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Kelsey Jensen

Mrs. Jackie Burr, Instructor

English 2010, Section 3

11 February 2019

Self-Important Students and Parents

Dear Students and Parents,

Since when did the lacking in good grades become the teacher’s fault? A student’s failure

to understand something is not the teacher’s fault. Teachers spend years of training, and not to

mention money that they will not earn back because their salary is crappy, to try and endlessly

explain the same concepts to students, year, after year, after year, after year. Do you honestly

think that the poor grade reflecting the student’s work, is because the teacher doesn't know what

they are talking about? Teachers go to college to get their jobs, they have to, in some cases, they

have to get masters degrees, like my mom.

During those endless years of teaching, my mom has had to make constant “upgrades” in

the curriculum she teaches. Making it so she has to change every lesson plan she teaches for the

whole year. And this doesn't even begin to cover the meetings that keep popping up in teachers’

spare time, when instead of grading the hundreds of assignments that are turned in, they have to

attend because it will help them relearn things they learned in college, in previous meetings, or in

real life experience. Sometimes, the point of the whole meeting is generalized, and while it may

help one subject area teachers, it doesn't help others, but all of them still have to show up and

listen to how they have to be better teachers. My mom has had to go to many meetings, where

they tell her that she should have her students involve more technology in their learning, she is a

dance teacher. There’s not much more she can do with that than finding music on their
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technological device. Beyond generalized improvement advice, there is a constant pressure that

teachers have to be better. While looking up teacher struggles, I came across countless articles,

TED talks, and papers on how teacher can improve how they teach. Yes, every job pushes for

improvement, but in teaching the students are watching for screw ups. As a teacher, they have

hundreds of students depending on them to teach them the best way that they can, if they mess

up, even on accident, that student’s perception of that concept or class could be skewed for who

knows how long.

Grades should not be something that teachers are pestered about for weeks on end, in the

case of middle and high school teachers, they have at least three more classes, filled with twenty

to thirty students who turned in the same, if not, then more complicated assignments that they

have to grade individually. College professors have even more students on average, with a more

intense workload to grade. And if you are one of those students that insists on turning in your

work late, every, time, do not expect to be instantly gratified with a perfect grade. The current

assignment is a more pressing concern for the teacher, seeing as there are hundreds of other

students who deserve to have their assignment graded, because they were there, did the work,

and turned it in on time to make life just a tiny bit easier for the teacher. So sorry, you’re

personal grade is not of the utmost importance to your teachers.

To those parents who send rude emails, and refuse to work with teacher’s on their

students inappropriate behavior, because your child is a little angel with so many problems that

are just too hard for them to cope with, shape up. As Principal Ryan of Hunter Junior High so

eloquently put, the teacher does not need your student in their class (5 Feb. 2019), they do not,

and should not have to put up with your child’s problems. They are there to teach, maybe the

implication of teachers teaching is so bland to you that it flies right over your head. They cannot
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be there to pat your student on the head, and give them an A because their life is so hard. Life’s

great secret: everyone’s life is hard. The rest of us seem to struggle through it somehow without

blaming it on the fact that the teacher just doesn't understand me, or they don't respect me.

Teachers are willing to work with students that struggle, providing that student is willing to put

the work in. In an adult world, if a worker behaves inappropriately to a boss, they are fired on the

spot. Unfortunately for teachers, your student is required by law to be in school, yes they can

kick troublesome students out of their class if the behavior is too much of a problem, but then

that student just goes to another teacher, and causes more problems. The teacher should not have

to click perfectly with your student, your student’s teachers are their boss. Your student is being

paid with knowledge they can use as a functioning adult, with a job, and a stable life, so heaven

forbid your student try and meet the teacher half way to learn something in their class.

For those reading this, and are still blaming it on the fact that it’s a bad teacher, it’s called

self taught. There are teachers out there that will not be perfect for teaching certain students, but

education should not be totally up to the teachers, or even parents trying to spur their children to

learn something. It’s up to every person involved, students need to be willing to go and learn

something on their own. Otherwise, they’re not getting anything, you’re being fed information.

Learn to question, learn to think, learn to thank the teachers who taught you, learn to thank the

parents and other guardians in your life that have cared about you enough to push you to the

point when you decided to do something besides post, text, and play video games. Parents learn

to support your kids in their education, and help them learn. You can be the best kind of teachers

because you can personalize it for them, as much as we would want to have teachers be able to

personalize your child’s education, there are hundreds of kids that teachers have to worry about.

Just learn to learn! We need to stop blaming teachers for students’ short comings, we all share
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accountability in our own education. Teachers are dedicated their lives to making the community

around them smarter, the less we blame our shortcomings on them, the more teaching they can

get done.

Works Cited

Jensen, Emily. Face to face interview. 7 Feb. 2019.

Oaks, Ryan. 7 Feb. 2019.

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