So, school registration is happening. That means summer is almost over and school will begin soon.

Teachers, whether they want to admit it or not, are excited too. Oh sure, we bemoan the end of summer and sometimes thinking about changing back into the school routine hurts a little. But, we are still excited.  At least most of us.

I will also tell you the beginning of the school year brings stress. Sometimes it is good stress. It is the kind of stress that gets you focused and moving.  I call it getting “amped up.”

Sometimes, getting amped up also brings out some negative feelings. Suddenly, you remember why you don’t like to work with certain individuals.  You remember a thorn in your side from May that will still be there in August. Getting amped up sometimes brings out all kinds of emotions.

Invariably, I’ll get caught in a conversation every summer. I will run into a friend, neighbor or acquaintance. We will have the same small talk about the beginning of school, what teacher their child got and then, some of them will hit you with a zinger: “Well, we were sure glad we didn’t get…” (fill in the blank).

I was talking with a fellow teacher who works at a school up north not long ago about this very topic. This friend of mine had a similar conversation. In the end, the parent changed direction, simply because they were set straight. After the “boy, I’m sure glad we didn’t get so and so” comment, this educator did what we should all do: defend that teacher.

The fellow teacher asked questions like: “Why do you think he’s not a good teacher? How do you know this? Did someone tell you these things or did you experience them first hand?” In the end, the old comment “Well, I just heard he wasn’t very good” came out.  You heard he wasn’t any good?  OK.

Now, of course, I’ll argue the other side of the coin. There are plenty of rotten teachers out there. There are teachers who have proven themselves to do a poor job. Some parents have witnessed it and experienced it first hand.

However, much of the conversations I’ve had over the years have been based on hearsay.  Parents have “heard” about a teacher at the ball diamond or the pool or the grocery store.  Yes, sometimes what they hear is correct. But it’s been my experience in my 25 years in the profession that what we hear isn’t always correct.

I think one of the big problems is that we go by appearances. We like pretty classrooms. We like bubbly, outgoing teachers who high-five everyone and hand out candy.  That’s a good teacher.  Kids like them. Parents like them.

When I became a teacher, I was ready to teach little kids. I can say I loved them then and I love them now. Nothing has changed in that area.

Being the type of kid who liked to draw and paint growing up, it was easy for me to have ideas on how to make my classroom look good. I had Super Bowl posters, basketball posters, and lots of cool stuff boys liked. I also had a lot of Peanuts characters I had spent hours tracing on the overhead and coloring.

Girls and boys liked those too. Kids thought my classroom looked fun. Parents thought my classroom looked fun. I thought my classroom looked fun.

But folks, I wasn’t a very good teacher in those early days. Sure, I was glad to be there. I put a lot of hard work into the job. I loved the kids.  But as far as being effective, I don’t think I was. Looking back at what I know now, it took me a good many years to be a decent teacher.

I said things I shouldn’t have said to kids. I raised my voice.  I didn’t reteach skills that should have been retaught. I’m telling you, I had a lot to learn.

For whatever reason, some educators get on some type of “hit list.” Maybe they are too outspoken. Maybe they were once the “golden child” of the district and there was jealousy.  Maybe they don’t give high-fives, pass out candy and hang up Peanuts characters in their classrooms. For whatever reason, they wind up on the bad list.

So, they get mistreated to an extent. It is as if they are being beaten down. It’s really not fair and it needs to be handled in a different way.

I share with you the story of an educator in Missouri who is now retired. It’s a story that is probably not too hard to believe in this day and age and it goes right along with what I am talking about.

This particular gentleman was once a dynamite history teacher. However, he was not a touchy-feely guy. He was mostly all business. He made kids tow the line.

Now, almost all the kids who had this teacher would tell you by the end of the year they felt this teacher cared about them.  He was willing to work with them if they had trouble. He made time for them before and after class for a little chit-chat.  He wasn’t a bad guy. And they all agreed he knew his stuff and was a fantastic teacher.

Some people had problems with this man. He was intimidating without meaning to be.  His serious expression often made people think he was crabby. He was a “get ‘er done” type person.

A small group of kids were at a birthday party and began talking about how crabby and mean this teacher was. Their mothers overheard the conversation and began to squawk.  One of those mothers was pretty close friends with another educator in the district. Before long, there were meetings behind closed doors.

For the next 15 years, this man wasn’t allowed to teach history. In fact, in the end, he was running the library and used as a “floating sub” in the school. The comments of a group of students and the squawking of a few parents changed the direction of his teaching career for well over a decade. In my opinion, this is wrong.

What should have been done? This educator should have been discreetly told about what was going on. No names would have been mentioned, but something like “Hey, a few of these kids complained and a few of these parents complained” should have been said.  The educator could have been reassured but told about the perception of parents and students. Maybe a small conversation could have resulted in him being a little more friendly or a little less serious. Who knows.  This particular educator didn’t find out the full story until a few years before his retirement.  He never had a chance to really fix what he might have been able to fix.

What is also sad is that teachers, administrators and school staff often chime right in with the masses.

We talk about bad teachers yet we really have never spent time in their classrooms. We, like those squawking parents, get right in on the “we heard” bandwagon. It’s very sad and we all need to shut up.

We need to give people the benefit of the doubt. And there are some of us who have the responsibility of informing the party in question that things need to change. If a teacher has a bad reputation, that teacher needs to be talked to. It can be done professionally and tactfully.

I think there is another thing that is important and needs to be said: We MUST stop letting our school districts be run by the attitudes and discussions of a handful of parents. It is poisonous.

Let’s throw out our hit lists and our personal agendas. Let’s squash “we heard” rumors.  Let’s teach our kids that we often need to experience something or get to know someone before we make up our own minds.

Let’s have a positive school year.