Meet the Parents

I had a very interesting parent-teacher conference today. The parent of one of my brightest but toughest (and one of my favorite, though I'm not supposed to admit that) students came in today, and this was my first chance to meet her, despite numerous phone conversations (and messages that, in hindsight, probably got deleted by the student before they ever reached her mother). Shaheeda's attitude in class has been difficult, to say the least, and her behavior has certainly been less than desirable. In my head, I had constructed this horrible home situation in which no parent seemed to care what Shaheeda did or said, leading to the angry student who frequently lashed out in my class.

I very quickly discovered I was wrong. Shaheeda's mother lit up when she saw Shaheeda's report card- almost entirely A's and B's, and all her grades had risen tremendously from the end of the first marking period. Shaheeda's mother and I chatted for quite a bit, discussing everything from Shaheeda's most recent essay (which her mother hadn't even known she was working on) to our mutual love for the Twilight series. I learned that Shaheeda's mother worked most days and it was difficult to get off work, that Shaheeda has several sisters, all of whom take away the attention Shaheeda so desperately wants, and that her mother had never heard from Shaheeda about any of the positive changes to her report card or the high marks she received on school projects. As I look back at this conference now, it's clear I seriously have to change my outlook- her mother definitely cares, even if she doesn't always call me back. And, I need to call home for positive things MUCH more often.