Now that she’s a teenager, my daughter is becoming unbearable: lots of sass, backtalk, and tantrums. Most of the time she’s fine, but when something doesn’t go her way, she gets an attitude. H…
Parents are supposed to teach kids to do what’s right. Period. Children need us to stake out behavioral boundaries, not watch them wander into the wilderness beyond the margins.
Schools are built on the foundation of community, not individualization.
[Note to parents: hide this one from the kids.]
Our current math curriculum is impractical and does not prepare kids for the way we use math today.
Many experts believe Common Core Math is contributing to a steady decline in math comprehension.
The Teacher to Parent column is written by award-winning teacher Jody Stallings. The Q&A education articles run weekly in the Moultrie News.
Tell your children they are wonderful, while also telling them everyone else is just as unique and wonderful as well.
The Teacher to Parent column is written by award-winning teacher Jody Stallings. The Q&A education articles run weekly in the Moultrie News.
Students have many excuses when it comes to failing exams.
The Teacher to Parent column is written by award-winning teacher Jody Stallings. The Q&A education articles run weekly in the Moultrie News.
The Teacher to Parent column is written by award-winning teacher Jody Stallings. The Q&A education articles run weekly in the Moultrie News.
The Teacher to Parent column is written by award-winning teacher Jody Stallings. The Q&A education articles run weekly in the Moultrie News.
The Teacher to Parent column is written by award-winning teacher Jody Stallings. The Q&A education articles run weekly in the Moultrie News.
The Teacher to Parent column is written by award-winning teacher Jody Stallings. The Q&A education articles run weekly in the Moultrie News.
The Teacher to Parent column is written by award-winning teacher Jody Stallings. The Q&A education articles run weekly in the Moultrie News.
The Teacher to Parent column is written by award-winning teacher Jody Stallings. The Q&A education articles run weekly in the Moultrie News.
The Teacher to Parent column is written by award-winning teacher Jody Stallings. The Q&A education articles run weekly in the Moultrie News.
Q: I’ve been reading about the “1619 Project.” Some school districts are updating their history curricula to include the material and many teachers around the country are teaching it. Is it a …
Jody Stalling's Teacher to Parent column is an opinion article series providing answers to parents' questions related to education.
Q: Since most public schools are opting to start the school year with more virtual learning, I’ve been reading about “Pandemic Pods.” These are where five or six families get their kids togeth…
Q: Many people are saying that we need to take the police out of our schools. Some districts are already doing it. What’s stopping the rest?
Q: There’s been debate over whether kids should go back to school in the fall or whether we should do distance learning again at home. Which would be better?
Q: My son’s end of the year award ceremony went on for hours. I know it’s cliche, but it felt like literally everyone in the entire grade got a special award of some kind. I feel like this is …
I’ve been hoping to see you write about teaching anti-racism in schools. I’m sending this letter as a biracial woman in a county that is 90% white. We’ve had three instances of social media ra…
Q: My child’s school uses a program called Powerschool to track student’s grades and attendance. Apparently a number of states use it. I like that it gives me updates on my daughter’s grades, …
Q: What if we redirected money spent on policing to our classrooms? It would certainly benefit our most impoverished students.
Q: I was so thrilled with the way my child’s teachers handled the distance learning this year. They were cooperative and proactive, and they really tried to help my son. At the end of the year…
Q: I’m worried that more cases of child abuse will go unreported this year because children haven’t been in school. Teachers are the No. 1 reporters of abuse. Without their contact with childr…
Q: A recent court case found that Detroit students were denied their constitutional right to an education by their state because the conditions in their low-performing schools were so poor. Ar…
My child often has trouble going to sleep. Based on the advice of another parent, I have started giving her a melatonin supplement. It seems to help, but I wonder if it’s safe.
Q: Parents are getting frustrated with distance learning and a lot of them are giving it up entirely. They say there are too many apps, video chats and emailed assignments to deal with, especi…
Q: What is your take on the Maximum Failing Grade? Often we don’t know what is going on in a child’s life away from school. Students could be navigating a divorce, death or illness. Kids often…
Q: Teachers seem to be doing their best to teach online. To help with equity, my district is providing devices and hotspots to families that need them. However, teachers have been told that si…
Q: What advice can you give to parents whose kids are missing important social milestones in their schooling? It must be devastating for so many kids to be missing their senior prom or their g…
Q: My child’s high school is considering changes to the dress code for next year. These include banning shorts that are too short, yoga pants and form-fitting clothes. They’ve already banned p…
Q: I’m curious to know how much learning will take place during this time when children are out of school. Will more parents become attracted to online learning because their child seems to be…
Q: I’ve received emails from my child’s teacher outlining everything to do during the quarantine down to the minute. It includes when to wake up, when to have a snack, when to have family time…
Q: My wife checks our children’s grades online constantly. She says this helps her to help them do well in school, but it only seems to stress her out every time they get a low grade. I think …
Q: I have twins, a boy and a girl, both in middle school. They both this year have gotten caught with their cell phones. My son got a week of lunch detention. My daughter got nothing but a lec…
Q: My son is an elementary student on the spectrum. Do you feel that children who struggle with “flexible thinking” due to factors such as Autism should be allowed to use the strategy that wor…
Q: Several weeks ago, you talked about “instructional coaches.” What are these and do they help the cause of education?
Q: We’re convinced. We’ve decided it’s best to wait to give our children smartphones. The problem is I have a sixth-grader and everyone else in her class has a phone. She doesn’t understand wh…
Q: I saw on the news a video of some high school JV basketball players in Newark, N.J., who brutally attacked their own coach when he tried to stop them from bullying another teen. The video i…
Q: I think that punishing children (with extreme lengths of grounding, not letting them play little league, making them drop out of their youth group, etc.) for having less than ideal report c…
My child’s teacher refused to accept his late homework assignment and gave him a zero for it. I can understand taking a few points off, maybe even half, but it seems extreme to refuse it at all.
Last week we began a discussion of PBIS. Not to be confused with the usual classroom incentives that teachers have used forever, PBIS is a systematic nationwide program designed to shape stude…
Q: I went on a tour of a school and the principal bragged that it was a PBIS school. What is that?
Q: My child’s geography teacher still makes students memorize states and capitals. I thought memorization of facts went out with the Common Core. Why would they still be doing this? The aim of…
