Last week and this upcoming week, I get the pleasure of holding parent-teacher conferences. Like the students themselves, parents come in quite the variety. Some think there is too much homework, some think there isn't enough. Some want the teacher to me more stern, while others want her to lighten up. Some are ecstatic with B's, while others are disappointed. It really is quite hard to please everyone.
Usually they go pretty well though. After all, they are the ones who know these kids better than I do. Parents are pretty good at predicting what I am going to tell them. They see the grades coming home, they have had three previous year's of conferences, they know their own kids.
So instead of having a fun student story, I got a few chuckles out of parents this week. . . this one in particular. . .
I have a little girl in my class who is quite bright. She gets pulled a half hour for GATE each day (gifted and talented) where they are supposed to challenge her a little bit and keep her doing new things. She is not perfect in class however. . . she is a little slower on her work at times, meaning she doesn't get everything finished, and her reading score just barely made an A. . . so there is still stuff she can definitely be working on to improve.
But Mom comes in asking for extra homework. "[My daughter] gets her homework done so quickly. . . Neighbor kids bring home so many extra projects. . . are we going to start getting more projects for her to work on at home?. . . bleh bleh bleh."
"Well," I reminded her, "We do have our monthly book report projects that are done at home. One at home project a month is plenty for these kids."
"Oh yes I know about those ones. . . when's this months due again?"
"Today as a matter of fact," (smiling) teacher says.
"Oh my gosh. . . we didn't do it! She read the book. . . we just haven't made the puppet yet! We will do it this weekend and have it in by Monday!"
Yeah. . . you turn that in late on Monday. . . then I will be sure to assign your over achieving daughter two next month.
1 comment:
Us parents, especially during Christmas time are pains in the rear. If they would just tell you how wonderful you are and then make their requests, well, everyone would work better together. We expect that behavior from the kids- they are just little kids- but when the parents come in and act the same way, it gets a little scarier and explains alot of things. Keep sharing and caring Miss Shawna. Love, Aunt Gail
Post a Comment