For a long time, calling parents was difficult for me because I
knew the calls upset the parents. I felt awkward in a dynamic where the parent
was embarrassed and many times defensive. I dreaded making those calls: when
you don’t have good news for a parent, the calls just don’t feel very good.
This changed when I became familiar with a concept —- you only have authority if you are
under authority. That became the key to positive calls. Most of
a teacher’s authority over a student, comes from the good manners and high
expectations taught and reinforced in the home. When I had a misbehaving
student whose behavior didn’t improve with the school’s discipline plan, I had
a private conversation that went like this: (Click on the Picture Below)
Janet McCoy
