These past two weeks, I've had formal goal-setting conferences with parents before and after school. As much as I enjoy meeting with parents and discussing what we both love (their kids), I'm glad the 13-hour days are over. For a couple of months, anyway.
In our meetings, I share with parents the results of formal beginning-of-year assesments as well as my own anecdotal records and observations in each subject area. Then we set academic and behavioral goals together. It's a long process, but in every case except one, I came away knowing that for each of my students, parents and teacher were on the same sheet of music in understanding and supporting where we are now and where we're headed over the next couple of months.
I'm curious: For those of you with school-age children, do you have similar conferences with your children's teachers? As a parent, what is your perspective of those meetings?
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The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life. - Julie Beck
Yes, I attend the conferences. Although sometimes if there's "no problems" you are not given a time to meet at all. You're just sent a note home that says there is "no need" for a conference at this time.
The Jr. High has been this huge deal, where the teachers are all set up around the lunchroom and library and you stand in line to talk to them. Since my school-age kids do pretty well, it's rather anti-climactic. (What's that word? )
If I can't meet with them I'm usually in touch via email just to feel like I get their view of what's going on.
But yeah... talking about my kids? That's way fun!
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Life is tough but it's tougher if you're stupid. -John Wayne
In our meetings, I share with parents the results of formal beginning-of-year assesments as well as my own anecdotal records and observations in each subject area. Then we set academic and behavioral goals together. It's a long process, but in every case except one, I came away knowing that for each of my students, parents and teacher were on the same sheet of music in understanding and supporting where we are now and where we're headed over the next couple of months.
I'm curious: For those of you with school-age children, do you have similar conferences with your children's teachers? As a parent, what is your perspective of those meetings?
I can only recall one or two teachers my kids have had over the years who went through any kind of process similar to this. Most teachers tell me how my kids are doing and what they think my kid needs to work on and that's about it. With the exception of my autistic son where we have to sit down and set goals for his annual IEP. Even then he has had teachers who were more communicative with us and more enthusiastic about his progress than others.
I've done this several times a year with each of my sons teachers (with the exception of a new-age co-op preschool disaster.)
I love them. I have time to speak directly with the teacher, share with them my main concerns and the areas I worry about most. They feel me out and get an idea of what I expect as far as discipline or how strict they should/can be when it comes to handwriting, etc.
If the schools didn't do them, I would schedule them myself.
It puts me and the teacher on the same team - then the kid can decide if he want's to be on our team with us, or try to compete against our united front.
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"My days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle."
Hey Roper, I think Coco really wants you to post on the Mandatory School Attendance thread.
I have found though that the teachers who actively try to maintain communication with us are the ones who work the best with my kids. It tells me that they personally want my child to succeed and do their best and that they're interested in my feedback. Whereas my kids have had other teachers where it's like trying to pull teeth trying to get information from them. My daughter who is in high school has one teacher who e-mails and tells us what's going on in his class and what the kids are doing on a regular basis. Out of all her teachers, he's the only one who does it and I soooooo appreciate it.
Mostly good. We haven't had them for this year yet.
The most frustrating thing is that they generally hold them over a couple days. This year I've got four children in the same school. I prefer to be able to attend with my wife to each meeting, but at four kids, they invariably get schedule conflicts and so we have to split up.
Often the advice given is too general to be of much use. Or it's told on a big list, and I really don't know what they expect us to do by the time we're done. Most of the time I'm told that my children are perfect angels that just need to keep being model children in their classrooms. That's really not helpful. Sometimes a teacher will make a criticism, that imo is arbitrary.
For example, last year my oldest's fourthgrade teacher claimed that she didn't read enough nonfiction. This was a crazy criticism of my oldest cuz since she was in kindergarten the ONLY type of book she's checked out has been nonfiction--specifically biology books about snakes, crocodiles, sharks and any other animal that could eat you. When we pointed this out she made a lame excuse about how she needed to put SOMETHING down that might show she needs improvement, otherwise she'd have a perfect report...
It also would be nice, if there was a way to get feedback from the teacher more often than once every four months on any specific learning goals. I've got one daughter who's really struggling with her speech and reading. I'd like to know what the expectations are, and what I can expect from working with her.
Often it's difficult to understand what's going well and what's not going well... when the categories for which they're being judged fall out of the more concrete academic areas of performance. I am simply unfamiliar with many of these new criteria--or why they really matter.
--Ray
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I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
I talk daily with my son's teacher. That's a side effect of homeschooling.
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
For the record, so's exhaustion. (At least around here.)
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"The promptings of the Holy Ghost will always be sufficient for our needs if we keep to the covenant path. Our path is uphill most days, but the help we receive for the climb is literally divine." --Elaine S. Dalton
Usually twice a year my kids teachers have conferences. Many parents don't show up but we do. They go over their work and test scores with us and any problems they see.
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