September 16, 2009 (Conferences!)

I wanted to get this information to you prior to Friday's Weather Report as it deals with the annual questions about conferences and a few scheduling changes/items to note.  I truly believe Parent/Student/Teacher conferences, when conducted correctly, can play an extremely important role in a student's progress and achievment.  Please take the time to review this information carefully! 

1.  PE Schedule Changes - We had to swap Monday's scheduled PE classes with the early out date for October 2nd to ensure every classroom gets PE at least one time next week.  Please note the changes.  Click on the image below to enlarge.

2.  Specials - As mentioned in a prior FWR, classroom teachers need to work with the special teachers if you are attempting to schedule or make-up a class next week.  Monday and Thursday's only scheduled special is PE. 

3.  Time - I want to make sure we are all on the same page about times that week. Many of you set up conferences outside the times on the calendar to meet the needs of parents. I appreciate this and I'm sure the parents do too. Know that Friday is an 8-hour comp-day so you must be in conferences or be working within the building that week for 8 hours outside the 8am-4pm work day.  Contacting Mr. Deter in advance to see if he's available to work with you on the webpage or beginning to use the online technology PD is a great use of time. 

4. Schedules - I do need your conference schedule and "office hours" (see #3) before you leave this Friday. Emailing them to Stephanie and I would be fine. I have my own children's conferences from 3:00 pm - 4:45 pm on Monday (Sept 21). Also, as mentioned, I will not be in the building on Wednesday afternoon (Sept 23) and Thursday (Sept 24). Please let me know if you need me at a specific conference - otherwise, I will drop in at random.
5.  Students' Involvement - You should begin to explain to students the importance of each child being present at conferences with their parents. The conversation is so much more meaningful when the child is explaining their own progress, triumphs and struggles. There are some AWESOME rubrics and forms located on the Huron Valley website (starting on page 13) to have your students fill out prior to conferences if you want to do student-led conferences. If you want assistance, please see me soon! I'd love to help you set it up for your conferences!  It would be valuable classroom time spent prior to conference week as the goals of student-led conferences are:

♦ To encourage students to accept responsibility for their learning
♦ To teach students to evaluate their academic performance
♦ To engage the parent, the student, and the teacher in honest dialogue
♦ To increase parent participation at conference time

6.  What data does the office need??  Information the office needs from teachers following conferences are:
__________ Number of students in your classroom
__________ Number of conferences held
__________ Number of students who attended conferences
__________ Number of conferences with both parents attending