Parent Teacher Conference
We experienced our first Parent Teacher conference's last Thursday evening.
We arranged a play date for the girls' so Carie and I could attend with minimal distractions AND they could have fun. Spencer did go with us, well, because he's only been left once in his life time and that was with yia yia. We had an appointment with each teacher and thankfully they scheduled them back to back, which was really nice!!
Ellie's teacher (Ms. Susan) scheduled a 20-minute appointment, but we were finished within 10 minutes. It was a pleasant visit and she had nothing but great things to say about Ellie. We did come with a few questions of our own, talked about those and that was that. The one thing Ms. Susan did say was that Ellie was stubborn but easy to redirect and Carie followed up by confirming that she is persistent.
We then waited for Abby's teacher (Ms. Debbie) to be available. She had scheduled a 15-minute appointment, and we were there for our entire session. It also was a pleasant visit and she had nothing but great things to say about Abby. Ms. Debbie is very excited to have Abby as a mentor student. We also had a few questions of our own for Ms. Debbie, talked about those and we were done.
We did learn that Abby wasn't one to participate much in their morning circle time when they sing songs. Ms. Debbie asked us if she wasn't a singer. While Ellie is our singer and breaks into tune many times throughout the day, Abby likes to sing as well. So that evening at bedtime we were asking Abby about singing with her friends at school. But, Abby was clearly not up to talking about it, so we dropped it. Oddly, the next day Ms. Debbie commented that Abby participated in morning circle time. Hooray!
It has been fascinating for Carie and I to experience the girls' having different teachers. Both teachers are wonderful wonderful teachers and we feel comfortable with them as their teachers. But each teacher has a very different style. Much of our communication with Ellie's teacher has been very business like, short and to the point while much of our communication with Abby's teacher has been more of a free flowing conversation where she shares more detailed information about their day.
Last night it finally dawned on me. I think that their lifetime experience not only in the classroom but also in their personal life is really shinning through. I get the sense that Ms. Debbie, being a parent, has a great sense of what level of information the parent's would like to know from day to day. As a parent, she knows that parents love to know what is going on with their children... especially three year olds who are experiencing school for the first time. She always writes a short note in Abby's binder and often verbally tells us something at pick up. Ms. Susan will always write in Ellie's binder but more often than not it is a smiley face, and she is much more formal at pick up. Generally we get a cheerful "see ya tomorrow", but nothing specific about their day. She relies heavily on the written lesson plan as the communication source for the parents.
Thankfully both girls' are able to talk fluently about their experiences and share their day with us. Our hope is that her level of communication is greater with the parents of children who have qualified as special needs. Maybe we aren't the norm and parents really aren't interested, which hopefully isn't the case.
We arranged a play date for the girls' so Carie and I could attend with minimal distractions AND they could have fun. Spencer did go with us, well, because he's only been left once in his life time and that was with yia yia. We had an appointment with each teacher and thankfully they scheduled them back to back, which was really nice!!
Ellie's teacher (Ms. Susan) scheduled a 20-minute appointment, but we were finished within 10 minutes. It was a pleasant visit and she had nothing but great things to say about Ellie. We did come with a few questions of our own, talked about those and that was that. The one thing Ms. Susan did say was that Ellie was stubborn but easy to redirect and Carie followed up by confirming that she is persistent.
We then waited for Abby's teacher (Ms. Debbie) to be available. She had scheduled a 15-minute appointment, and we were there for our entire session. It also was a pleasant visit and she had nothing but great things to say about Abby. Ms. Debbie is very excited to have Abby as a mentor student. We also had a few questions of our own for Ms. Debbie, talked about those and we were done.
We did learn that Abby wasn't one to participate much in their morning circle time when they sing songs. Ms. Debbie asked us if she wasn't a singer. While Ellie is our singer and breaks into tune many times throughout the day, Abby likes to sing as well. So that evening at bedtime we were asking Abby about singing with her friends at school. But, Abby was clearly not up to talking about it, so we dropped it. Oddly, the next day Ms. Debbie commented that Abby participated in morning circle time. Hooray!
It has been fascinating for Carie and I to experience the girls' having different teachers. Both teachers are wonderful wonderful teachers and we feel comfortable with them as their teachers. But each teacher has a very different style. Much of our communication with Ellie's teacher has been very business like, short and to the point while much of our communication with Abby's teacher has been more of a free flowing conversation where she shares more detailed information about their day.
Last night it finally dawned on me. I think that their lifetime experience not only in the classroom but also in their personal life is really shinning through. I get the sense that Ms. Debbie, being a parent, has a great sense of what level of information the parent's would like to know from day to day. As a parent, she knows that parents love to know what is going on with their children... especially three year olds who are experiencing school for the first time. She always writes a short note in Abby's binder and often verbally tells us something at pick up. Ms. Susan will always write in Ellie's binder but more often than not it is a smiley face, and she is much more formal at pick up. Generally we get a cheerful "see ya tomorrow", but nothing specific about their day. She relies heavily on the written lesson plan as the communication source for the parents.
Thankfully both girls' are able to talk fluently about their experiences and share their day with us. Our hope is that her level of communication is greater with the parents of children who have qualified as special needs. Maybe we aren't the norm and parents really aren't interested, which hopefully isn't the case.
posted by Sonya at 8:34 AM
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