10 of my favorite Parent statements through the Years!

In paranthesis are my responses:

1. I know my child and I know he would never lie to me. (You are living in a fantasy world, mom!)

2. Why don't you worry about the big things like drugs and weapons instead of
wasting your time bothering my kid about dress code and being tardy? (If I bother your child
about these "small" things, I won't ever have to worry about the big ones.}

3. If my child said F$#@ Y&% to you, what did you do to cause him/her to say that? (Are you kidding me?)

4. My child doesn't think that you like her. (I don't...but I still want to facilitate her educational
experience.}

5. He never acts that way at home... (Ha, ha,...that's a good one!)

6. Why are you stressing my child out with all these expectations? (Why aren't you reinforcing my
expectations at home?}

7. Don't talk down to me just because you have a college education... (Sure, I'll express my views intellectually.
The problem is that you won't understand a darn thing I said. So at least give your child the opportunity to
understand some day.}

8. My child says that you are boring... (Which rock did you look under that had a note stating that preparing
children for a solid education was entertaining?}

9. I've talked to many of my daughter's friends and they all say you called her on the carpet. (You are foolish
for listening to a bunch of teenagers that challenge anyone that facilitates brain function... and by
the way, you might try calling her on the carpet as well.}

10. My child is failing your class. What are you going to do about it? (Not a darn thing...he's failing because of
his decisions not because of my actions!}

Ten Statements made by Teachers that Enhance your Child's Education.

1. Your brain should be tired by the end of the school day because you challenged yourself today...not because
you wasted brain cells texting until 3:00 AM this morning.

2. Yes....spelling counts!

3. If you would like to do better in my class, take all electronic devices out of your room and hand your
cell phone over to your parents after 8:00 PM every night.

4. Who said anything about being easy?

5. Please use full sentences.

6. When a middle or high school student tells the teacher that they don't have a pencil, paper or their book
after the first week, the teacher's response should be..."That's your problem, deal with it".

7. When I'm talking...you aren't!

8. Work is an expectation, not an option!

9. Studying is hard...Digging ditches is harder!

10. Your parents owe you food, shelter and an education...everything else is a priviledge. If you decide to ignore
your education, there will be no extracurricular activities, no time with friends, no electronic devices, no
name brand clothes, no use of the car, no spending money, no dating, etc., etc.

Measuring Success as a Teacher

My philosophy for student success is that there must be a consistent triad system in place. The teacher facilitates learning, the student actively engages in the process and the parents contribute support and assistance. When all these three parts are connecting, we will have successful results for every child. I measure success within interims and within spectrums.
The interim component is broken apart on a daily level, on a unit level, and on a yearly level. Every day I make sure that I have clear objectives, I’m well prepared and I have a back-up plan. As I go through the day with kids, I look for signs of engagement and connection. I have always worked from the gut and I found that it works very well for me. Relationships and effective communication with students and teachers gives me a much more accurate measure of success than data and theory. So if I notice a fire in a student’s eye, a contribution, smile or laugh that connects to the topic, or an intriguing question then we (students and teacher) have been successful on that particular day.
Assessment (Data has its place) is the best measure of success at the unit level. I give a lot of homework and tough quizzes and tests. The intensity of these tests is correlated to the level of the student. However, I refuse to dummy down and I push the kids to make their brain sweat. I always start the year by telling my students that I have never failed anyone in 21 years. If a student does their work, prepares for class, studies for assessments and has a positive attitude, it is impossible to fail my class.
Typically many of my unit grades are quite low particularly with 9th graders. They have come off three middle school years where academic success plays second fiddle to personal survival and identity development. However, once in high school we have got to prepare these kids for the rigors of school and life. As I analyze the results of each unit, I look for small changes that show that the students are starting to get it. The quantity and level of completed assignments improves, and test-taking results demonstrate an enhanced understanding of critical thinking. As the units move forward the amount of students demonstrating improved skills and grades increases significantly. This is my measurement of success at the unit level.
At the end of the year, if my students are well prepared to handle the challenges of the next school year and the pertinent expectations of a typical high school sophomore, then I have been successful.
I also stated that I measured success at a spectrum level. Questions that I pose to myself are as follows: Does the student understand the importance of the integration of courses in their lives? Does the student write, speak, and read more proficiently compared to when we first met? Does the student connect today’s lesson to its purpose in shaping them as future adults. Whenever I interact with these students as kids or as adults in the future, I carefully observe them. If they can intertwine their mastery of science, social studies, mathematics, language, music, etc. together than I along with many of their other teachers have been successful. When I meet a former student years after high school, I look for certain things. If they look me straight in the eye, present a strong handshake, evoke purpose, transcend ideas, and smile with sincerity, then I am one of a team of teachers that have been successful.

