Comments on: Bah. Humbug.

By: merylrunion

merylrunion — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 17:22:58 +0000

Great suggestions from you all. The Kennedy Center suggestion got me thinking. of other over-the-top suggestions, like valet parking, caviar and…hmm - I don’t so enough high living to come up with more.

By: Regina

Regina — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 21:15:56 +0000

For over 20 years, I have been to MANY school programs and have assisted (as a PTA member or classroom volunteer) in more than a couple. I can attest to the fact that teachers & staff do an AMAZING job with precious few resources, day in and day out. While I empathize with the teacher’s point of view, her words point out an important discrepancy — do they do programs for the parents or is all for the kids? I suggest that it is mostly for the kids, but also for the parents AND the teachers, too. (Actually, research bears out that students, parents, teachers and schools all benefit from these and other types of “parent involvement” efforts.)

Teachers are held accountable for all kinds of things that they have no control over. That, in my opinion, is the real issue here.

Perhaps a better response from the teachers might be to say to complainants: “If I had my wish, we’d use the Kennedy Center,” (or put in some local performing arts venue), “but we do the best we can. I hope you’ll take time to also let us know what you LIKE about our efforts. When teachers hear lots of complaints and few compliments, it discourages them from going to all the work and stress involved with producing such a performance when really, it is all done to benefit the kids.” This affirms that things aren’t always what we’d wish, lets the parents know what they really want, and places it in a larger framework of doing what’s good for kids.

Thanks, Meryl, for your wonderful newsletter and for the opportunity to learn and practice speaking strong.

By: Judy Phillips

Judy Phillips — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 19:17:54 +0000

Meryl,
I so appreciate your response. Having been on both sides of the desk (teacher and parent,) I have felt those emotions and thoughts when it came to special events at school. Your suggestion can lead everyone to a “buy in.”

There is another way to state one of the sentences to appeal to a parent’s sense of pride in their child(ren.) “We are proud of your children and the results of their hard work. We all hope our efforts have added to your holiday season.”

I look forward to each week’s SpeakStrong. I find something in every issue to improve my own communication skills. It’s a pleasure to visit with you regularly.

By: Varsha

Varsha — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 19:17:29 +0000

It looks like the people who complain are missing the central point - it is the imperfections that make these performances precious.

For a perfect performance they can rent a movie. No parking space problem there!