C4T Summary February

Tis the Season of Report Cards: Praising Effort and Setting Goals
My parents also did this when I was younger. I did not always make all A’s, and even when I didn’t my mom would ask me if I tried my hardest and if I truly did they were proud of me and not disappointed at all. My dad would take me out on a date and my mom would give me money to go buy what ever I wanted. I got $10 for every A and $5 for every B, I didn’t get anything for C’s but I don’t think I ever had one. My mom would praise me for a few days and then a few days later she would ask me how she could help me practice and get better at what I had received a B in. The praise helped my confidence and the help from my mom helped me with my coming to her and asking her for help because I knew she would not judge me for not knowing something. My parents were the biggest impact on my grades, and I believe that for every child in school. A parent that takes the time to help their children learn and get better grades will boost their child’s confidence and create a trust within their relationship between parents and child.

THe Matter of the Heart
I agree with you that teachers get frustrated over things that they do not understand. I know this from experience, but luckily I have a very good role model to look up to for my teaching strategies. My mother was a teacher for 18 years, she taught my husband and both of my brothers. If she had a student that was struggling or had a disability, she would research how to help them and she did her best to help. I saw the way her trying this hard meant to her students. Even the students without disabilities would help. No one was on their own in her classroom. As the students moved on my mom would inform their next teacher and suggest the ways to help that student. My mom’s students still look up to her for that, and so do their families. I enjoyed reading this series of posts, it was very informative and it needs to read by all future teachers out there. This is a huge issue that needs to be addressed while they are still learning to become good teachers.