children. I once told my principal that if I can’t outsmart a 13-year-old, then please fire me as I have no business being here. And by outsmarting, I mean if I can’t fix the situation to my satisfaction, then what am I doing here? If I can’t figure out a simple and effective way to get a student to class on time, or to behave themselves, or to have them submit timely homework assignments, then what am I good for? How can I teach? I feel useless. And if you are having these problems and they are going unresolved, it doesn’t mean that you are useless! It just means you haven’t been shown how to do it or haven’t been given a blueprint or the tools to fix the problem. You have enough on your teaching plate without being “thrown to the wolves” as so many of us would put it. A little extreme, but not all together inaccurate.
Teachers are afraid, or ill-equipped, to make an effective phone call home to inform parents of a problem in school, usually due to lack of proper scripting. The “phone call home” is one of, if not the, most important tools in a teacher’s bag of tricks to maintain order and organization in the classroom. And if every teacher was scripted and skilled in calling home, it would change the tone of the entire building. Every teacher needs to be on the same page when calling home, which is why schools must provide a) schoolwide Policies and Procedures - not each teacher making their own, and b) identical scripting used by each teacher when contacting parents. This is a staple of all professions in the private sector and most businesses as well. I know, teachers are resistant to this idea because, “that’s not how I do it”, but if one teacher calls home with one message and one set of rules, followed by another teacher with different policies this is where trouble starts. Teachers in a school all need to be in unanimous agreement as to how, when, and why parents are contacted. And it is the job of administration to set this precedent.
I am famous for calling home on the first day of school at the first sign of any outlier of behavior I wish to nip in the bud. To make a great 1st Day School Call Home, you need to have a seamless script. I do and will be discussing this in future posts. Here is a true story about not breaking the chain of command by using a script to place a quick and easy phone call home that set the tone for the rest of year in my class:
It was the first week of school when one of my students didn’t have a pencil. He told me, “My family is too poor to afford one!” Of course this got lots of big belly laughs from the class and he smiled thinking he had gotten one over on his new teacher. I told him to borrow one from another student and moved along. After class I called his mom and the conversation went as follows (names changed to protect the innocent):
Me: Hi Mrs. Smith. This is Dr. Cubbin, Tommy’s new science teacher. (pause)
Mrs. Smith: Oh, hi Dr. Cubbin. Is there a problem? This is the first day of school!
Me: I just wanted to call to say I was sorry to hear of your family’s financial troubles (pause).
Mrs. Smith: What are you talking about. Who told you that?
Me: Well, Tommy did. As you know from the student contract, all students are required to have pens and pencils in class every day. Tommy had neither today and made a big scene of telling the whole class that your family is “so poor” that you can’t afford a pencil. I assumed this was not the case, but since we are starting a new year I just wanted to touch base with you and let you know what happened.
Mrs. Smith: Thank you so much for calling Dr. Cubbin! I assure you that this is not the case and that you will not have this issue, or any further outbreaks in class, from now on. I really appreciate you calling me. Feel free to call again if you have any other problems, no matter how small.
Me: Thank you so much Mrs. Smith. I appreciate your support and understanding. Have a good day. (Boom. Period. End of conversation. You are done. Leave it there.)
The next day “Tommy” came in with a box of freshly sharpened pencils and pens put out on his desk. He made sure I saw them and he was a model student from that point on. It also changed the entire tone of the class. They learned I do not fool around with rules and behavior and they also learned that if I called home about not having a pencil (which he told everybody that I did), then imagine what would happen if they actually did something really bad!
Phone calls home - if scripted and executed properly - are one of the top three tools in a teacher’s arsenal to help correct student behavior.
Think smarter, not harder. If you contact parents from the get-go, you will be able to maintain a strong and healthy line of communication and that word will spread through the school and from parent to parent. You can either be known by parents as the teacher who never calls and they never know how their children are doing, or be known as the teacher who called the 1st day of school about a pencil policy, runs a tight ship and calls at the first sign of a problem (or when they are going great!) Either way, parents need to know that when you call, you have a very good reason for doing so and that they should support you.
And for those of you worried about calling problem parents, I have found that they are usually problems because they are not typically notified until after several issues happened and they were not contacted - or the teachers calling are not following a scripted dialogue that is doing more harm than good. Never just wing a phone call home. You MUST have a script!
Years ago I read an Ann Landers column where a parent was looking for ways to correct their child’s outrageous behavior. Ann said (and I am paraphrasing), “You need to remember that you are dealing with a child. Children don’t know any better and they are feeling you out to see where their boundaries should be. They are testing you! They want to know where the line in the sand is being drawn. How far that rubber band can be stretched before it breaks. In fact, the reason they are misbehaving is because they are asking you (in the only way they know how) to show them where the line is and how far they can go with certain behaviors. They are children.”
So don’t forget, even with social media, cell phones, and all other problems in today’s schools, communication with parents every time it is warranted is an absolute game-changer.
To have scripting for calling home and clearly defined protocols in place are ideally started on Day 1 of school, but they can be started the first day you return to school this New Year. And don’t give up! Using a script can be a bumpy road at first, but practice makes perfect. And don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t go as planned the first time. Maintain your position. You are the authority figure for their child. If you want to have a great New Year, don’t wait… just Do It!!!
Thank you for taking the time to read my School Goals Work posts! I hope they help you think a little differently about how to make your workplace more rewarding! I wish you and your families a Very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!
Dr. Cubbin - School Goals Work!
Website - schoolgoalswork.com
Substack posts - schoolgoalswork.substack.com