By Lisa Neubert

My next tip for beginning teachers has to do with something they do not always prepare you for in college … talking with parents who are upset. No beginning teacher, or veteran teacher for that matter, wants to end a long day of teaching with a heated call from an upset parent, but unfortunately the call may come and it is best to be ready for it.

My first such parent call came after I assigned and graded a project. The classes, made up mostly of freshman, were doing their first scientific research of their high school career and most were very unsure how to tackle the new task. We spent a week going through the project step by step and not a day went by that I didn’t mention something about plagiarism. When I began grading the projects I found two students who had decided wikipedi.com was a better author then they were, so they copied the site word for word. (They didn’t even take out the hyperlinks!) I met with the principal to determine the best way to go about dealing with the consequences. I called both the parents and I had to leave a message at one of the houses. During work-time, I pulled the students aside privately and told them about my findings and what their consequences would be (I followed the student handbook procedure on plagiarism.) Both students were solemn, but understood the punishment and were willing to redo the project for partial credit.

A few hours later my phone rang. I was on prep and answered. One parent I had not gotten a hold of before was calling to find out about the issue. I explained the situation and what the school’s policy was on plagiarism. Part way through my explanation the parent became upset. As the conversation became more difficult, I took three deep breaths (fighting back tears,) and said that I thought this conversation was not going in a helpful direction and I thought we should have a meeting with the principal. She said she would call the principal herself and hung up.

I called my principal and told him the situation and he reassured me, took the phone call, and then called me to his office after he was finished talking with the parent. In his office, as I was on the verge of tears, he told me simply that I had done the right thing. Back in the science wing of the school, two teachers who had seen the situation unfolding were in my office to support me, share their experiences and provide perspective. After that trying situation, it felt wonderful to have my coworkers there with me. Dealing with angry parents is never easy, but knowing what to say and how to react helps lead the situation to a productive resolution. Remember that you and the parent both have the best interest of the student in mind; you just may not see eye-to-eye at that moment.

Please watch for my future posts as I reflect on my first year of teaching. If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave a comment below.