parent/teacher/parent

Today I went into my school to work on the Ecoschools application. Ecoschools is a pretty cool program promoting environmental literacy in Ontario schools. I like it.

It was interesting to be back at my school, where I am a teacher, as opposed to the boys' school (well, Cameron is just in daycare there, but still, it is his school), where I am a parent. As a teacher I have a fair bit of freedom to walk through the school and into spaces such as the office, halls, library, and staffroom.

At the boys' school, my relationship to the building is completely different. I am definitely a guest there, and while can sign in at the office know that it would be completely inappropriate for me to stroll into the library unless I had a very specific purpose. There is a very small area where I am allowed to be; essentially, where I pick up John and Cameron and, if I have an appointment, down to John's classroom. Sometimes I saunter down with John to drop off his forgotten indoor shoes - outside his classroom - and I kind of feel like I am invading the teachers' space, even if they are not around. And I wonder: if I were a teacher here, would I find myself (as a parent) kind of weird and overly interested in his education?

I think being a parent is kind of tricky: I wants to advocate for my child but not be aggressive or needy about it. It's challenging for any parent, but for the teacher parent I think it is particularly difficult because I know how viciously teachers can talk about aggressive, needy, and weird parents. I really don't want to be put into either one of those categories, but at times am concerned that I am. It's much simpler to be at my own school, where I am the teacher, have some authority, and do not feel like a visitor or guest. But then I have to deal with those damn parents! Ha!