Our administration decided to deal with the parent-teacher conference dilemma by allowing the staff to vote on the issue. I appreciated that. Surprisingly, our staff voted 60% - 40% in favour of all evening interviews. At least, that's what we were told. I have no idea who voted in favour; I could only find two out of 25 of us, but what do I know?
Anyway, we sent a note home to parents asking them which evening - Wednesday or Thursday - they would prefer for their conference, in order to help us with our scheduling.
Some of the comments were received back were:
- I work evenings that week. Could we meet before 2:00 some day? (Ummmm, no, I'll be teaching then....)
- We have commitments those two evenings. I am available on the afternoon of Dec. 1. Let me know what time. (Ummmmmm, no, I have that afternoon off because I'm giving up two of my evenings for these friggin' interviews.)
- I am only available between the hours of 4:30 and 6:00 on Wednesday. I wish to see all six of my son's teachers at that time. (Ummmm, no. Because you submitted your preferences two days late, the schedule is already set, and we are not redoing the whole schedule just for you.)
By the way, rest assured that all three of these parents will be on the phone yelling at the secretary next week because their demands cannot be met.
9 comments:
Yay I was mentioned!
That you were, Hippo!
I know, Karen, can you believe it?!
Oh dear, LM!
But I love your school rants & your teacher posts.
That's what blogs are for - they're huggy friends for teachers' posts.
lots of love from me
I understand that these meetings are stressful for teachers.
I also understand that not every parent can afford to, or is allowed to, leave work to attend them during the scheduled time.
In my opinion these meetings are usually a waste of time for the teacher and the parent..
Anyways, it's almost over. Hang in there..
Thank you, Susan. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Oh, Happy, why must you always be so reasonable? ;-)
Have a great time, Karen!
man, can i relate.
i'm always very suspicious of votes.
Schaumi - I know. As a rule, I'm big on democracy, but only if I believe in the integrity of it. Not exactly sure I do this time.
No matter how you slice it and dice it parent / teacher conferences are a PITA
Your school should use PTC Wizard to schedule the conferences. The parents get to make their own schedules online at the same time. It takes the pain out of the scheduling.
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