“I’m not sure.”
I randomly asked a small number of students from 1st grade through 5th grade why they won’t be in school Thursday afternoon and Friday. Just over half of the children could tell me ‘parent conferences’ and the rest said, “I’m not sure.” I followed up with a question about what they would like their teachers to say about them during the conference. Most hoped that mum and dad would hear that, “I’ve been good.” Finally, I asked what the students would do with their time off from school. The last responses varied with each child, but were consistently more specific than the answers to the first two questions.
My unscientific survey led to an unscientific conclusion, that elementary students are not particularly focused on why they are off from school, but are aware of what they want to do with their free time.
Is it important that children wait with great anticipation for the results of a parent- teacher conference? I don’t think so. If we are doing our job as educators, each child should already have an awareness of their progress and a sense of ‘next steps’ through the daily feedback they receive in school lessons and at home. The occasion of a parent-teacher conference at ISA isn’t therefore intended to be the moment when success or failure is revealed, but rather a formal meeting to facilitate, (partner up), the plans and strategies to help each student achieve the next steps in a continuing learning process. What is an important result from the conference is to have an agreed upon plan for every child’s continued progress and a strategy to foster student ownership for ongoing learning.
When asked about what they need to do better in school students will say, ‘I need to improve my math’, or ‘I need to put more effort into my writing’. Some will talk about continuing their progress with reading. Others might describe the need to focus or raise their hand more. Conferences are a wonderful opportunity to explore ideas and methods to push the children toward ambitious goals. And as the research shows an occasion to include students in the information sharing so that each child is aware of what they need to learn and how they can help themselves to achieve ambitious goals.
As a parent when you come off your virtual Meet it’s natural to share with a son or daughter whether it was a good report or not. We all want honest feedback and we all deserve recognition for our efforts. But, after the congratulations or ‘tougher talks’ are over, the focus of the conference follow-up should be on sharing the current learning goals and finding agreement/commitment to realise further achievement.
I’m delighted that students are very focused on their social lives and what they can do to find fun on a day off. But come Monday morning I’m also hopeful that these same children are aware and motivated to make the last quarter of this most unusual of school years as successful as possible.
Thank you to all of the teachers and parents for your time during the conferences.
Don Newbury
Elementary Principal
Comments
Post a Comment