Every year teachers prepare to entertain the parents of their students for a night; answering questions, informing them of the life their children have while at school five days a week. Parents sit and listen to the well practiced speeches that teachers prepare in order to inform the usually eager parents.
However, is sitting in a student’s classroom for 15 to 20 minutes listening to basic information really useful? Do parents really garner information that could not have been provided on a simple paper that is sent home?
During Open House teachers are required to answer any and all questions parents may have in regards to their children’s education. That in of itself can be daunting to teachers who get bombarded with multiple questions that can be thoughtfully answered through an email or two.
However, it could be argued that meeting the teachers is beneficial for it allows for parents to put a face to the name that their child spends almost 10 months with. Though this is true, it could also be said that parents do not need to know every aspect of their child’s life. High school is four years of preparation for adulthood and students should be capable of managing their high school career without their parents knowing every little detail about their schooling.
Open House is known to be intended for parents only. Though there are a number of parents that show up, it is not forgotten that there are many parents that are not capable of making it to the event. Be it their jobs, or maybe their other children that cannot be left home alone. In theory Open House is a positive and informational night for parents, yet there are a number of parents that are left in the dark because they do not have the option to drop everything and sit in four to six classrooms for three to four hours.
That being said, the solution to this issue would be to send out an email regarding all of the topics that are being discussed during the night so as to inform all parents and not just a select few. This meaning that parents can stick to their original schedule and continue to live their life without stressing about missing ‘important information.’
Meet the teacher night was useful when students were in elementary and junior high school. Parents were still assumed to be in charge of their student’s efforts and knowledge. High school meet the teacher appears to be time consuming and burdening to parents that have a life outside of their kid(s) in high school. A quick and detailed email or recording would suffice for parents who care about what their child will be expecting throughout the year.