The Way it Should Be!

The principal and assistants will be greeting the students at the door each morning and will walk the halls every moment of every day. If students walk towards the door out of dress code, they won’t pass through it. Students will have a right to the halls only if they are in proper attire. The disruption of electrical devices, inappropriate clothing and other peripherals will disappear. Language will be clean, appropriate and respectful. Students will address adults as Sir, Ma’am, Mr. or Mrs. They will not use words such as dude, dawg, or man in any conversations directed at adults. They can save that for the beach, the mall or their own back yards. Wouldn’t it be great to enter classrooms where the words, “Please”, and “Thank you”, will be embedded within the dynamics of meaningful learning?

Students that break the rules will face consequences every time. There will be no warnings, two-week adjustment periods, negotiations or deals. The warning is put in place the day the student is handed the student handbook. If it is a policy established by the school board, we will enforce it. Student consequences will be effective. Detentions will be served with a purpose. These students will scrub the desks, clean the walls, pick up the garbage and scrape gum from places they put it. If they must sit in a desk, they will write and write and write until they get it right! Major infractions will lead to suspensions and Saturday Detentions. If the infraction involved defiance or verbal abuse toward a staff member, the student will not return without a parent conference and a thoughtful apology written to the teacher.

Discipline will become the norm not the exception. Students will be on time in the morning and for every class. Students will take up the four minutes between the classes to get to class, utilize the rest room and get into their seats. They don’t need to talk to their friends, exchange hellos and greetings, and scurry to their locker. They need to plan ahead and prepare for the whole school day. There will be time for socializing before school, at lunch and after school gets out. Other than that it should be six hours of hard work, intellectual challenge, and critical skills development. They will engage their brain cells from bell to bell. Students will bring their tools of learning to class every day. No longer will well-planned lessons by teachers be tossed away because half the class doesn’t come prepared with pencil, paper, and books. I will not accept a statement from any parent or child that they can’t afford or have that paper or pencil when a cell phone or I-Pod is hanging out of the child’s pocket. Students should expect to be exhausted by 2:30 every day because of working brains not because of wasted hours of useless conversation, doodling or late night Facebook chats with friends.

Do your Homework, Be Prepared, and Study!

“Do your Homework, Be Prepared, and Study!”
Michael L. Sanz

Many of us have those few movies that we can just watch over and over. One of mine is “A Few Good Men” starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson. I am always mesmerized during the courtroom scene, when Cruise and Nicholson go at it. The classic exchange is when Nicholson’s character barks out, “You want answers?”, and the young attorney Cruise passionately responds with, “I want the truth!”

Here is a Truth: The Educational System in the United States benefits a few, burdens many and does an inadequate job preparing our children for the future. It is time that we face truth and come up with solutions. The greatest deterrent to this is fear of change.

I have come to the realization that “Fear” is really scary! Removal from our daily habits is extremely frightening. If I was told that I could no longer have my morning cup of coffee my fear of falling out of my routine would lead to me being too frightened to function…??? “Change” is the fabric woven into every significant event in the history of this world. Present any name in our past and there is a connection to change and fear. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, Robert Oppenheimer (I wonder how many of our high school seniors know who he was.), Dr. Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy are just a few. These guys were very scary dudes. They had the courage to spark change despite the consequences of the resultant fear.

The following is a solution to enhance academic success, improved test scores, and higher graduation rates. These points lead to an environment of inviting culture, compassion, consistency and elevated community self-esteem.

The new catch phrase throughout the district should be, “Do you Homework, Be Prepared, and Study!”
The lobbies, offices and classrooms in every school in the district should clearly display the phrase, “Do your Homework, Be Prepared and Study!”

Wow! Think of how this radical change will evoke fear in the hearts and minds of so many students. Well, tough, it is direct, and it will work. So when a student approaches a teacher and says, “I don’t understand why I’m failing this class”, look them straight in the eye. Raise your hand and slowly open three fingers on your hand while saying, “Do your homework, be prepared and study”. When a parent comes in for a meeting with teachers they will ask questions. The most common is, “What can you do differently to help my child get better grades”. Every teacher in the meeting should address this the same way. “I will continue to facilitate the learning process for your child utilizing my skills and experience. Please instruct your child to do the following: “Do your homework, be prepared, and study”. Finally, when an administrator or guidance counselor meets with a teacher and says, “You need to make changes so that the students do better”. The teacher should say, “Absolutely, I’ll talk to them today and introduce my major expectation: Do your homework, be prepared, and Study!”
…Problem solved!