Parent-Teacher Conferences

Wow! Has time flown.  Next week I start my Parent-Teacher conferences.  I can hardly believe that we are at that place.  I am not sure how class sizes are at your school, but where I teach, class sizes are bursting at the seams.  I have 37 Big Kid Monsters in my class and my site partners are about the same.  This is hands-down the largest class I've had yet - and new kids enroll on campus each week.  I expect the number of monsters will only increase throughout the year.

I share this now, not as I am complaining (because I adore all of my monsters), but because at this time of year the management logistics can become problematic.  We have early release for the week, which essentially means the students get out 1 hour earlier.  In the time our district has allowed for Parent-Teacher conferences, I calculated that if I meet about each student, I can schedule time for about 10 minutes per family.  Now, I don't know about you, but I find that 10 minutes allows for a very superficial conversation about a student's overall progress.  It does little to create meaning for those academically and behaviorally needy Big Kid Monsters.

So, I thought about this situation long and hard and I came to a difficult conclusion.  I weighed meaning over volume and concluded that I will schedule 20 minute blocks of time and request meetings on only the 25 most needy students.  My feeling was that the remaining 10+ kids who are nearest proficient and do not pose severe behavior difficulties can either bypass meeting me or will have the option to meet after the Parent-Teacher conference week.  So, this year I sent home 2 letters: 1) requesting a meeting, and 2) requesting no meeting with attached progress report.

I think this was an excellent solution to managing class sizes and still communicating with parents.  I've already receive positive feed back from parents and staff who are asking for copies of my letters to do the same.  Time will tell next week if this strategy was fully successful, but I have faith that it will work!

In the meantime, as always, have Fun and Teach with your whole heart.  Those Big Kids Monsters need it - even if they out number you 37 to 1!