Parent-Teacher Conferences, Take 2

I'm working on a post about how Tetris in an analogy for teaching.

Today is the second of our parent-teacher conferences.  The format is amazing and I think provides an excellent way to discuss adequate progress with parents.  Check out my post on the first one to see how we do it in my school.

Seriously, it's awesome!

It's very interesting to speak with parents and explain my educational and grading philosophy.  It's VERY different from what they normally hear and they have been very receptive, especially when I talk about the skills that I'm emphasizing (metacognition, critical thinking, content writing, etc.)

Many of the doubts that I've had about what I'm doing are dropping away.  Apparently, several of my geometry students have been telling their parents how much they like my class and how challenging it is.  The last few weeks have been quite a struggle and it's a bit of a vindication to know that, at least for some students, I am appreciated.

Nothing much else that I want to write about today, so I'll leave the following list, written by a colleague.




I have decided how I am going to behave during parent-teacher conferences today.

-practice my "beats" with a writing utensil and my fist on any surface while the parent is talking
 
-after this ask the parent for a writing utensil b/c I don't have one
 
-use that writing utensil to write "follow me @Teach4Lyf" on the wall then break it into pieces and shoot it in the trash can or just put it on the floor
 
-mumble unintelligible things and or rap, but only when the parent is talking
 
-take out the pen that I don't have and chew the top off of it to spread the ink all over the desk top and run my fingers through it to fingerprint myself
 
-run around the conference room while the parent is talking. Full sprint
 
-chase fellow teachers 
 
-provoke other teachers to fight other teachers
 
-tell other teachers that this teacher and that teacher are fighting then run out of the room at a full sprint to see if it's true.
 
-run into other conference rooms while running to see a potential fight to let the other teachers know what's going down
 
-Go back to my original conference and put my head down
 
-tell the parent they "just don't like me"
 
-tell the parent they should be fired from parenting and ask them why they are mad at life
 
-finally agree to take some notes on the student but ask the parent for a piece of paper-take 50 sheets of paper from them
 
-write a couple things down, draw some phallic symbols on the other 49 sheets of paper
 
-spread the paper on the floor near seat after tearing some of it into confetti
 
-when the time is technically up I may run out of the conference while the parent is still talking with 10 of the parents pens I took from their purse, I'll leave the "notes" I took on the floor where I put them