lewis noticing blog week 12

This past week I had the opportunity to sit in on conferences and lead a couple myself.  It was a great experience to participate in and I learned a lot more about my students through the process.

 Rather than just handing the parents and students their report cards and discussing the grades, my mentor teacher compiled the strategies we had been practicing throughout the first quarter.  These strategies aligned with the standards they were working towards mastering, and my teacher gave feedback on how they were either mastering, meeting, working towards the strategy or at intervention.  We talked about tips to help improve these skills in reading, math and writing, showing the parents ideas and practices they could utilize at home.   We also showed the parents their child’s test score for NWEA testing, and informed them if they were at the level needed when entering fourth grade.  We discussed their lexile score and gave them resources for books at their reading levels.  My mentor teacher also encouraged parents to schedule additional meeting times with herself and me so we could set goals for what the student would work towards achieving in the second semester.  My mentor teacher and I have discussed before how the actual grade is less important that the progress the students make throughout the year. 

The parents seemed very receptive to this type of feedback that was given. Most parents were on board with helping work with their children, but some parents truly believed that the students should not receive any help from parents.  Some parents worked nights and did not even see their kids before going to bed!  The different living situations definitely play a factor in student success in the classroom, affecting how much homework is completed, how much reading happens at home, what type of access students have to computers, and how much additional support and tutoring the students receive. 

I am forever thankful for the education and support I received when I was an elementary school student.  This experience shows me how much more we as teachers need to do in the classroom to make up for the lack of time and resources at home.  We must differentiate and modify our lessons and work in order to make students most successful given the circumstances.