Anonymous post from a teacher - but truly worthy of sharing

This is a dedicated forum to allow parents to post questions, discuss issues and to ask for, and receive advice about, any concerns they may have regarding their children and the reading instruction that they are given at school.
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Debbie_Hepplewhite
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Anonymous post from a teacher - but truly worthy of sharing

Post by Debbie_Hepplewhite »

This is a post from a teacher who has asked that this be posted anonymously:
Hi all, I felt compelled to post from a teachers perspective having read through a lot of frustrated posts from parents in regards to how their child’s teacher is supporting their child and their learning within the classroom. First of all, thank you for showing genuine interest and care in regards to your child’s learning. Parents such as yourselves are greatly appreciated by teachers and we love having you on board for the ride. We understand that you may have concerns about your child’s learning and that you want the best for your child, as do we. We teach because we care about kids and we want to help kids learn and reach their full potential. In saying this, many teachers do not receive specific training on how to specifically cater for children with additional learning needs. It is not the teachers fault for this, rather the university education courses and the education system that we work within. I know personally I have had to research on numerous occasions how to specifically cater for specific children within my class who are dyslexic, ASD, have language delays etc simply because I need to further my knowledge and understanding of how to cater for these children. At no point in my 4 year bachelor degree were any of these types of additional needs covered and apart from special education degrees, I would argue that most teachers would be in the same boat. This time spent researching how to cater for your child does not happen at school as there is simply no time with yard duty at recess and lunch, our release time spent planning the curriculum and endless admin tasks taking up our limited non contact time. It happens at home during my time with my family. Time that is taken away from my own family in order to be spent on researching how to best cater for your child and their needs. Time that is unpaid, family time that we do not get back and is spent agonising over whether or not we have done all we can to help meet your child’s learning needs. This is the side that parents often don’t see or are unaware of. Now I agree, not all teachers are the same in regards to their commitment, their understanding, their initiative and i understand parents will have all experienced different situations with their child’s teachers. However, often your child’s teacher is just as frustrated as you are. Wanting to do more but unsure of the best way to go about it or not knowing exactly where to find the resources that they feel they need. By no means is this intended to offend any parents, but rather to put forward the perspective of a teacher who is doing their best to meet the needs of all kids in their classroom to the best of their ability. We want the same thing as you and that’s for your kids to enjoy their time at school and enjoy their learning journey!
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