Second Round of Conferences

Parent Teacher Conferences were today. It was a long day, but I think it was made even longer because out of 8 scheduled conferences, only two showed up. One of those was a home visit that was an incredible experience, and I don’t mean that in a good way! Well, my CT, Parent Educator, Special Ed. Resource Teacher and I went to the home of one of my students. It started out crazy because as soon as I walked through the door, my student’s grandmother said with a very snippy tone “Who are you?”. I immediately felt on edge and it made me question for a split second who I really was and why I was there! After I got over that shock, I got a strong whiff of the marijuana that was filtrating the house. Grandma was spraying Febreeze, trying to mask the odor, but it was clear to all of us visiting the home what it really was.

I don’t think the marijuana would have bothered me so much if she was there by herself, but there were 6 little kids under her care at home, all being exposed to this illegal drug. What adults do on their own time is their business, but when kids are affected, the game changes. The student who lives here is consistently off task, does not turn in homework, and is a distraction to others. I think it is important to hold students accountable for their conduct in the classroom, but thinking about what they deal with at home definitely sheds light on what may be contributing to their behavior.

Goal: I will think more holistically about how my students behave and perform in class. There is no excuse for their behavior, but there may certainly be factors outside of the classroom that explain their behavior. Understanding these explanations may help me to better meet their needs in the classroom by creating an atmosphere that counteracts the negative forces they may face at home.

We Don't Know Everything

So, this past Thursday and Friday I went back to my 5th grade class for Parent/Teacher Conferences. After all of the intensity that built up from stories from other teachers and student teachers, I very relieved to to find that none of the horror stories came to fruition. I enjoyed meeting the parents of the kids that I spent so much time with. Most of the parents that came in were totally concerned about how their students were doing in our class. They were eager to find out what they could do at home to help their student academically and/or behaviorally. Of course, the parents of the 2-3 students that we absolutely needed to meet with face to face did not show up. We even tried to contact them for a phone conference, but still no luck. I guess we'll keep trying with them.

Throughout my student teaching experience so far, I have been amazed at how much can be going on with a student and you never know until they or someone else tells you. An example of this is a student named "Cory" in my class. He is a sweet, hard working kid that is the lowest performing student in reading and math in my class. My CT and I have been mystified as to why he does not receive any special education services....he is that far behind. We still don't know why he was never recommended for testing, but during conferences we found out from his mom that a very devastating event happened in his family 3 years ago....his father was brutally murdered. This would put Cory in 2nd grade. From what his mom says, he never really grieved...just held it all inside. My heart aches thinking about how hard it must be for him every day knowing that his father was taken away from him. His 3rd and 4th grade years were spent moving from school to school. In spite of all of the chaos he's had in his life these last few years, he is focused, respectful, and determined to do his best. If we could give A's for work ethic, this kid would have a report card full of them!!! Even with all of the things going on in his life, he never showed it. Every day I see him I make sure to give him an extra hug and an extra word of encouragement....his strength pushes me to give my best- always!