Parent Conferences

Parent-Teacher Conferences: each one is different, depending upon both the child and the adults present. Some students had grandmothers present, others moms, dads and even an aunt. It was interesting to see how the students' families concerns compared and contrasted with that of my mentor teacher and I.

Most of the time I was on the same page with my mentor teacher in what I felt were the students' strengths and weaknesses. Or, as one of my mentors' put it: How the student glows and grows. The grows being areas that could use improvement, and the glows being areas that the student shines in. I value the importance placed on the glowing areas of each student. Even though there are students who struggle everyday with behaving properly (an aspect that often snowballs into the academic areas), there is something that he/she is doing wonderfully. The parents need to know this. Without this communication, the parent sees the teacher as the bearer of bad news-no child or parent wants to come to conferences and hear only how badly the student is doing.

Some things I saw that I really liked that my mentors did were the environment. Both of my mentors had a table set up outside of the classroom with candies on it and books (one was a book of the students working, while the other were just books pulled from the classroom library). Either way, the value of literature is apparent from the moment the families walk into the building. The candy is just a comfort issue. Both of my mentors also held the conferences at tables large enough for 2-5 adults and a child (although 5 would be tight, should there have been a need, there were seats available). This was accommodating to all, especially the families in which mom and dad are divorced and both step parents are also involved in the child's life. Although during the conferences I attended, this was not the case, wouldn't it be wonderful if it were?

One thing that was interesting that I did not expect, was for me to be able to read my mentor teachers so well. I suppose working with them helps with that. I could tell the conferences that they were slightly hesitant about, nervous about, or ecstatic to tell the families how well the students were doing. There were only three families out of nearly twenty conferences that did not show. While this was disappointing, both of my mentors assured me that this was a typical occurrence, and I should not expect each family to come at the designated time, as that rarely happens. But, life is what it is. I know some of the families are single family homes, in which the parent works multiple jobs. It would be hard to schedule conferences with that hectic of a schedule.

Preperation

I have seen firsthand this week how much preparation goes into Parent-Teacher Conferences. I have been giving the children various assessments and copying the scores for parents, for their files, for the teacher, and one more 'just in case'. Everything from how many sight words do the students know to mathematics facts to behavior and social skills in the classroom needed documented, if it was not already done.

Tonight is round one of Parent teacher Conferences. I am curious to see exactly what they look like and how it will feel to be a part of them. Not that I have a large role, as this is my first encounter with them, but it will still be interesting.

Kids and Their Comments

Just wanted to share some of the joys of working with first grade children. One is that they are blatantly honest. If I forget to ask a question during morning opening, they tell me.

They don't mean it in a rude manner, they are just so routine based that it throws them off to have one question out of place. In my three weeks working with first graders I have had kids hitting each other, name calling, and poking each other with scissors, all very interesting experiences. I have also had some adorable moments. Today I recorded some of the things my 6 and 7 year old's said:

(right after fall decorations were put up) "We have a new student, it's a pumpkin"

"My mommy is about to get married. She is still finding a guy, though."

(comment to me concerning his page where he was writing his numbers to 100) "The numbers were counting just fine and now they are jumping all over the place. Miss Speerly, what is wrong?"

Student 1: Are fairies real?
Student 2: No
Student 1: God used fairies to make nature.
Student 2: You don't know that for real, you still have to learn it.
Student 1: Some people never seen fairies, so they don't know. Why did I see pixie dust when I was playing outside?
Student 2: I don't think it was a fairy, they only like nighttime.

They say the funniest things :)

Differences

Fourth grade and first grade are different in many ways, yet the same as well. A funny paradox, I know.

The students are at completely different maturity levels and learning drastically different things, as they should be. The first graders are quite a bit smaller and henceforth more adorable than the fourth graders. Yet the fourth graders are able to do much more on their own. In the first grade we sing songs (like the Days of the Week song set to The Adams Family Theme Song), which is loads of fun! At the same time, there are still the students that need extra attention and/or extra help and all of the students still need explicit directions as well as many other things.

I look forward to my continued work with the first grade class in the coming weeks, I am sure I will learn much. I am also excited about going back to see what Family Reading Night looks like at the school I was at prior to this (4-6 grade building). Rumors have it that there will be real cats and bats, we shall see!

Need to Make a Cartoon?

If you ever need to make a cartoon, this website is an amazing tool! I used it for an editorial article cartoon in one of my methods courses. It is simple and allows you to do a lot with it. Granted, you do need a user name and password, but they are FREE! I loved using it and I am looking for ways to include it as a part of my weather unit that I will be teaching this spring!

Recently I viewed the music video for the song "American Ride" sung by Toby Keith. At first it was humorous, but if one takes a closer look, it is really rather sad what our world has turned into. And what is even more sad, is that the children of today are growing up in this world.

To quote the lyrics in the song, the children of this generation are "kids on you tube, learning how to be cool, pays to be a mean girl". It is sad how true this actually is. Why is youtube so popular? Because there are parents and "dad works his can off paying for the good life" who do not have enough time to spend with their children, hence the kids turn to media to get advice on life. This gets out of hand, snowballing quickly into getting high on aerosol cans and dealing with insecurity in their looks and weight. But who can blame them? When their resources show that the majority of women (on television and in the media) are a size 3, that untruth is enough to depress anyone.

So, as teachers we need to try to identify with all the pressure and stress our students are dealing with today. The gap between being too young for things (drugs, sex, suicide) is quickly spiraling downward, and we need to be knowledgeable as teachers. What can we do? Give special attention (whenever possible) to those kids who set themselves apart from the class and might fall between the cracks. Let them know that at least one person cares, encourage him/her and be that reason for them to live.

One of Those Days

To a person reading my blog, it might appear that in the profession of teaching, everyday is rewarding and the students do awesome things to constantly keep you wanting to teach. While this is not entirely true, there is some validity within it.

Today, however (and yesterday, too) was one of those days where you come home exhausted and wonder why teaching is so difficult. Yesterday, during bathroom time, one of my students put the yellow, "Caution Wet Floor" sign in the toilet. Deep down, I think it was rather humorous, as the toilet is probably more wet than the floor, but still, this is not acceptable behavior, and thus the student deserved his consequence.

Today, all of the students were talkative the entire time I was there. The music instructor commented on their chatter when I went to pick them up, and many students moved their clips down the scale of consequences. It was very stressful, trying to bring them back to learning every few minutes. At first I thought it was just me, still brand new in my classroom management techniques, but after talking to my mentor, I realized she had difficulty keeping them on task as well today. Even though it seems to have stemmed from the class as a whole (granted, there were a select few who worked very well today, but the majority fit the above description), it still makes me wonder about various ways I could have done a better job of keeping them engaged.

Today was one of those days, I will have more of those days, and I will have many more wonderful days. I take each day, as the LORD gives it to me, and be the best teacher I can be (sometimes praying that amidst the turmoil, the students are learning).