Tips from a Teacher

Tips From an Elementary School Teacher to an Elementary School Parent–Advice for a Successful Year

Go team!

The parent-teacher relationship is a team effort. You are both on the same team rooting for the success of your child. That means your words and actions must support the teacher, especially when your child is around. Hopefully, the school year will be an overall positive experience for everyone. But, teachers are humans who will make mistakes and maybe even do something that will upset you or your child. Please understand it’s never intentional. If there is an issue, don’t let your child hear your adult opinions and conversations about it. Instead, let your child hear your support and respect, even if you are respectfully disagreeing with something. Your respect for the teacher becomes your child’s respect for the teacher. 

In Case of Emergency

It’s embarrassing the number of days I’ve come to school and realized I forgot to put on deodorant or spilled coffee on my shirt. A teacher’s emergency kit comes in clutch! Here are some must-haves to include:

• Travel size toiletries (deodorant, mouthwash, lotion, hand sanitizer)
• Chapstick
• Hair ties
• Gum
• Tide Pen or Shout Wipes
• Contact solution
• A roll of quarters for the vending machine 

Streamline Communication

A great teacher builds relationships with her students and their families. It’s possible your child’s teacher is already a friend of yours. Keep the school things and the friend things separate. The teacher needs school-related correspondence to be in an email (or whatever official means of communication your school district has chosen). When needed, the teacher can easily search for a specific email instead of looking in multiple places for that question someone sent about an upcoming field trip. Help simplify and streamline communication by keeping the school conversations in a professional place. 

Read the Newsletter

Speaking of communication, teachers typically have a consistent way of keeping parents up to date with important things happening at school. It could be a digital newsletter, a website, Google Classroom, or an email. Whatever means your child’s teacher has chosen to communicate with you, check there first before contacting the teacher with a question about general classroom information. Teachers spend a lot of time on communication to keep parents in the loop. Read what is provided and double check it before you ask a question. You’ll likely find your answer there! 

Extend Grace

I once received an email from an upset parent over a decision that was completely out of my control. Even after explaining that I could not change the decision, the parent was still angry. Months later, I learned that his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer the same day he sent the email. I was the recipient of misplaced grief. You just never know what people are walking through. Likewise, you never know what personal burdens a teacher carries into the four walls of her classroom everyday. It could be heavy circumstances like divorce, a miscarriage, caring for aging parents, death, or a diagnosis. Or it could be the woes of everyday life, like a rushed morning getting to school, appointments that need to be made, or a call from the daycare that his or her child is sick. Teachers are not immune to life and usually must put their personal life on hold from the hours of 7:30-3:30. Assume the best and extend grace. We all need it. 

Ask Clarifying Questions

I guarantee your child will come home with a story to tell about how someone was mean to her on the playground or someone stole his Uncrustable at lunch. Before sending an accusatory email to the teacher or getting the administration involved, contact the teacher and ask clarifying questions. Stay neutral and approach the email with consideration that a six year old’s perspective of circumstances is not always accurate. Asking questions instead of jumping to conclusions makes communication productive and saves everyone time, stress, and maybe even tears. 

Provide a Calm Moment

By the end of the day, your child has been working extremely hard for seven hours. Good teachers have high expectations for their students. The school day, while it is fun and active, is taxing on a young mind. Your child has been holding back a lot of emotions throughout the school day in order to give his or her best effort. You may see every bit of those emotions unleash in a negative way the second your child gets in the car or off the bus in the afternoons. Before rushing off to extracurricular activities or getting homework done, squeeze in a moment of calm. Your child may need silence, your child may need some quality time with you, or your child may need a mindless activity like a couple episodes of Bluey. Whatever your child needs to unwind from the school day, try to give your child a protected calm moment in the afternoon–even if it’s just a quiet ride from school to piano practice.

Feed the Teacher

The flair pens and the neon post-it notes are cute and I promise every teacher appreciates quality school supplies, but if you want to bless your child’s teacher at the beginning of the school year, food is the way to go. There are many ways you can do this. Ask what his or her favorite drinks and snacks are and stock the supply for the classroom. Grab a gift card to Chick-fil-a with a message that says, “Dinner is on me tonight.” Buy a pint of chicken salad and some crackers so that lunch is taken care of for the week. You’ve heard the saying, “There’s no tired like teacher tired,” and it’s true, especially at the beginning of the school year. Feeding the teacher, and even her family, is a great way to help lighten the load. 

✨Guest Post!✨ I’d love to introduce my friend Brittany Von Kanel! Brittany and I met as elementary education majors at Auburn University and became fast friends. Brittany is a wife and mom to three amazing kids. She is a 4th grade teacher at Liberty Park Elementary School in Vestavia Hills, Alabama
Loved these tips from a teacher? Follow Brittany on Instagram at @bjeanvk and @bjeanwrites
Read more posts and insight from Brittany on her Substack Platform.

Interested in capturing beautiful photographs of your elementary student? I offer family sessions that feature your children and family- I would love to work together!