Conference Night

From the Star

So... conference night, what a night! Who would have thought I could talk to 15 parents all in one night and not go crazy? Well I can tell you I can’t even believe it myself. The goal was to talk to each parent for 15 minutes and answer all the 1,ooo questions that they have in that allotted amount of time while giving them all the answers that they want to hear and having them leave happy! Can you feel my pain? I started my conferences at 4:15 and did not walk out of my classroom door until 8:45. And, did I mention that my last conference was supposed to end at 8?

I had all my conferences set up back to back from 4:15 till 8. This is how I thought it would go; The parents would come in and I would tell them, for the most part, that their child was on level and they would nod their heads and say, “Great thanks for letting me know.” And then they would be on their way. Let’s just say, that's not exactly how it worked. Every parent, including the ones that had students with straight A’s, needed to know every detail about what there child was doing and how well they were doing it. They also wanted to know everything that we had planned for the year, which would have been great to tell parents except for the fact that we have not even begun planning for what we are getting into after Christmas! Don’t these parents know that I have enough stress without thinking that far in advance? No offense to any of you lovely parents, of course.

All in all the conferences went well, except for the fact that they sent the ESE coach in to monitor all of my conferences - adding a little extra nerves and stress. I hated being able to see the faces of the parents waiting - looking at me while I was finishing one conference and knowing that I was running into their time. I could see them checking their watching and sighing in frustration. Parents don't wait well.

Overall, I guess I was impressed with how well the conferences went and all of the good things that the parents said their children had to say about me. It really did make me feel good and help me to remember why I took this job. I guess with all my whining about the conferences, the truth is that I am loving every minute of it, even the crazy moments.