Biology, Physics, and Parents

Today, I was told that I will be adding two classes to my inclusion schedule: biology and physics.

I had no idea what to say, so I just kind of laughed, took a deep breath, and said, “okay” rather hesitantly. For those of you who do not know, science is definitely not my favorite or best subject. In fact, I have had nightmares about science tests before. Yet, there is something about teaching and knowing that those students can’t take any excuses that gives me some strength. I’ve grown to love math a lot more over the past month, and hopefully it will be the same for science. If not, well then I’ll have to suck it up and make it work.

On another note, I called the parents of the students who I assigned detention yesterday. I began the conversation by introducing myself as their child’s teacher. I decided to start off with something positive about the students so that the parents would not think I was calling just to complain. I then explained my tardy policy to the parents, and said that I needed to hold the student after school one day for thirty minutes. The conversations went well, and I let them know that they could call me on my cell phone. It is my hope that this will be the start of some great partnerships between me and the families of my students. I need the trust, support, and counseling of the parents—I sure as hell won’t be able to achieve my fullest potential in the classroom without them.