Parents and students

Two weeks into term and I'm again exhausted. But I still love my job. It is exhausting physically and emotionally, but there are moments when I know it's where I'm supposed to be.

This week was parent teacher conferences, an evening of smiling and nodding and looking for positive things to say about students that drive me up the wall on a regular basis.

However, parents are unpredictable creatures and it is worrying how often I become the advocate for a student. I spoke to a parent who is actively encouraging her child to leave school at 16 because he's not achieving very highly. However, he's an intelligent, creative kid who is one of the best creative writers I've taught and loves acting. Her great idea is that he joins the airforce! She was so critical of him, looking for every chance to find fault and even when I defended him, she didn't want to hear it.

But at least she turned up. Some parents are simply not interested.

The positive side of the evening was that parents thanked me for the amount of effort I was putting into helping their kids. It's amazing how just a few words of acknowledgement makes you feel worthwhile.

On another note, this week one of my students told me that she has a tumour in each of her breasts, one is frighteningly large. She had surgery yesterday to remove the tumours, they will also do a biopsy to see if they are malignant. I can't imagine what she will be going through, it would be difficult for me at 30, let alone a girl of 16.

This is part of being a teacher. I have become so much more aware of the day to day trials of people as these kids share with me snippets of what they are going through. I am able to be a support and encouragement in so many different ways on a daily basis. I know that lots of these kids won't remember me when they are living their adult lives, but I hope that they will go out into those lives having learnt at least a little from their time with me (even if they still can't spell.)