ABSTRACT
A teacher once received a letter at 9:00 A.M. from a parent who asked the question, “Are you running a correspondence course with my son?” After fuming around, the teacher was advised by a wiser colleague to settle down and consider what the parent was saying. Further advice was to determine to what extent the parent had a legitimate criticism, call the parent in for a conference, and begin by agreeing that the able student had been left to proceed with the math on his own with minimum teacher input. This was done and a plan was made for the teacher to check in with the student on a more regular basis. The parent was then asked to write or call, but not at 9:00 A.M. since the timing was unnerving. The parent agreed and the matter was concluded. Several months later at a PTA meeting, the father stood and praised the teacher on several aspects of his teaching. The moral to this parable is that first find where the criticism is valid and then voice any concerns about its content or the method of delivery. This principle gained from this experience was a key factor in the teacher’s future relationships with parents.
