How Teaching is like Parenting

 As I am now well into motherhood, I am seriously discovering how much of teaching is like parenting. Beyond what you would assume about taking care of all the kiddos and teaching them life lessons, there are some things I have seen play out both at home and in my classroom. 

Natural Consequences

I know it is terrible but sometimes you have to let the world work things out. My daughter hates wearing shoes and it took forever to get them on. Finally one day, I was like “You have 5 minutes and then we are walking out that door with your shoes on or not.” And you know what?! She didn’t get her shoes on!

So she walked to the car barefoot, and when it is the middle of the winter in Minnesota, that can be uncomfortable (obviously I would never let her get hurt by something like this) but now she knows why we wear shoes in the first place and you better believe she puts them on herself in the middle of winter. 

In summer she still chooses to put on shoes or not, but we walk out the door on time either way. 

With students, sometimes you have to do the same thing, even if it is uncomfortable. I had students last year who were not turning in assignments and after repeated emails and phone calls home, many after school work sessions, and planner after planner created, they were just still not motivated. 

A teacher can only stretch themselves so thin and go out of their way for a student to a certain extent. So, a few of my students failed that quarter. 

The new quarter was like a fresh start for them and, again, you better believe I saw improvements. These students had a fire under their butts (which may or may not have been put there by their parents after they saw the report card) and they were staying on top of their work. 

Logical Consequences

When doling out consequences, they must make sense to the child. If a student doesn’t eat dinner with the family and has to eat it cold later, they get that if they want to eat it hot, they have to eat it on time. 

The same again holds true with students. If they don’t understand why they are getting the consequence, it won’t have a great impact. If a student has to miss class because they spend the whole time talking to friends, having them sit through detention won’t help. But having them stay in from recess to learn the material they missed while talking to their classmates makes a lot more sense! And you get the opportunity to talk to them about the impact their actions have on the rest of the class. 

High Standards

I know we hear it a lot as teachers, but holding students to high standards, no matter what is so important. The same holds true for my toddlers at home. Once I start letting them make a giant mess and not clean it up, they see mommy as the maid. Once I let them take a snack with them to bed just so they will go to sleep, they expect it every night after. 

It seems like silly things but, remember, my oldest is 3, so this is the equivalent for her age. 

Holding her and my students to high standards, allows them to reach those standards and push themselves to go beyond them as well. 

Routine, Routine, Routine!

I discovered this one the hard way with bedtime. Getting my oldest daughter to bed has always been a bit of a struggle. Okay, more than a bit. I read books, scoured websites, and even contemplated bringing in a specialist!

What I have found though is that routine is the key. I found awesome visual task type cards online, laminated them, and put them on a ring. Now, she and I go through and make sure we have done each of the things in our bedtime routine. If we forget one, she makes sure I know it, and she can’t go to sleep without doing it. 

This routine (and melatonin gummies) have been a godsend and is the only way we do bedtime anymore. 

The same works for students. Starting routines on Day 1 can positively impact your entire year. The more routines you can incorporate AND TEACH, the better classroom management will be. 

If you want to know more about these parenting philosophies, I highly recommend the second episode of the Parent Whys Podcast! These ladies are hilarious and it all makes so much sense!

I know so many of us teachers see students as our kids and parenting and teaching have so many parallels. So, all you toddler-moms, teen-moms, empty-nest moms, fur baby mamas, and teacher mamas out there; keep up the amazing work! Remember, you got this!