A Letter to My Children's Teacher

To the hard working Educators that have and will teach my Daughters:

First of all thank you for all that you do. This job is fun, hard, exciting, exhausting, mind blowing, exhilarating, full-filling, and draining, but always rewarding.

There are a few things that I want to do my very best to promise to you:

1. I promise to always call you by Mr., Mrs., Doctor, or whatever other name that you wish for my child to call you, because we are not friends. You are my child's teacher, and I want to show you the fullest respect. My child will call me Mom, and Dad, will be called Dad.  They will never call us by our first names EVER!  I will never call my Dentist, Andrew or call my Gynecologist... Jenny. Therefor in person, over email, at the Costco, and the Bar on Friday night, you will be called Mr, or Mrs. Whatever...ALWAYS!

2. My child is always wrong.....
Until further investigation by adults occurs, I will ALWAYS believe you. Even if you are wrong, my daughters will never know the difference. I will never assume that my child is telling me the truth, as children most likely do not have the maturity to admit fault for their wrong doings. If they did they would probably not need to be in school,  and would be driving, or have jobs. I understand that teachers do not send emails, make phone calls, or ask for meetings on Friday afternoons, unless they absolutely feel that there was a problem with my child.  I am certain that you have better things to do, like creating lesson plans, analyzing data, or giving my child feedback to make them more successful. I thank you for contacting me regarding my child's behaviors, as I am fully aware that my child is NOT perfect, and that telling a parent that their "precious" being was not being respectful to adults, children or property in school, is NEVER an easy conversation to have.

3. I value your feedback
When you tell me that my child is struggling with being kind to others,or their  multiplication  facts are difficult, bringing a healthy snack is a challenge, or their reading fluency is poor, or they are having difficulty   making friends,or her desk is a hot mess, etc, I promise to do everything in my power to make sure that I am doing everything that I can to help them. I appreciate you bringing this to my attention,  I am sure that you have data, observations, and have had conversations about my child on how to make them the best that they can be.
Recommending websites, resources, etc, are greatly appreciated, and I know that it took a lot of time to gather those for us. Thank you for involving me in the conversation, as this child will be forever mine (and maybe in my basement at one time) and any feedback that I receive in regard to their social and academics is amazing.  Grandmas only tell me how wonderful they are...they/we are biased, so an outsiders perspective is beyond appreciated.

4. I promise to never talk about you in front of  my child or on Social Media: 
Just as I would never want you to talk about me in front of my child,  I promise to never talk about you in front of them either, as this makes my child seem that they do not have to respect you, because I am not respecting you.  I am sure there will be things that I will not agree with you upon, but I will either keep those to myself, or confront you. If we can not agree, I will then follow the chain of command and go to your principal, but I will never go behind your back or above you, because we are adults.  Good or Bad,  no one deserves to have their name posted on Facebook/Twitter/etc, without their knowledge (ex. I got Mrs Hernandez, I heard she is strict). Teachers are not celebrities, and certainly do not get paid like a celebrity, so they should not be discussed in public forum as celebrities are.

5. I will never buy you something with an Apple
Teachers do not get paid enough, and if I knew that you needed more Sharpies, or pencils, or crayons, I would buy you that, just let me and other parents know, I am sure that those markers will be used  by my child, as she is a Marker Whore just like her Mama! For the holidays, I will never buy you an apple key chain, or a soap set...Do Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks sound ok?  If I knew what kind of liquor that you liked, I would buy you that....

Thank you for everything that you do for my child. I absolutely could not teach my child... in fact...do you have any plans for Spring Break???????

Kind Regards,
A fellow Teacher and Parent