Parental+Threats

=3. How do I work with parents who are aggressive, threatening, or attacking my work as a teacher?=

After browsing the resources about working with parents, negotiate with your group five key concepts to remember when dealing with difficult parents. Draw upon suggestions from the readings. You can negotiate your "top 5" in writing or f2f.

5 Key Concepts to Remember about Working with Parents
1. Listen to the parents. Be quiet and allow the parent(s) to talk and explain. Maybe they just want to vent about their child and really don't have a problem with you as a teacher.

2. Treat difficult parents with the same respect that you would to any other parent. Always remember this idea, "kill them with kindness."

3. Don't argue or use sarcasm with the parent. Treat the situation as a concern for yourself. If the parent is THAT upset about the situation then you need to realize that it's important to you, as a teacher, as well.

4. If the situation is so upsetting to you, as the teacher, ask another teacher, principal, counselor (or some other faculty member) to join in on a future conference so that there's a middle person who can help balance out the situation.

5. "First understand and then be understood." Provide examples for why your methods are important - give them background and support to show that what you're doing as a teacher is important and is done for a reason.

Once you have your list, create a scenario that deals with your question. Write a short paragraph that describes a likely situation including what the key players (student, teacher, parent) have done and how they are feeling now. You can write the scenario as a group or someone can post an idea for the others to revise until you are all satisfied. Type your scenario below.

Scenario
Jessie is a 10th grader in Ms. Leonard's Spanish Level II class during first hour. The other evening, Jessie's mother, Mrs. Brown, left a message on Ms. Leonard's voicemail that was quite hostile. The hostile message explained that Mrs. Brown was upset that Jessie is being marked absent because she's tardy every single morning for the class. Because Ms. Leonard has an attendance policy and uses it towards participation credit in the class, Jessie's grade has been dropping. Mrs. Browns' reasoning for her child being tardy is because the class starts too early and Jessie needs her beauty rest.

When you have your scenario, each person should draft a hypothetical email to the parent in response to the scenario. Write the emails on the discussion boards. Read your classmates' work and comment on it. Look at it from the point of view of the parent, the student, and an administrator. How does it come across? What suggestions do you have?