My mantra for children’s academic success has always extolled the virtues of the three-pronged approach- teachers, students and parents. In fact, I detailed my thoughts on this topic in my July 2, 2013 blog “We are Family…teachers, students and parents are we”. Why am I focusing on this theme once again? Recently, Suzette Clarke, one of my teacher connections, ignited my interest with her book, I’m Your Teacher Not Your Mother, and I want to share her ideas with you.
Her odyssey, which was sparked when a sociology professor said, “If you really want to make a difference in the world, become a teacher!” led to Clarke’s teaching career in Brooklyn, New York. After leading 6th, 7th and 8th graders in English, Reading and Social Studies for fifteen years, she served as a Librarian/ Media Specialist in New York City schools.
As an educator, Ms. Clarke stood with her colleagues in the front lines of academic reforms and the testing frenzy. Through it all, she realized that if students were to succeed, they needed to make school their primary focus…obviously.
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She also came to the understanding that all parents had to accept their responsibilities for making their children stay on task and not falling behind. They were their children’s first teachers, after all. Considering they had five years to turn on their offspring’s Knowledge is Power light, they set the pace for their sons and daughters to choose learning as their top priority-not music, not sports, not socializing, not any other distraction- LEARNING.
In her blurb about her book, Clarke says, “Enough is enough. It’s time for parents to wake up.” She feels the constant blaming of teachers for students’ academic struggles is equivalent to a car’s tires spinning on ice. Like her colleagues who have led classrooms, she knows that
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Students who succeed have parents who have taught them that they are responsible for their work.
Students who succeed have parents who have taught them the ABC’s of school success: Accountability, Behavior, and Concern.
Students who succeed have parents who have taught them that on the path to academic achievement, excuses are never acceptable.
In I’m Your Teacher Not Your Mother, Clarke does not tiptoe around her stance regarding parental responsibility. An excerpt from the book shows her passion for this mission of her academic-inspired odyssey:
“It has become the norm to assume that failing children are the result of bad teachers and a deteriorating school system, instead of what it really is: an expanding culture of students who do not keep up their end of the educational bargain and an increasing pandemic of parents who continuously allow their children’s poor school habits to flourish.”
These are strong words for those parents Clarke feels need taken to task. She details three simple solutions to help parents both understand and implement in their families to insure their children’s success. Her own words explain this best. Check them out on
To paraphrase Ms. Clarke’s Sociology professor, “Parents-If you really want to make a difference in your children’s academic success, click on their Knowledge is Power light!”
Until next week,
Connie
