Coach Bags and Good Grades

Today I bring you another guest post (sorry, I know you miss me!) from another awesome friend who doesn’t currently write her own blog.  Kelli and I met freshman year in college.  We were in the same English class.  We didn’t become friends then though.  It wasn’t until the following year when I was looking to move out of my triple (which was the size of a jail cell) and into another dorm or apartment on campus that Kelli and I crossed paths again.  We were both looking to do a room/roommate swap and ended up trying to swap with each other.  However, she didn’t want to live in my triple and I didn’t like the sound of her roommate so it didn’t work out.  BUT, the following year, after I had landed a sweet single room in a campus apartment, I asked Kelli to move in with me.  She became one of my roommates and so began our kick ass friendship.  I only wish I could somehow get her to move back to the Bay State, she is a Sox and Pats fan after all.

*********************************************************************************************************

Coach Bags and Good Grades

So, when Kristin (one of my bestest friends in the world and who taught me just about everything I know about Mommyhood, the Red Sox, and the Patriots) asked if I would be interested in doing a guest appearance on her famous blog, I jumped at the opportunity. However, what would I blog about? I mean her blogs are so hilarious and so captivating and perhaps genius. How would I ever compare? Well, I immediately starting thinking about what to blog about—maybe being a new mom, no, wait, how about a working, new mom? Nah, that is boring. What about being a working, new mom who used to go out all of time in college and dance on bars and now just craves a really good night sleep and a delicious cup of Dunkin Donuts blueberry coffee? Well, that sounds pretty good, but I think many moms are in my shoes and might not find that blog entry captivating or genius. So, I started to feel deflated.

Let me take a commercial break. I am a high school mathematics teacher. I am responsible for teaching over one hundred teenagers each year the wonderful world of either Algebra I or Algebra II (and next year, College Calculus!). I also teach at the same high school that both my husband and I graduated from. We are also moving to this school district in the next few months. So, yesterday I was grading a test that I gave my first period students. They performed terribly. I immediately started questioning my teaching and how I prepared them for the test. I did a good job. No, I did a great job. The students did not complete the review packet. The students did not stay after school for extra help. The students finished the test too quickly. It is their fault. I asked my husband—who is also a high school mathematics teacher at the same school—what his opinion was on the situation. He said, “kids these days just do not care about school.” Other veteran teachers said the same thing—“students just do not care. They are apathetic. Their parents give them everything and that is all that matters to them.” So, I started to think about my daughter. Mackenzie is going to be nine months next week (seriously? When did this happen?!) Then I started to think about my blog entry again. This problem is what I blog about…..kids and school!

And so, will Mackenzie be apathetic towards school? Not if I have anything to do with it. Why would “today’s parents” not encourage their kids to do well in school? Why give cell phones, iPods, new Coach bags, new cars if they are not doing well in school? It seriously bothers me—especially now that I am a parent—that parents do not support their children in school. For at least 12 years, school is the only job that children need to have. Of course, they may have after-school jobs for making extra money or to even help out with the bills at home or they may participate in athletics or extra-curricular activities. But, the primary focus should be academics. Let me tell you, Mackenzie will be focused on academics. She might not end up being the smartest kid in the class—and that is okay—but she will try her best in all of her endeavors. Why can’t today’s students be encouraged by their parents to succeed in school?