Good evening fellow Slicers!
I’m feeling a little more formal right now. I’m still at work, will be here until 8:00 because of parent/teacher conferences. I’m glad to meet with my parents and give them an update on their student’s progress. It feels good to reassure parents that their children will be okay. It also feels good to be able to help and encourage the parents whose children are not okay (but will be with assistance). I feel like a big component of getting parents on board to whatever regimen or intervention you’re hoping to put their children on is to be sure they do not feel judged. Every parent wants their child to be successful. Every parent wants their child to be successful. Their desire for their child to be successful may look different, may even appear non existent, but it is there. Some parents avoid their kids school like the plague. They are intimidated by school, teachers, administrators. They feel like they’ve failed because their kids are failing or misbehaving. They may also feel like the school is trying to label their child which feels like yet another judgement or stigma against them and their family. Every parent wants their child to be successful; we have to understand that as educators, lead with that as a reminder that we are the liaisons between parents and a system that they don’t always trust. Every parent wants their child to be successful. Now whether they let us help them to achieve success…that’s the million dollar question!
You’re so right – every parent wants their child to be successful. It might not always look the same, but that’s all they want. Thank you for this reminder. I had a half day of conferences today and as much as it exhausts me, I do love talking with the parents about their amazing children. My second round of conferences isn’t until Monday afternoon.
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It’s also a system that doesn’t feel familiar to them any more. Many practices, ideologies and goals that we have are very different that the school they remember full of rows of desks and lots of quiet work. Some f what we do is build a bridge.
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I have a love/hate relationships with conferences. I love talking to the parents but hate staying late.
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That parent teacher connection is so important. It sounds like you value and work hard to build this relationship.
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Every parent wants their child to be successful; unfortunately not every teacher has the capacity to form the home/school partnerships. Thank you for understanding what parents need.
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YES! Sometimes we do have to remind ourselves, especially with parents who DON´T seem on board, they DO love their child and they DO want them to be successful. Good reminder!
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Totally agree!!! In my last district, we only met with parents once a year…in October. After that…March was optional and only for the “low” kids. I love that we can have these connections twice a year for all types of parents and students. We need to highlight the strengths of all students, not just the ones that are struggling.
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