What Parents and Guardians Expect of Their Child’s Teachers

At this point in the school year, parents and guardians can either be valuable allies who work with you to ensure the success of every student in your class or they can be unpleasant and demanding adversaries. As an educator committed to the academic success of your students, it is up to you to make sure that the relationship between home and school is professional and positive.


One of the most important ways to establish this relationship is to make sure that you are aware of the expectations that they may have of you as their child’s teacher. While not all parents or guardians will have the same expectations of their child’s teachers, there are some similarities that you can anticipate and plan for. Your students’ parents or guardians will expect you to:


1. Ensure their child’s safety while in your class

2. Be fair in your treatment of their child

3. Recognize their child’s unique gifts and talents

4. Be reasonable in the amount of homework that you assign

5. Follow school and district rules and policies

6. Focus on positive qualities more than negative ones

7. Contact them quickly if a problem arises

8. Be courteous when you speak to their child

9. Maintain an orderly classroom

10. Be alert to the misbehavior of other students and how it may affect their child

11. Look and act like a confident, skilled, professional educator

12. Keep them apprised of scheduled events such as field trips and due dates for projects and tests

13. Know when to involve other education professionals such as a social worker or counselor

14. Work closely with them for the benefit of the child

15. Be able to meet with them before or after school

16. Return phone calls and emails promptly

17. Be aware of any health issues that their child may have and act accordingly

18. Protect their family’s privacy

19. Make it easy for them to stay in touch with you

20. Stay within the boundaries of your role as teacher

21. Be honest with them

22. Respect the confidentiality of their child’s school records

23. Be willing to listen to their concerns

24. Respect their insights about their child’s needs

25. Talk to them before going to an administrator for help

Are You a Good Teacher? Quiz Yourself!

If you've read my survival guide for first-year teachers, you will recognize my belief that teaching is a profession that allows us  plenty of opportunities to learn from our mistakes. I know that I have certainly learned a great deal--often in front of a captive audience, too.

Recently I was asked to construct a quiz for teachers who visit one of my favorite Web sites: theApple (http://theapple.monster.com). It was easy to think of questions about good teaching, but not as easy to limit the choices to only fifteen questions and even harder to devise answers that were complicated enough to make readers think about their teaching practice. After struggling for a bit, I thought about my first years as a teacher and the many mistakes I made. I had a wealth of material once I took that approach.

You can check out the result and even take the quiz at this link:
http://theapple.monster.com/videos/quizzes/124?utm_source=nlet&utm_content=tap_c1_20110127_goodteacher

If you are not a member of theApple, you really should consider joining.. You'll find it is an enormous teacher forum filled with great advice and helpful suggestions for novice and veteran teachers alike. Since we teachers all spend most of our professional lives in the pursuit of improvement--ours and others'--sites like theApple make it easy for us to accomplish just that.

Whenever I meet someone who wants a teaching position, I always steer them to theApple. The information about interviewing and job seeking is invaluable.

If you have a moment, visit theApple. You will learn a great deal. Oh, and take the quiz. I hope it will help you become a better teacher as well as help you find enjoyment  in the your profession.

After you take the quiz, come back here and let us know how you did. What qualities would you have included in a quiz about good teaching?