Teachers - What to Do When a Parent Complains

As a teacher, you want to do what is best for your student's education. As a parent of a student, you want to make sure their studying process is the best it can be. Sometimes these two worlds can collide and teachers may have to deal with parent complaints about their child's education.

Parent complaints can be for a number of reasons: too much homework, the coursework is too hard, possibly a class bully seems to be getting away with something that the teacher may not even be aware of, and as a teacher, it's best to work with parents to rule this issues as best as possible.

If a parent complains about an issue going on in school, it's prominent to listen politely, and indubitably hear what they have to say. Their complaint may be completely valid and prominent to address. Once the complaint has been made, it's prominent to take operation and fix the problem and restore their trust in you and your teaching.

It's prominent not to come to be defensive when taking a parent quiz, or complaint. Battling it out with a parent can make things uncomfortable with you, your students, and their parents.

As a proactive way of avoiding parent complains, think taking these few steps so that there's an insight from the get-go.

1. Send an facts packet home by the second week of the school year. This packet will include a classroom supervision plan, homework policy, and restroom procedure. Since these are the most popular complaints with parents, telling them up front what should be thinkable, in your class will help avoid any hereafter issues.

2. include a signature slip at the lowest of the last page of the packet and ask that the parent sign it. This slip will say that the parent or guardian has read, understood, and acknowledged the facts packet. Hold onto those slips in a file for the remainder of the school year.

3. During "open house" or "back to school night" present that packet with the parents, and open the room up for a Q&A session if parents have any questions or are confused by anyone you may have written.

4. Advance reports and maintaining a constant transportation with your students' parents will also be beneficial. Let the parents know under what circumstances they will be contacted, and don't be afraid to send home Advance reports each month detailing how your students are doing in the classroom.

By being proactive in the way you administrate your classroom, you will find that your parent complaints will be less and less. As long as you do address any concerns that may arise, you will be able to Supply your students and their parents a school year or mutual respect and a proper education.

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The Role of Government - What Does the Bible Say?

Politicians have a lot to say about what they believe the role of government to be. Those on the left often want more government at the federal level, especially more public programs. They argue that this strategy will be able to help more habitancy because these programs are made ready to everyone across all of the states. To meet the funding imposed by such spending, they prefer an increased tax burden at the national level, again where it can be distributed among more people.

Those on the right ordinarily want most of the government to be at the state and local levels, retention both taxes and spending programs closer to the people. In this way, most of the tax revenues are spent locally, just as most of the projects are for the benefit of only those same people. They want a smaller federal government, with lower taxes and lower spending, that would focus on only a few projects at the national level, and few of which would comprise public programs.

The Bible

Few habitancy perceive that the Bible defines what the role of government should be. Our founding fathers built our republic upon biblical principles. Most Christians would agree that the ideal law would be one that bases its laws and policies upon God's laws. However, as our governing bodies have changed, have we strayed from God's ideals? Let's explore the purpose and scope of government, in single the federal government, from a perspective of the Bible and history.

The role of government is set forth in the Bible in 1 Timothy 2:1-2, which indicates that we should pray for everyone, together with "kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives." This tube tells us that, as Christians, we should pray for our leaders in government, and it also indicates what we should expect from our officials.

National Defense

The single most foremost role expensed to our government is to allow us citizens to live peaceful and quiet lives. In Genesis chapters 10 straight through 12, God divided habitancy into national entities. He condemned aggression among the nations, but knowing the greed and evil of man's sin nature, He established national defense as a means of safety against enemy aggressors. If our government is to enable us to live peaceful and quiet lives, its first responsibility is that of defense. Furthermore, since the body of government that most often interacts with other nations is our federal government, then this responsibility falls primarily to the federal level.

The Constitution

Since our government was built upon biblical principles, documents such as the Constitution support biblical guidelines. Its preamble limits the Power of the federal government to the following:

1. Ensure domestic tranquility - law and order

2. Furnish for the base defense - a national defense

3. Promote the normal welfare - biblical truths

4. Secure blessings of liberty - allege our freedom

In addition, the first three Articles of the Constitution continue to set forth its purpose of limiting the role of the federal government. This document doesn't emPower the government, by stating the things that it cannot do. Instead, it limits its power by stating a short list of things that it can do. If a positive thing is not in the list, then the government doesn't legally have the power to do it. Also, the Bill of rights explicitly names positive rights which the government cannot violate under any circumstances. The Tenth Amendment is particularly interesting, essentially stating that any powers not explicitly given to the federal government are reserved to the states or to the people. Clearly the intent was to limit its size and power.

An Evaluation

Our government seems to do a good job in fulfilling its tiny powers as set forth in the Bible and the Constitution. The federal level provides a strong military, and the state and local governments Furnish law and order. However, besides being inefficient and not well-managed, our federal government consistently oversteps the boundaries defined by the Constitution and the Bible. It has vast far beyond its proper role, always doing more than it's legally permitted to do, and consequently burdening all of us with taxes that are far too high. When our state and local governments consequent this pattern as well, the burden on the habitancy is overwhelming. This is positive when we consider the sheer size of our governmental bodies. It is estimated that our 90,000 government units (including cities, counties, etc.) hire some 20 million habitancy with a payroll of over 0 billion, together with some 0B for the payroll for the 3 million civilian employees at the federal level alone. Although these payrolls are only a small division of government spending, government employees do add much overhead to the tax burden.

