Parent Conferences – An Idea

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9 thoughts on “Parent Conferences – An Idea”

  1. Can you remind remind me of a few things?

    1. What does Robert call this grade?

    2. Where can i find the list of behaviors outlined by ACTFL? Are there any rules that a teacher might have for the room? In our case the 5 that we use from you?

    Sorry, I think this might be a dumb question, but….

    1. I would call it anything that sounds like it’s aligned with standards. Something like “Three Modes”. That would invite discussion in an administrator or parent, which is what we want, more and more chances to re-educate people away from what they think language teaching is now and get them up to speed with the changes.

      I’ll leave it to Robert to respond to the other questions. For me, I have been happy to notice that the more Robert talks about the ACTFL proficiency guidelines, the more I see that my set of Classroom Rules, the work of over ten years of using CI, are perfectly aligned with them.

      1. Hi Ben, all

        You are talking about your five or six rules that you point to on the wall all the time? I’m sure I’ve missed a lot of this thread, but are you/robert/others using a system for recording when specific rules are ignored (those who just don’t get it) for parent conferences, or is it just discussed in the conference?

        It’s good to be back–lots to catch up on!

        1. I just discuss it in general terms at the conference. And how are you going to do parent conferences, with your (is it) 8 classes with 45 kids in each one? Welcome back – we’ve missed you. Those of you who don’t know Doug, click on the Group Members category and find him, or easier, just do a search on Doug Stone.

          1. Hi Ben–and Robert,

            Thanks for the replies. My numbers aren’t quite that high, but high enough to be pedagogically unsound. I don’t really know what I will do–I’ll be more selective than before, but it has always been a weak area for me. I’ve never felt particularly effective with parents. I’m hoping these ideas will be of help with being more effective.

        2. Like so many things, it depends. For most students, a general reference to the rules will suffice. Most parents know what their kids are like, and when I say something like, “Susie likes to chat with anyone sitting near her”, the response is usually, “Oh, she’s just like that at home. She has always been our chatterbox.” Then we talk about how both the parents and I can reinforce to Susie that it is important for her to attend to and participate in class discussion.

          For the hard-core problem kids, I start an incident file. It’s just a Word document with the kid’s name on it. Every time I have to deal with the kid, I record it in the file. Then, when I have to write a referral or talk to parents or have a parent conference, I can reference specific incidents. This year, I think I had six files – all of them in fifth period. I also record significant interactions or events with any student. “Significant” means a massive disruption to the classroom, threat to safety of anyone, forced removal front he classroom, referral. (I have to write a report any time I make a referral, so I might as well type it on the computer and keep that record.)

          Last year I never actually spoke with the parent of one of my problem girls. I called home several times and left messages and requests for a call back, but never got anything back. The Assistant Principal who dealt with this girl about her conduct in school also had a very hard time contacting the parents. One day I just left a message detailing about a dozen incidents in class and concluded with, “Your daughter has made it abundantly clear that she neither wants to learn German nor be in my class. I will be happy to help you get her removed from the class before second semester starts.” Her behavior improved for nearly two weeks, and I never heard from the parents.

          At least at my school, most parent conferences are with parents whose children are well behaved or with parents who are there to defend their kids, not solve a problem. The substantive conferences are usually with the parents of Special Ed kids because everyone admits going in that there is a problem, and we are there to solve it together.

          We don’t schedule a day (or two or three) for parent conferences. We have Back to School Night first semester and Open House second semester, but those are not for conferences. Parent conferences are scheduled individually.

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