The first day of school is just around the corner. By my count students will be streaming into my classroom in just 20 days. For me, this is the real New Year, not the traditional 1 January date. That being the case, this is the time for New Year’s resolutions.

While my New Year date may be different, my way of making resolutions is very traditional; I make the same one every year. As a teacher, I resolve to do the best I possibly can for all of my students. This resolution is quite encompassing, as it means everything from keeping current with best teaching practices, identifying the particular needs of each individual student, keeping various computer programs up to date in order to keep parents informed, to providing the means and support for each student to realize their full potential, helping them develop into the strongest thinkers possible, and being there for them when they need my help, whether they have asked for it or not.

Okay, so much for my resolution. Now that I’ve made it, I have to wonder if my future students and their parents are also making resolutions for the New Year. After all, the education of a child is a three-way partnership: the teacher, the parents, and most importantly the student. In the event the idea of new school year resolutions has not occurred to you, here are some suggestions for both parents and students.

New (School) Year’s Resolutions for Students and Parents

As a student I resolve to:

1. Come to class each day fully prepared to learn
This looks like getting a good night’s sleep, eating a healthy breakfast, having a positive attitude, being on time, and having everything I need for class.

2. Listen to what is going on in the classroom
This looks like talking only when it is appropriate, writing notes only about the class content, using my pens and pencils for writing (not defacing my books/papers or those of students around me), and working only on tasks given for the class I am currently attending.

3. Do my absolute best
This looks like trying, taking risks, doing new things. It has nothing to do with potential success in doing whatever has been asked of you. Teachers don’t expect brilliant success for every assignment. If you knew how to do it all there wouldn’t be a need for school.

4. Be responsible and respectful
This looks like using the tools given you, such as the agenda…and oh yes, your brain. It also looks like using your words and actions appropriately toward everyone, no matter what you think of him or her inside, following instructions, following thru on assignments and turning them in on time, and reviewing regularly.

5. Take ownership of my learning
This looks like all of the above plus a few other things. Taking ownership of your learning has many facets. As an owner you will create goals for yourself, find out what you need to accomplish your goals, ask questions about your learning yourself. Parents quite often do this for you, but the problem with that is that then they have the answers, not you. This also looks like frequent reflection about your work, what worked and what didn’t. Doing this provides you with the opportunity to figure out how to do things successfully in the future. When you figure things out on your own, you have truly taken charge of YOUR learning, and YOU can take pride in your effort. This is what builds self-esteem.

As a parent I resolve to:

1. Provide support so my child can be fully prepared for classes each day
This looks like reinforcing with your child just how important learning/school is for everyone. Even top athletes had better have strong reading and math skills so they can at least make sure they truly understand their contracts (“25% of adults do not have the functional literacy skills required for a minimal job”, Louisa Moats, 1999 Teaching Reading is Rocket Science). This also looks like making sure there is a consistent time and place for doing homework, a consistent pattern for bedtime, and a reinforcement of the need for a healthy breakfast each morning.

2. Listen to what is going on in the classroom
This looks like talking with your child about what went on during the day, reading the teacher web pages regularly, reviewing the team calendar, and checking Power School at least once every ten school days (you can ask the system to e-mail you on a regular basis), and reviewing, with your child, his or her agenda on a daily basis.

3. Do my absolute best
For a parent this looks like providing support for your child, not doing for your child. This is a hard one for many of us parents, especially when a child is asking a simple question such as, “What does this word mean?” It is so easy to just give the answer, but that does nothing for your child’s learning. Instead, ask your child questions to help him or her find the answer on his or her own. This will increase your child’s learning, AND her or his self-esteem. This also looks like doing all that you can to fulfill all of these resolutions.

4. Be responsible and respectful
This looks like doing what you can to give your child a strong support system, getting to know the teachers, and remembering that teachers are teachers because they truly want to help students learn. Your attitude toward individual teachers and education in general, is what will be instilled in your child. If you would like them to be successful, you too must maintain a positive attitude, and remember, there are as many sides to a story as there are participants.

5. Give the ownership of my child’s learning to my child
This includes following the ideas for all of the other resolutions, plus doing a few other things. It looks like giving your child some independence. What better time for them to try being independent than when they have a full support group, at both home and school, to provide a safety net if they need one. It looks like working as a team with your child’s teachers. This means supporting the learning process by continuing what goes on in school at home. That looks like giving your child examples of goals you have set for yourself, so they understand that goal setting is important, and how it is done, modeling respectful attitudes, showing them how to ask questions so they can seek their own answers, asking how you can support them (not do for them, or punish them) if he or she is having problems, modeling how to see all sides of an issue before drawing any conclusions, and perhaps most importantly (and certainly the hardest), allowing them to see AND experience that there are times when everyone does poorly or even fails at something, but then modeling for them how one can reflect on what didn’t work, so that there can be success in the future. This is what learning is all about: your child’s success in the future when he or she will be making his or her own way in the world.

There is an old adage, “There’s no time like the present”, with which I couldn’t agree more. The start of a new school year is the best time to improve on what we have done in the past. Now is the time for students and parents to learn that school is about the students, and that students will only get out of it what THEY put into it. Now is the time for parents to step back, and let their children step up to the plate. After all parents, you have already been through school. As for me, that philosophy or belief has been at the core of my teaching, and my parenting, since I started in this career. Besides activities during the school year, I spend my summers planning, reading, and going to trainings, so that each year I can do the best by my students.

So, in the tradition of the New Year, let me give a toast to this being the best school year possible for all students, no matter their grade level, and here’s to all the parents and teachers who are out there guiding them.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 1st, 2007 at 8:00 am and is filed under Arts & Culture, Education, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.