Bill’s Reports Were … Well, Different Than Mine.
With two kids in the same school, Back to School night was a challenge. We were supposed to meet both of our kids’ teachers – simultaneously.
Fortunately, Bill was in town and able to attend, so we split the duties. Bill followed Dylan’s morning class schedule and Shane’s afternoon class schedule. Meanwhile, I followed Shane’s morning schedule and Dylan’s afternoon schedule.
Because I knew which teachers I’d already met in prior years, and because I knew which classes were most important to the kids, I chose the ones that would teach me the most about Dylan and Shane. I wanted to find out how to make their school days more successful, and Back to School night is a great resource for that.
For example, Shane was somewhat bored by his journalism class. He’d enrolled in Video Production, and it was combined with Journalism. Back to School night taught me that, after one month, the Video Production kids would be making videos for the school website, while the Journalism kids would be writing for the school newspaper. So I was able to tell Shane that the class is going to change soon – thereby giving him something to anticipate, so that he is better able to muddle through the first month.
But Bill doesn’t have the background knowledge – or interests – I have. He just wants to see what’s going on, what the kids are learning and who’s teaching. So when he reported back about the classes I’d missed, Bill’s reports were … well, different than mine would have been.
On our way home, he gave me the rundown on Dylan’s guitar class. He told me about the other parents in the class – how many there were, what they looked like, what questions they asked. I learned almost nothing about the school’s new music teacher.
In another class, Bill ran into another father – a friend Bill had made when, years ago, he had chaperoned on an overnight field trip. Bill told me about the other parent, gave me his job title, and laughed about how they’d joked around in “class.” But when I asked Bill whose father that man was, Bill had no idea. So I still have no idea which student is in my son’s history class.
Perhaps the most interesting report came from Shane’s math class, where Bill met both a teacher and a para-educator, who helps the teacher. Bill told me very little about Shane’s math teacher or class, but he found it fascinating that the para-educator had a hip replacement and recently gave up her two-wheeled motorcycle in favor of a trike.
From this story, how am I supposed to surmise if Shane will be happy in math class this year?
Luckily, I already know that Shane is happy in math class, or I would have gone to that class myself. And Shane’s math teacher taught Dylan last year, so I know she’s great.
Bill is a great guy. He’s a people person – a true extrovert – and interested in everyone around him. So his stories were all about the people around him, what they discussed, and what he learned about them. He’s just that kind of person.
I am a single-minded, self-centered introvert. This, I know, is likely responsible for my sour outlook and shorter life expectancy.
But … since I knew Bill (well) before sending him on his Back to School missions – I asked him to take a short video in each class I missed.
I watched the videos and learned what I needed to learn. And I also learned a lot about Bill.