By Vanessa Alvarado Gutierrez
It’s early Saturday morning and little Kayla Adams is getting herself ready for school. Yes, school at the amazing age of three. Kayla looks to her mom and sees that she is putting all of her students’ work in a bag. Her mom smiles back and they go along with their day.
Once both Kayla and Mrs. Adams get to school, Kayla goes straight for her little corner next to Mrs. Adams’ desk where Kayla has her own set of toys and books to keep herself occupied for the time being. Kayla must content herself with with her toys since she knows both she and her mom are going to have a long day of grading and preparing the new assignments for the week, as always.
Loy Norrix junior Kayla Adam’s mom, Missie Adams, teaches preschool at Arcadia Elementary. Like any other child, Kayla loves to spend time with her mom, and she has had some great experiences.
“When my mom was a first grade teacher, I used to stay after with her, and she let me go into the copy room with her and let me print papers with her. I would go in there all the time and print random stuff,” said Kayla.
Kayla grew up in the school environment since from a young age she attended many school-related events with her mom. Although she had fun at times, there would always be some hard times as well.
“A lot of times when it was the end of the trimester, grades would be due and we would have to stay after really late. I would have nothing to do, so I would get really bored,” said Kayla.
Parents often help their kids with their work and projects, but some may have a harder time with this if their parents put a lot of extra stress on them, expecting more.
“It gets hard at times because she has higher expectations from me,” said Kayla.
Though it may appear to society that kids are the only ones affected when their parent is a teacher, having to stay after school to grade papers and meet their deadlines, leaves these parents with less time to spend with their own kids. This career can have a very negative impact on the family members of teachers. A teacher-parent does not ever stop, they are always thinking about their students and what they can do to help them as well as their own kids.
“It was hard for me to be both a parent and a teacher at the same time, trying to decipher when I should act more professional and vice versa,” said Missie Adams.
The article “Being a Parent and a Teacher…an Impossible Combination?” by The Educators Room, explains in detail how teachers are affected. This article features a teacher parent who tells us the story of her daily life schedule. In the article it is clear that the parent’s time is overfilled trying to balance worrying about her own children and her students.
Teaching parents have to find a way to manage their own schedule and concerns about their students while being present and available to their own children.
“It’s easier managing my students and kids life. Sometimes it would be hard having to take them to practices and also having to grade papers though,” said Missie Adams.
Teachers do so much for students as well as for their own kids, so students should really take this into account and show the appropriate appreciation for everything teachers do.
“I wouldn’t change anything other than maybe putting my work to the side at home and being more present more often,” said Missie Adams.
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The Highs and Lows of Having a Parent as a Teacher
April 28, 2019
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