Markert Noticing Blog

Today was an excellent learning experience as a new teacher. Parent teacher conferences are something that I originally was a little nervous about. Parents can be very protective of their kids, they should be, but sometimes they can be intimidating. I was concerned because we did not give all of our students A’s and B’s. We did have to give a handful of students C’ (grade level) D’s. I was ready to hear from some parents attacking remarks about their students and be placed in some uncomfortable positions. However, I was wrong. The parents of all my students were extremely grateful for what we do and appreciative. I enjoyed seeing how the parents reacted to the information on the report card. I was pleasantly surprised when the vast majority of parents admitted that they see the same behavior from their child at home. This was reassuring for my MT and I because it shows that what we are saying they can also agree with. It is also important because if both parties recognize a certain behavior it can be focused in more and dealt with and changed.

            Parent-teacher conferences also made me realize how important it is for parents to be involved in their students’ education. It is extremely evident those parents who work with their child at home and those who do not. It is clear the difference between the students who complete their homework and do not. It correlation between the two is so prominent and important. I am lucky to say the almost all of my students have an excellent role model and mentor in their parents. The majority of the parents were asking “what more can I do with my child?” because they want to continue to be involved and want to further their students education.

            One thing that surprised me in parent-teacher conferences was a question that I did not think we would get a lot of. I figured some parents would ask this but almost all parents asked “how is my child doing socially in the classroom?” This isn’t a strange question but I think I was taken back because all the kids are extremely social in the classroom. So from my point of view none of my students have trouble socializing. Looking from a parent’s point of view that would be something they would want to know since that is also a component of being a student. School is a place of learning and that includes learning to work with others and learning to be social. Overall report card pick up I believe was a success and was an excellent learning process for me to be a part of. It opened my eyes to what the conversations are like and the importance of this time with the parents.