Dear Parents:

Dear Parents,

Summer is drawing to a close. I am sure you have purchased a bunch of pens and white polos and two-pocket folders by now. But before you start the Halleluja Chorus and send the sweet little beasts back to me, let’s get a few things straight. I love your children. I said that out loud to you last night at Meet the Teacher, and you were probably wondering about me. I said other odd things too (and your children will report these continuing idiosyncracies throughout the year I’m sure); I like to shake it up a little, and the love comment probably had you furrowing a brow. But think about it: why ELSE would I hang out with thirty 14 year olds every day, masochism aside of course? And especially your kids? You know how they can be!!

I suppose even after 15 years of teaching I am still a Polly-Anna of sorts. I still think I can change the world with a bit of passion and a couple teaching strategies up my sleeve. I’ve honed my style for years and have a few letters after my name to prove I am highly educated in my field (MAT if you were wondering). Not quite a Master Jedi, but it will have to do! And I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck. I will teach your students how to write this year and communicate effectively in a variety of ways. And I have actually been paid to do this myself: to write, to edit, to publish. Just so you know. And although I am an old-fashioned kind of gal, I will do my fair share with the active board and ipads and grammar ninja interactives this year. I know all about Facebook and text messaging and all these new-fangled things so they can’t pull the wool over my eyes. Don’t you worry.

Because I love your children, there are a few things you need to know. With love comes responsibility: theirs and mine. First of all, I want what’s best for them, just like you. I want them to think creatively and critically and make new friends and enjoy their chocolate milk cartons at lunch and bring their homework to class. And I also want to challenge them to be BETTER than they think they can be…at thinking, at compassion, at writing, at living. Sometimes it is smooth sailing and we do our lessons and write our vocabulary sentences and eat our Smarties and everything is hunky-dory. But sometimes the little dears may require a little more TLC: Tough Love Camp. (Ask my own son why he is often sitting on the step in time out or losing out on the baseball cards he was trying to earn.) Discipline is the key to success in all aspects of life. And if your children need a little dose of discipline to get them on the right track, just know that they will get it. If we do the small things well, we can move to success in the big things.

Please know that I do not lie awake at night thinking of ways to torment your children. Believe me, I need my sleep and I am usually snoring before my head hits the pillow. This job is exhausting. Three hundred decisions a day. “Can I go to the bathroom?” “Is this the right answer?” “Where do I put this test?” (and I bite my tongue to resist the snarky answer since we have put EVERY test in the exact same spot and it is APRIL!) “Is it time for lunch?” “Can you talk to Johnny? He just punched me.” The all-day answering machine (me!!) gets pretty worn out. Not to mention the kids with the real problems like a father with cancer or a mother in another state. I used to haul dirt and rocks for a landscaper in the summer. I was MUCH LESS tired after ten hours of landscaping in the sun than from a day in the classroom. So no, I don’t have time for vendettas, or to pick on your individual children. I like them all equally!

Middle school is a difficult time; let’s make that clear at the beginning. It is my privilege to help your children navigate a world where they still appreciate smelly stickers on their spelling tests but they are starting to deal with puberty and drugs and friends that are enemies and bad influences that look pretty darn appealing. But I cannot coddle them. Growing up and breaking up are both hard to do. Life is not always fair and bad things DO happen to good people. I would be re-miss if I did not try to teach your children these truths. I will be gentle (mostly) but some of my best lessons from my own father who loved me dearly came at pretty ferocious speeds and very high decibels. I will do my best to teach your children well.

My hope for them this year is that they will become articulate, fun-loving, passionate, and hard-working. We will have our moments of disappointment and great joy this year, I am sure. (Everything is larger when seen through the lens of middle school angst.) And yes, I will love them. Love them with all my might as we navigate together this middle passage. I pray for calm waters and smooth sailing, a sturdy boat and a lot of hands on deck, and it should be a pretty great year!