Conferences

Conference time is exhausting. You're focused on making sure you communicate everything you want to say. Beyond that you need to have quality instruction. You can't simply mail it in. There really isn't time for that (nor a place for that to be honest).

Perhaps the hardest part is the lack of routine and regularity. You get out early which would seem to indicate you could get caught up. Unfortunately I scheduled mine poorly, only giving myself two 15 minute blocks to plan and prep. Now I've got a bag of stuff at home which I said I would avoid. So much for that.

Weird Weeks

There are times during the year where the schedule is tossed out the window. The result is some loss of stability. We have optional conferences Monday and Tuesday, which means early dismissal at 11:30. After that we have our normal Wednesday early dismissal but an assembly from 9:30-10:15. Thursday we have a fairly normal day, aside from an art docent coming into one of the rotations. Oh, and Friday is a professional development day.

I feel like this is fairly typical of conference time. While we are staunch defenders of instructional time, some loss is inevitable when it is taken out of your control. Even though we try to maintain some semblance of order with our rotations, kids are still fixated on the differences "You mean there is no 3rd rotation? You mean we are going to an assembly? What about homework? How does this work?" That is right, some kids ask for homework... which does say something about the job we do. They still want order.

Let the Feasting Commence

We are 3 hours away from the Thanksgiving break. Conferences are complete, and we're all staring at 4.5 days of relaxation ahead. No homework, no projects, no planning (at least for the kids). I'll likely take a day or two then put some work into the next block of teaching time, ensuring instruction and assessment are in line.

Conferences do many things. The amount of work put into instruction is less, simply because there is less instructional time to work about. Work is shifted to looking closely at assessment data, and deciding where some instructional gains can be made. Time is invested in building relationships with parents and families, and it has been fantastic.

I walk away more committed to my kids. I'm excited to rest up, take a fresh look at what is coming up, and ensure that I have quality instruction planned. That is, of course, after lots of turkey.

It All Starts

Parent-Teacher-Student conferences start tomorrow. I'm a little nervous, but really excited. I've got folders with a variety of information setup, and I feel pretty organized. Of course if I had my wits about me I would have prepared far further in advance. As it was today was a busy day of going back over everything, making sure assessment data was in folders, and writing down strengths and areas for improvement.

Once the first one has started I don't really have a chance to breath, which is a good thing. More time to think means more time to stress over what went well/not. I feel comfortable adjusting as I go, and this will be a similar experience. As a whole, the formula is fairly similar for everyone. Talk about what has gone well, and overall strengths. Then go over assessment data and evidence, and use that as a segue into a conversation about areas for improvement. The goal is for it to be a conversation about where the child is on the continuum, with everyone interested in the child's development. Should be fun. A full slate tomorrow and Monday, and fewer on Tuesday.