Thomas J. West Music

Many times as teachers (and as parents) we feel we are communicating our expectations to young people clearly. Many times we are, but it simply hasn't been said enough times.

Or maybe, we need to make sure that our intended audience is paying attention.

Many times as teachers (and as parents) we feel we are giving the other adults we work with and work for adequate information for them to act upon. Many times we are, but it simply isn't communicating well.

Or maybe, it's how we're saying it, not what we're saying, that's being misconstrued.

As a parent, it's very demoralizing when your child's teacher piles on more work for them and inevitably something you as the parent are supposed to do falls through the cracks. I create my own guilt trip on that one, and a teacher's note in my son's agenda book in red ink saying "please send in this form" is bordering on insulting.

As a teacher, we need to remember that parents, husbands, wives, and children have more expectations piled on their plates than ever. It is very easy for the cynicism to kick in and say. "How many more times do I have to TELL them this?!?"

That cynicism drips into every interaction we have without our knowledge or intent. In general, both students and parents want to please teachers (assuming they value the educational opportunity). Strive to set them up for small successes (both parent and student) and exercise the most imporant virtue a teacher (or a human being in general) can possess - patience.

Patience, grace, sincerity, and forgiveness solve most problems. And don't forget - when communication doesn't work, perhaps it is you that needs to pay attention and become the listener.

This article (c) 2011 Thomas J. West. All content on ThomasJWestMusic dot com is licensed under a Creative Contributions Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Please contact the author before publishing on or off-line.

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