Government Spending

We have immoderate government spending, which has led to immoderate taxation. The federal government spends several times as much on entitlement programs alone as on defense. Despite complaints from politicians who oppose the war in Iraq, the estimate we spend on the war is less than 10% of what we spend on entitlements. This encourages everyone to feel entitled, together with banks, assurance companies, automakers, and politicians. everyone expects a free monthly check.

Our government tries to do much more than what it was intended to do. It can't explicate spending money for every cause, just because someone will benefit from it. It is not the government's job to or re-distribute wealth. Politicians have distorted "promoting the normal welfare" to mean empowerment for the federal government to do approximately anyone as long as it's intended to help any excellent group or individual. Many Americans don't understand this, and some just look to the government for handouts. Politics seems to be a game, where everyone demands something from the government. We need to stop all of the undeserved entitlements, which are being funded by others.

The Church

While the government should be less involved in public programs, the Church should be more involved in alleviating the need for entitlements by providing more aid to the truly needy. Galatians 2:10 says the we should remember the poor. This should be the role of the Church, not the government. However, maybe our churches could best fulfil this role if its members weren't overtaxed.

Obeying the Government

Although our government is not perfect, Romans 13:1-7 says that we should respect it. As long as it isn't asking us to do something ungodly or immoral, we should commonly obey it. Even if we believe that our tax money is misused, we should still pay what we owe. However, if the government were to fail to allege our freedom, or to protect us from criminals, we are within the Bible's guidelines to object. If it attempted to directly impose an unjust or immoral law upon us, it would be not only our right, but our very Christian obligation to refuse to obey.

When the government attempts to impose unbiblical laws, we have several choices of action:

1) Vote - If we don't Charge at the ballot box, we have no right to complain.

2) Take any necessary legal action.

3) Flee - If government conditions come to be intolerable, we can take off ourselves from its jurisdiction.

4) Civil disobedience - Stand up to our adversaries straight through nonviolent refusal.

Why This Trend Continues

We have nobody to blame for these issues except ourselves. We elected these habitancy who are spending our money. A large part of the question is that we ourselves are caught up in the government's bureaucracy, and we selfishly protect our own interests in spite of what is right. However, I fear that we may have already passed the point of no return in our immoderate government spending, and it's only a matter of time until we face dire consequences.

My assessment is that the estimate of Americans (or households) collecting some form of an entitlement check every month has recently surpassed the estimate of us who receive no checks from the government. Does it make any sense that 45% of us are providing most of the funding for the other 55% of us? Not only are we already outnumbered, but we're still addition our entitlement programs and bailing out companies that have mismanaged their businesses. How do we expect to continue when an even smaller division of habitancy will be asked to fund a larger division in the future? How can we return to having a responsible government when over half of us are already dependent upon this one? When the government finally gets to the point of having too many habitancy dependent upon its entitlement programs, and too few to fund them, then that government will plainly collapse.

In truth, there are only a few specific responsibilities that a government should be empowered to do. It should protect us and keep us free to obey God's commandments and bring glory to Him. The government isn't supposed to do all for everyone. In fact, it's supposed to do very little. The voters share the blame for our current overspending. We are wrong if we don't vote, and if we selfishly vote the same big spenders into office for repeated terms, so that they will continue the entitlements. The Church should bear more of the burden for helping the truly poor and needy. In this way, these projects are funded straight through contributions rather than taxation.

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Books For Introducing Young Children to World Religions

In our increasingly multicultural world, many of us are concerned in introducing our children to religions other than our own. And what best way to do it than through books? The following list is of books for introducing children ages 3-9 to religions other than their own. Included are two books for each of the five major world religions, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity. There are a few honorable mentions linked to other traditions, or geared for older Kids, thrown in at the end.

Buddhism

Becoming Buddha: The Story of Siddhartha, by Whitney Stewart - This is an introduction to the main themes of Buddhism through a telling of the Buddha's life story. One of the few Buddhist offerings geared for children this young, the challenging artwork and challenging story hold young children's interest.

Peaceful Piggy Meditation, by Kerry Lee Maclean - This book introduces children to meditation by portraying it as a tool they can use to help them deal with the difficult everyday situations they most often confront - getting teased by their siblings, falling down at school, or served a dinner they can't stand.

Hinduism

Lighting a Lamp: A Diwali Story, by Jonny Zucker - Geared for the younger end of this age range, this book introduces the Hindu festival of Diwali by walking through one family's celebration of the day. It is part of the Festival Time series, a variety of books introducing holidays from all the major religions.

