Parent/Teacher Conferences (5/11+12)

I don't mean to make comparisons, but I have to share my parent/teacher conferences experiences. No matter what country you teach in, one of the facinating dynamics about teaching is you get to know students so well, but have no idea who some of the parents are.

Honestly, though,I am actually surprised at how many I have gotten to know. Here parents stop by with a degree of regularity. They are paying for their child's education, so some of them are definitely making sure their child benefits as much as they can from it. Many parents have come to ask favors of me or to check in on their child's behavior. These have mostly been pleasant exchanges. Conferences seemed to be an extension of these contacts. I handed out report cards and discussed grades, study havits, and behavior with parents. Parents were outstandingly happy to have a native English speaker teaching their child, saying their child's English has improved so much already. I had lots of good things to say too. And the things that weren't so great, I "sandwiched" between pleasant things. (This was a trick taught to me by Leesa Hisem and Rhonda Bryant back in London.) I really enjoyed these meetings. Most of these conferences were done in a mix of Spanish and English. Most parents here have a degree of English proficiency. Some were done entirely in English. But some had to be done all in Spanish. I am happy to say there were very few things I didn't know how to say in one way or another.

Two items of interest: 1) I was surprised at what some teachers told parents. They said pointed things that I could never have said. But they felt that they needed to be said, so they did. And parents took it because teachers are "professionals" and respected more than they are in the states. 2) Children weren't really invited to the conferences. Since there was no school, they were encouraged instead to help with a flea market of donated items that were being sold during the two conferences days. And may did. Stuff brought in was sorted by grade level and students helped sell their grade's stuff. The money then goes to class activities (mostly the month long senior trip after they graduate). So kids worked with a passion. Parents came to support the activity. And, I think, the conference attendance in turn was high. Not a bad system.