week 5 reflection

During week five I got the chance to observe several parent conferences. It is amazing in the different reactions of parents. One parent said she'd tried everything and nothing works to discipline her child. Some parents are concerned about what their child needs help on and will even request extra work for practice at home. Some parents seemed concerned for no apparent reason over behavior or academics while others give the impression that the problem only exists at school. It was a beneficial experience to see my CT talk with the parents. She started the conferences out on positive notes and tried to put positive spins or seem hopeful for situations that are not ideal. After one conference she'd had to tell a parent something they didn't want to hear and she expressed her nervousness to me after the conference was over. It was good to see that even after 5 years of teaching she still is not sure how to handle some situations. Some very interesting information can be revealed at conferences. Some of the students were there with their parents and being able to see the dynamic between parent and child can be a window to a child's behavior. There is a student in the class who is quite inattentive and my CT found out that it is because he needs tubes in his ears. It is something that should have been caught when he was a toddler, but for one reason or another it wasn't. The mom is in the process of trying to get this taken care of. It was an eye-opener for my CT and I. Of course he has a hard time paying attention, we sound like we're talking to him under water. I hope he gets the procedure taken care of soon because he is already behind. I would also like to see first hand the difference that it makes. One of my goals is to try harder to take into consideration more frequently things outside of school that affect the students.