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Monday, November 20, 2006
Unproductive Parent-Teacher Conference
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Folks, I’m off this week, so I’ve pre-programmed some topics for your enjoyment…
A parent writes:
“I was wondering if it was standard practice for Middle Schools to hold group Parent/Teacher conferences. I know that students are being taught by multiple teachers and that it would be hard for a teacher to schedule a conference with every parent. However, last night was my first conference since my daughter started middle school and I had NO idea it would be a team environment, with all parents.
The meeting was the most unproductive parent/teacher conference I have ever attended. My daughter ‘s school uses a team teaching method where there are 4 teachers in a group (Math, Language Arts, Science and Social Studies). The students in the group are taught by all 4 teachers, unless they are in a special program such as the Gifted program. Which is great for people who don’t have teachers to meet with outside of this group, but there were several of us at the conference who fit into the special program category and did not get much out of the meeting. It was too impersonal and “No” individual attention was given to any child.
How fair is it to me/my child to Not have the opportunity to speak with my child’s teacher during a time frame set aside for parents to meet with teachers? I know that I can schedule a time to see my child’s teacher any day of the week. But, why hold a group parent/teacher conference for something that should be tailored for me and my child.
It was truly a waste of my time and most of the parents ran off as soon as it was over. Now, I will have to schedule individual sessions with each of my daughters teachers, just to truly find out how “My child” is coping with the change from elementary school to middle school. Her grades are great, but her emotional adjustment to the classes and other students is of concerned at this time. How can we find out this type of information in a group environment?”
