Tuesday, November 6, 2012

A New Perspective

Last year was an extremely stressful school year. Over the summer, I made the decision that I would approach this year differently. My decision was confirmed when MC assessed the situation: "You're never going to think any teacher is good enough for us, unless it's YOU." Truer words have never been spoken!

While I regret the decision NOT to homeschool on a monthly basis, the decision has been made and I know it's for the best. While I'm perfectly capable of doing it, that's not (for a number of reasons) what I'm supposed to do. Who knows what the future holds for Baby A, but for the boys, public school it is.


This week I will attend parent teacher conferences with both sets of teachers. For the first time ever, I'm at peace with the pending conversations. I'm not taking a file of heavily marked and flagged papers, e-mail printouts and documentation. I have a few notes and a few questions--that is all. For once I don't feel like I'm off to court, defending or prosecuting as if a life depends on it.

I'm still very annoyed with a lot of the experiences, communication (or lack therof), inconsistencies, ambiguity and just school politics in general. When I take a step back and put things in perspective, I have to acknowledge that very little of what happens today or this year for that matter will have any effect on life 10 years from now.


What NOT to say in a Parent-Teacher Conference (for parents):


Maybe he/she's just bored.
He/she never does that at home.
Can you just ____________ for the him/her? (fill in the blank with ridiculous task that the child is perfectly capable of performing)



What NOT to say in a Parent-Teacher Conference (for teachers):


Has anything changed at home?
He/she is a great speller.
Maybe your expectations are too high.


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