Lost Art of Phone Calls

The other night, I did this weird (old-fashioned) thing. I called a parent. Not texted. Not emailed. Called. You remember phone calls? When one voice speaks to another? Ya, that's me. I do this weird thing. I call parents.

I have noticed on many teachers' websites, the phrase "emails preferred". I wasn't quite sure what that was, really. Then, I realized what it means is that young teachers simply do not want to talk with parents if they don't have to. I guess this officially makes me a dinosaur teacher. Emails can be misconstrued. Tones are not reflected in text. Understandings between one grown-up and another grown-up with the shared goal of the benefit of children are best found in conversations where tone is clearly heard. Concern, compassion, understanding are found in voice inflection. Not text.

Am I crazy to have been completely offended when, in the middle of a job interview, the young teacher actually pulled out his cell phone and started texting? I would have been jaw-dropped if I wasn't so conscious of the fact I was interviewing. Instead, I simply gazed at him, turned my shoulders to the other two teachers, paused in mid-sentence and then continued. Texting during an interview? Has the world gone mad? And it never even occurred to him to apologize for the interruption. It must be me. I must be the crazy one.

I stand by the idea that face-to-face or telephone conversations are best for communication. Not that I don't love the convenience of texting in my social life. I do. But, professionalism demands more than an email or a text.