Our snuggle is interrupted when a text comes in, If you know my phone, it's arrival is announced by the Old Spice ditty and, since it's late I decide to look, unsure of who would be texting me at that time of night, prompting a wee pang of panic about my children. (Pause for dramatic effect) You can probably guess that it was a parent of a student in one of my classes who, not coincidentally, has chosen to be right on the brink of not achieving the credit thanks to multiple assignments that were never submitted, despite daily reminders and multiple one on one conferences. What likely prompted this questionable choice on the mom's part was a blunt message left on her phone that past Friday that this weekend was Make or Break for her child and she's likely frustrated by the situation.
My wife's face was filled with a look of incredulous bewilderment when I revealed who was responsible for disturbing our Saturday night. "She knows what time it is, right?" she said to no one in particular and followed by, "She knows it's Saturday, right, and that you're retiring this week?" After sharing me with thousand's of kids throughout our marriage, she has become a little less generous these days, as she has grown to like having me around more.
You want to know something? After almost 30 years together she still gets surprised by the choices some parents make. Awash with all of the negative criticism surrounding teachers these days, it's still considered okay by some parents to seek out counsel or assistance at a time that EVERYONE knows would be a teacher's family time. We both agreed that we would never be those parents, especially since it was made perfectly clear that the situation was created by the procrastination of our child.
In a microcosm, that's how things have significantly changed in education and why parents/critics who trumpet, "I had (this or that) when I went to school, and I made out fine." Education has made a drastic metamorphosis since 2012, the year that statistics tell us cellphones reached significant wide-spread usage. I know that I wouldn't be the only one to admit that there were often times during my own education that I made a good choice to complete assigned tasks simply because I was bored. Oh, don't misunderstand that there were thousands of times where some sort of activity shooed away my boredom, but school work was a distant second choice. Boredom is no longer an issue for today's students, and because of that, education has seen a steady decline in the proportion of students in any class meeting assignment deadlines, if at all. Who wants to write an essay or deal with fractions when the dopamine-filled world of Tic Toc, Snapchat, Instagram and whatever flavour du Jour is a simple click away ... and from the privacy of a bedroom, no less. Parents, you know that gnawing demon thrashing around inside you chest that strangles your heart when your frustration levels spike thanks to some sort of scenario that involves your child? Those of us who teach your children have 25 of them in class at the same time, and Ford wants that number increased to 30 or 35 or, shudder, 40. Considering this, even for a moment, do you still think that your child's teacher is lazy and over-paid? We're not in Kansas any more Toto.
By the time that January 31st rolls around, situations like this will cease to exist for our family, but I have grave fears for my younger colleagues about where the crux of it all lies. Pragmatically, I understand that we are still on the upswing when it comes to the effect of technology on the classroom, but at some point it will have to get better. My fear is for the state of education by the time that happens. Will Ontario be like Quebec where the best have left the profession and they cannot find competent replacements? Will the innovators and envelope-pushers have left as well? Or never choose that pathway in the first place? My own children are adults now so the immediate effect on my family is null, but I hope to have grandchildren at some point before I arrive at the pearly gates (YES, I am confident I am going that way and not the other), so the quality of public education is still personally important. THAT is why I have chosen to strike against Ford's cuts.
As I am writing this post, it's early Sunday morning and the sun is just coming up. As my wife hits the bottom stair, she sees me in my familiar perch on the couch, laptop in place and I am greeted with the question, "Are you marking that student's assignments?" That pretty much sums it up, doesn't it? Despite complaints and groans, teachers always seem to find a way to make it work, and Joe Public comes to expect more and more.
Sorry, I have to wrap this up. I have some work to do ... I haven't retired yet.
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