Parent Teacher Interviews

Ahh . . . the season is upon us for the enjoyable parent teacher interviews. What a special time of year! Teachers gather together under the ball-stuck gym roof, parents huddle in long line ups, and students linger in the halls - as far away from the action as possible. Especially well-done works of art are plastered on the walls and soft music echoes down the corridors - simulating a warm, friendly, nurturing envirnoment. Brrring . . . the bell rings for parent change and everyone gets up and quickly shuffles to the right, settling in on the cracked plastic chair in front of yet another teacher. What a memorable experience!

Parent teacher interviews are different than I remember. Today, more onus seems to lie on the teacher in getting students caught up and improving marks. In my days, parents expected students to find out what needed to be done on their own and then ensured the work was completed at home, in place of watching tv and spending time with friends or sports. It seemed as though students were more responsible for their successes (or failures). When we didn't grasp a concept in school, we worked very hard at home to learn and review the new ideas - we did homework! We also had the luxury of having our parents help - in my situation anyhow. Now, parents seem to put the burden (strong word but true) of learning TOTALLY on the teacher. They want to know how we are changing our insruction to meet the needs of all students (which is acceptable), but they also want to know how many noon hours and recesses we can dedicate to their child and they want us to keep in constant contact - again, a good idea, but can't the parents be the ones to initiate the communication sometimes? Are the parents sitting down with the children and helping with assignments or reinforcing the idea that an education is important? Are the parents regularly communication with the child about school experiences? Are they taking an active role in the learning realm?

A common question that parents ask about are missed assignments and failed tests. They are often surprised at the number of assignments we do and generally do not even realize that we take daily anecdotal notes which are incorporated into their child's evaluation. They are more interested with students' written school work than in skill development and progress of the soft skills - the skills that will transfer to other areas. They tend to downplay the process and dwell on the final outcome. Does this mean that the finished product is more important than the process?