The wee Book of Hindu Deities: From the Goddess of Wealth to the Sacred Cow, by Sanjay Patel - This is honestly not a children's book, but children love it. The author is an animator with Pixar Studios, and has drawn hip, colorful drawings of all the major Hindu deities, along with brief descriptions. An challenging way for anything of any age to learn about the Hindu pantheon.

Islam

Ramadan, by Suhaib Hamid Ghazi - This book follows a young boy named Hakeem through the major rituals of Ramadan, including fasting, praying and visits to the mosque. The illustrations are exquisite, capturing children's eyes and minds.

Salaam: A Muslim American Boy's Story, by Tricia Brown - A profile of a real-life American Muslim boy and his family, depicted through simple text and photographs. This book introduces the five pillars of Islam, and cultural aspects of Islam such as hijab (women's headscarves) in an accessible way, as well as broaching the difficult topic of religious intolerance.

Judaism

What Makes man a Jew? by Lauren Seidman - With rhyming text and color photographs, this book introduces children to the diversity of Jews around the world. Focused on the basic shared tenets of loving and kindness, this book focuses more on a sense of inclusiveness than religious theology, but presents a marvelous multi-cultural image of contemporary Judaism.

Beni's family Treasury for the Jewish Holidays, by Jane Breskin Zalben - For a more informative yet challenging introduction to Judaism's tenets, try this variety of five stories about bear Beni and his family's trials and tribulations while celebrating various Jewish holidays. These tales consolidate educational information and good storytelling in a way rare for children's religious books.

Christianity

Humphrey's First Christmas, by Carol Heyer - This adorable version of the nativity story is told from the perspective of Humphrey, a grumpy camel witnessing the event. As Humphrey begins to appreciate the value of what he is complicated in, he puts his own complaints aside and learns the true meaning of Christmas - selfless giving and love.

The Easter Story, by Brian Wildsmith - The story of Easter is not an easy one to relay to children, with betrayal, suffering and death all prominently featured. This beautifully visible version does it justice, focusing on the deeper meaning of each event without glossing over the details too much. Like in the prior book, an animal features prominently, this time the donkey Jesus rides into Jerusalem.

Honorable Mentions

These books are geared for sLightly older children, or deal with religions other than the ones covered above.

One World, Many Religions: The Ways We Worship, by Mary Pope Osborne - inspect of all the world's religions from children's perspectives, geared for 9-12 year olds.

Religion (Dk Eyewitness Series), by Myrtle Langley - an additional one inspect book for 9-12 year olds, from the well-known instruction series Dk Eyewitness.

Meet Jesus: The Life and Lessons of a favorite Teacher, by Lynn Tuttle Gurney - Accessible and Universalist telling of Jesus' life story, suitable for liberal Christians and non-Christians.

Aisha's Moonlit Walk, by Anika Stafford - Introduction to pagan holidays and celebrations throughout the year.

Zen Shorts, by Jon Muth - Introduction to Zen law by a giant panda, targeted to children 9-12, but the pictures pulled my four-year old in as well.

The Elephant Prince: The Story of Ganesh, by Amy Novesky - Beautifully visible tale of Ganesh, Hindu deity.

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What If My contractor Does Not Return My Call

This is one of the biggest problems in enterprise today. You have some work done on your home in good faith that the contractor knows what he is doing. When all is said and done you have a question that needs to be resolved as soon as possible. I well don't care how long it has been since the work was done. If you have a question the least that your contractor can do is write back the telephone.

Some fellowships go out of enterprise and others get to busy to write back to your problem. You will hear the old excuse "That's not my problem" or the ever favorite " I didn't do that". I have been in enterprise for over twenty years and had very few problems. Of policy I built things to last as long as possible.

Keep in mind that some contractors are a one man doing and they might be on vacation. Some contractors do not write back their phones over the week ends or after enterprise hours. So don't sink the ship to fast.

Do not call the Contractors Licensing Board or the better enterprise Bureau unless it has been at least a few working days. I would give it at least a week or so. Oh yeah don't assume that the contractor got your message. Call a few times at the least.

It has always made me mad when I have to fix person else's problems. I get the call when the other contractors won't respond. I listen to the home owner with regret for being in a enterprise where I am considered a crook. This is one of the reasons why contractors in my enterprise get out of it.

If you have the contractors address and they aren't responding by phone you can always send them a letter by certified mail. Invite a return receipt. That's your proof that the enterprise received your letter. Keep a copy for your files.

The good news for a home owner when a contractor will not write back to your calling them is the division of consumer Affairs. Most states have a complaint division of some sort that will listen to your complaints. Does this mean it will get resolved? No there are no guarantees here.

If your state has a licensing board for contractors, this will be your next step.

This will get your contractors attentiveness and there is a great opportunity they will write back now. If there are sufficient complaints against the contractor and they do nothing about them the contractors board will take their license away.

If your contractor does not write back after all of this. There is very little you can do about it. Hire person to fix the question and look at it as a very foremost chapter learned.

If your state doesn't have a contractors licensing board contact the better enterprise Bureau or your local government for their recommendation. Ask some of your friends if they have had any problems like this and how they handled them.

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