29: Conferences…YIKES!

I stand on the precipice of my longest week of the school year: the dreaded week of parent/teacher conferences…MUHAHAHA! Honestly, the conferences aren’t too big of a deal. I feel I have a good relationship with my students’ parents. Plus, I’ve been at this for 27 years. It’s not my first rodeo. It’s the prep work and the actual time to conference that I struggle with. I used valuable in-class time last week interviewing 20 kids in preparation for my conferences. Sunday will be devoted to filling in my reports for parents. Then I have 20 fifteen-minute slots from Tuesday to Friday to give my presentations, most of them after school. Thursday is my longest day. I’ll get to school at 7:00 in the morning and leave at about 7:30 in the evening. Twelve hour work days—it’s a vibe, right? Health care professionals, I praise you for this! Luckily I have a couple of bathroom slots I’ve included, although the same can’t be said about eating times.

Hey, it’s all good. It’s part of the job, especially as a primary grade teacher. Parents of younger kids really care about these events, especially in the community I teach. Case in point, at yesterday’s fall party there were more adults in the room than kids. That’s awesome! I just wish parents would continue to show support and effort as the kids age. Once sixth grade comes, the less parents show up to events. Part of that comes from kids who do NOT want their parents around. It also could be that middle school and high school kids just aren’t as cute or needy as those who don’t know how to tie their shoelaces or who still bounce around like jumping beans as they walk.

I have a couple of friends who teach middle school science. Each Christmas time I show off my bounty of gifts from parents (just to be mean). Yeah, I realize their student gifts are…lacking. First grade teachers are beloved. Eighth grade science teachers are “loved” in a much different way, if that makes sense.

I’d love as many good vibes as I can as I progress through this work week. Oh! Also, report card grades are due on Friday…BOOYAH!