This post is a part of the Slice of Life challenge which is hosted on the Two Writing Teachers blog. The month of March the challenge is to write a blog post a day.
Today we have the first of two nights of Spring conferences. As always on the day of conferences, I am nervous about it. It usually is fine, but being a perfectionist, it is hard to have people point out the things at which I might not be doing the greatest.
I do believe in family involvement in a child's education and I have a lot of ways that I intend to share with parents what is happening in the classroom. However, I have had a very difficult time keeping up this year with all the things that I have to do and the website and parent communications have fallen by the wayside. I know that this is not okay, but it comes down to sanity. Should I have to sacrifice both days on my weekend to get my work done? I think not. One day a weekend is enough to give up.
I usually end up enjoying conference night and having good talks with parents and students, so I shouldn't worry. But I get very worried that parents will not hear my message correctly or that they will come into the conferences upset that they are not being called when students are missing work. I know that this is what some parents feel, but I would be spending a lot of my time on the phone if I did this. (I teach middle school)
I really want to do student-led conferences one of these years because I think those have the potential to help both students and parents understand our standards-based grading better. Many parents still have a hard time understanding that the "grade" their child gets on the standards is based on their level of proficiency, not whether they turned things in on time, etc. To me, the most important grade on the report card for parents to be aware of is the effort grade in each subject. This is the grade that tells them if their child is doing the right things at school (i.e. participating in class, handing in work, doing homework).
Today I will also discuss the results of the state testing that the students did in November. This conversation is scary at 8th grade because the results of the test as well as their progress this year will help determine whether they are "promoted" to 9th grade. With the state using a new cut score this year, many more of my students are not doing so well. This could be a difficult conversation with some parents.
Okay, time to take a deep breath and relax. I can't anticipate what might come up, and worrying about it will just make me more nervous. I'm off to prepare for a LONG day of teaching and then conversing.
Have a great day!
Andrea, thanks for sharing your thinking at this busy time. I wish we had an effort grade. I feel that sixth grade is so important for developing the habits of a successful student, but we don't have any way to show this except in comments. Here's to a day that passes quickly and a successful evening!
ReplyDeleteI also feel nervous when it comes to parent conferences. I want to be more proactive in contacting parents, but with 130+ 8th graders, it would quickly consume all my time. Many of my students (and their parents) are nervous about coming in for conferences as well because they have a history of bad news with past conferences. I always encourage students to come, too. I promise not to say anything bad about them, but I will point out what they need to work on. Now that my students have blogs, I set up a computer and have the parents look through the writing on the blog. That has transformed my conferences.
ReplyDeleteI hope your conferences go well tonight!
I love the idea of sharing their blogs at conferences!
DeleteI hope your day goes well. We have conferences next week, I know Sunday night I'll be a mess! But always a good excuse for a new outfit.
ReplyDeleteI love your honesty about the anxiety about conferences. As a parent of four, it's nerve-wracking to be on the other end, too. We get so little feedback about parenting and it's one of the few times that we really hear how our children are doing in a concentrated, all about them, dose. I'm sure that you do an incredible job with your conferences, Andrea! You have a really lucky group of parents and students!
ReplyDeleteThank you Melanie! I can see how it would be nerve-wracking as a parent too.
DeleteRelax, and enjoy. I too had parent teacher interviews the past two nights. I found myself shaking and nodding my head throughout your slice. Yes, they are scarey. Yes, I too am a perfectionist and want things to go really well, to be really prepared to send the right message. Yes, that effort grade is the most important. Yes, they need to understand that the grade is only based on the standards and work relating to them.
ReplyDeleteWe have embarked on whole school student-led conferences and the students complete very sophisticated portfolios in ELA and in Math. They are so powerful. I love reading through the students' work and reflections, their strenghts and their areas of growth, and their goals for the next term, and see that they have said exactly the same things that I have said. How powerful for them to realize the importance of, and take ownership for their own work.
I'm sure your evening went well. I hiope it was productive and enjoyable.
Take Care & know that your concern and worry means that you are a very thoughtful educator!
Thank you. I appreciate hearing that others have the same concerns. Those portfolios sound amazing. Do you have any templates you could share? I have been trying to get something like that figured out but I run out of time and I do not really have people to collaborate with on this.
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