Trevor Ivan

School Meeting
10/13/16
Parent Teacher Conferences
I very much enjoyed my time at parent teacher conferences. Not so much the
fact that we sat around waiting aimlessly for parents to sit at our table, but I got the
opportunity to talk with my match up teacher and another Social Studies teacher
(Ms. Light-Kovacs) more in depth about their teaching philosophies and strategies in
the classroom. This allowed me to build stronger connections with both of the
teachers which ultimately made me feel a better sense of community and
appreciation for my time being there. Even so, both my match up teacher and our
table neighbor were able to plan out my lesson on WW1, bringing down my stress
level significantly. So in regards to my time spent talking with other teachers about
their experience being an educator, I am glad I spent the time that I did at the
conferences.
However, I also enjoyed my time at parent teacher conferences because I
was able to see the interactions that took place between parents and teachers, and
what parents will expect or hope to gain from meeting with me as their students
teacher. While it was early in the morning and not as many parents were there in
general, I wasnt very surprised on what type of parents showed up. All of the
parents that attended conferences had students in the AP class that my match up
teacher instructed. I equated this to the fact that these parents are more than likely
to have an active relationship with their student and serve as primary motivator for
their student to succeed. From talking with my match up teacher he explained there
were very few parents or family members that came for students who are struggling
in his class. Which is an issue that I am still trying to solve in my head in order for
myself to encourage more participation from family members. Now I recognize there
are socio-economic factors that play into this but I feel as their students teacher I
have the duty to build relationships with parents to open a door of communication
in order to promote their students success.
Ultimately this was a new experience for me, as I have never see parent
teacher conferences structured like this, but I enjoyed my time there as an observer
as it set up background knowledge for what I should expect in the future.
Additionally it gave me an insight into parent involvement with Thompson Valley,
which I would define as relatively active (for the most part). However, the million
dollar question always comes to be, how can I achieve 100% attendance from
parents and families of my students? This is an incredibly hard question to answer
and I believe the person who solves this question truly deserves a million dollars.