Secrets Of A 'Back To School Night' Rebel

            (Editor's note: This column is written by San Leandro High School English teacher Jerry Heverly. Its tag line is inspired by education blogger Joe Bower who says that when his students do an experiment, learning is the priority. Getting the correct answer is entirely secondary.)

            Tonight is Back To School Night.

             I very much wanted to write something that would inspire every parent to flock to the high school, and would reveal all the behind-the-scenes secrets that teacher never tells you.

            Except that I don’t know any such secrets.

            The parents who show up for Back to School Night are always the ones that don’t need to be there, at least from the teacher’s perspective. They are the parents of the A students. They are the parents of the children who don’t misbehave. They are the parents of the kids who populate the honor roll. I love to talk to these folks but chances are this won’t be the only time we talk.

            On the other hand there are parents whose only contact with me might be tonight.

            We teachers would rather meet the parents of the struggling student, the boy who can’t sit still for ten minutes, the girl who spends more time on her makeup than on her essays.

             Anyway, we are not allowed to discuss individual students at BTSN. Our marching orders are to simply make a general presentation about our classes:  what we intend to teach, what assignments we intend to give, what books will be read, what essays will be written.

            These brief talks are an unsatisfying experience from my perspective. Since I must make six such presentations in the space of ninety minutes that doesn’t leave much time for conversation. I get about fifteen minutes with each group that visits my classroom. Some folks always have a hard time navigating the campus that generally means I get no more than ten minutes for each session since I must wait for the stragglers to find there way to me.

            {I guess there is a “secret” here. The reality is that I often break the rules and have one-on-one discussions with parents in the brief interregnum between periods, time permitting.}

            There are a few things I can recommend to make this night worth missing the A’s game on TV.

            Make sure, before you leave my room, that you email me. Use your phone if possible, but use the teacher’s computer if you can get the use of it. We teachers accumulate sign-in lists of parents and phone numbers but, despite the best of intentions, I confess I seldom do anything with those lists.

            If you have no email think about jotting down a short note to me with your name and phone number. Ask me to call you at a certain time but give me a couple options. Colored paper works well for grabbing my attention.

            Before one week passes, call or email me. You are busy, and so am I. If we make a connection right away there’s more chance that we’ll develop a sustainable relationship.

            And don’t be discouraged if I ‘m not always cordial when you call. Like anyone there are many things that want to claim my attention each day. Chatting with a relative stranger isn’t a high priority, but, over time, I’ll mellow and look forward to talking with you.

            Access the school’s web-based grade system (called ABI) before you leave the school tonight. It isn’t a difficult thing to master but, if you haven’t done it once it can be hard to learn on your own at home.

            Bring the kids. It’s always fun to see them squirm as their parents get a look at their otherwise-hidden life at school.

            I hope to see you.

Read other columns from the Entirely Secondary archive.

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