|
|
Post by mrsscrapdiva on Oct 1, 2014 0:07:03 GMT
Every year it is the same. We have to circle two possible time slots and they will do the best they can to schedule. Believe me, I get that.
Timeslots are every 1/2 hour (ETA the actual conf. is only 15 minutes):
Wed between 3-6
Thursday between 12 - 3 (the kids get out of school that day at 11:15)
Every year it is the same thing for us, neither works. It is hard to find a sitter for the kids in those time slots and my husband works 45 minutes away. If it is rush hour traffic, there is no guarantee he will make it home.
And I feel bad for the teachers because every year PTO schedules the Fall Festival on that Thursday night from 5 - 7:30 and a lot of the teachers stay for that. It is a long day for everyone.
Just a vent - no good answer I guess. And somehow for the past 4 years we have worked it out. I think may have gone alone a few of those years.
*UPDATE I signed up for anytime between 12:30 - 1:30. Maybe my Dad can watch my son or maybe my son can hang out in the library across from his classroom and do his reading or homework. My little one is in pre-school until 2 that day so that will cover him. My dh will not be attending.
Like I said, somehow we make it work out, but it is just irks me a bit because our school schedules things at strange times. But they have done it like this for so many years, it must be working for the majority of people. |
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 2, 2024 6:04:41 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2014 0:10:52 GMT
I've never used a baby sitter for teacher conferences. Little ones who don't understand what is going on stay in our laps, bigger ones can sit in the hallway and read. Teachers actually like to have the students there too, so we can all talk for part of the meeting.
|
|
|
|
Post by Erica on Oct 1, 2014 0:14:50 GMT
My daughter's last school would make phone calls to parents who were unable to attend.
|
|
|
|
Post by lorieann13 on Oct 1, 2014 0:18:35 GMT
I don't expect dh to take off work (who is a high school teacher btw). I'm the sah parent so I do and talk to dh when he gets home. If my mom wasnt able to watch the kiddos, I just brought them. Dd would stay outside and ds would be in the room with me. In 4th grade the teacher actually wanted the students to be there.
|
|
|
|
Post by dreamer on Oct 1, 2014 0:19:13 GMT
Hey you at least get a 1/2 hour. Ours are 10 min. apart! Last year I waited a half an hour.
|
|
eleezybeth
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,784
Jun 28, 2014 20:42:01 GMT
|
Post by eleezybeth on Oct 1, 2014 0:20:52 GMT
Vent heard. Our last school gave evening priority to siblings and not parents who both worked. Drove me crazy. We contacted the teacher and she agreed to see us before school. We did that for both semesters and it worked great. I personally do not like my child or her siblings with us. There are topics I wish to talk freely about.
|
|
|
|
Post by bc2ca on Oct 1, 2014 0:21:44 GMT
Our teachers tried to get everyone in an afternoon slot, but always had early morning options available on request.
TBH, my DH never made a conference after the first one in K. Not that he doesn't care, but working around his schedule was hard for essentially a 20 min "meet the teacher" visit.
I also never got a babysitter for conferences. My kids would read a book or play with a friend outside (parents trading off who was in conference & who watched the kids).
If there are any serious academic, behaviorial or learning difficulties they have usually been brought up long before the conference.
|
|
|
|
Post by ktdoesntscrap on Oct 1, 2014 0:24:40 GMT
My daughter's school is doing 7 to 3... two days.. I wish they would do 12 -7 one day! My daughter is in middle school and we met with her crew teacher... sort of like homeroom. Hers happens to be her English teacher.. but It seems odd not to be meeting with her subject teachers. |
|
|
|
Post by 950nancy on Oct 1, 2014 0:26:45 GMT
Not sure how your school does it, but it can be crazy trying to schedule back to back conferences for the classroom teacher. We ALL meet in a room and one person calls out a name and the 2-6 kids with that family. Then teachers have to call out times and organize for each family who has more than one kid. This takes forever. We fill in the slots for the rest of the kids and give the list to the office. Those poor people have to make all of the changes. Then 3-5 parents call after they missed their scheduled time and want another slot. Most of those slots are filled with parents who already want the later slots. Our conferences are from 8-8 on Thursday and 8-12 on Friday. They are the longest days and I have to laugh when parents tell me they can only meet me after 6 on another day. I just can't stay 2.5 later than my regular work day. This has happened to lots of us before. I think conferences are very important but are such a pain for most people involved.
|
|
|
|
Post by salem on Oct 1, 2014 0:27:06 GMT
Last year I had just started a brand new job and couldn't fit into any of the time slots available. My DD's teacher was so nice and offered to either make it another day or set up a phone conference for before I had to be at work. I really appreciated her offer to help me out.
|
|
|
|
Post by freecharlie on Oct 1, 2014 0:27:40 GMT
Have you gone to a pto meeting and brought this up? I would.
|
|
|
|
Post by mrsscrapdiva on Oct 1, 2014 0:41:53 GMT
That would be great if it was allowed. Strict no kids allowed in the actual conference, same with the Open House night they had the third week of school. I am going to call to see if my older son can read in the library outside the classroom and my little one will still be in preschool and I am going to go without dh.
I remember when I was a kid, it was 15 minutes and that is never enough time. It was more work for my mom to get us situated with dinner and a sitter, drive to school and only be there 15 minutes.
I am pretty sure that the times are district wide (14 elementary school, 4 middle school and 3 high schools) and have to do the amount of hours that the teachers work under their contract.
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 2, 2024 6:04:41 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2014 0:42:55 GMT
That would be great if it was allowed. Strict no kids allowed in the actual conference, same with the Open House night they had the third week of school. I am going to call to see if my older son can read in the library outside the classroom and my little one will still be in preschool and I am going to go without dh. I remember when I was a kid, it was 15 minutes and that is never enough time. It was more work for my mom to get us situated with dinner and a sitter, drive to school and only be there 15 minutes. Wow, that sucks!! Sorry your school is like that.  |
|
|
|
Post by cindyupnorth on Oct 1, 2014 0:50:26 GMT
We were very very lucky that our school district is very PRO working parents. So confernces were always set 9am-7pm. Teachers got a hr lunch break, and then the next day off. It worked out great. And I must brag on my dh, who works over an hr away, and travels for work...he made EVERY SINGLE school conference for my dd's. Every one.
|
|
|
|
Post by anxiousmom on Oct 1, 2014 0:51:24 GMT
We used to get together a group of mom/dads and try to schedule our appointments back to back or as close to it as we could...one or two of the moms/dads would hang out on the playground with the kids while the other mom/dads went to the conferences.
Could you do something like that? At least for the kid part of the problem?
|
|
|
|
Post by Dixie Lou on Oct 1, 2014 1:23:28 GMT
Yes scheduling conferences can be a nightmare. It happens to be conference week at my school. I teach all day, dismiss the kids at 3:00 and have my first conference at 3:15. My last conference every day is at 5:30. I have 15 minute time slots but not all time slots are filled. I send home a note with my schedule and have parents choose three most convenient times for them. It's first come first served, so to speak. I also offer a phone conference for parents who can't make it at that time. To tell you the truth, our building is open until 7:00 p.m. and I would have no problem staying later but it seems that those who want the later times are the NO SHOWS. It's happened so many times that I don't offer a later time. However, I would be open to have an early morning or an afternoon (conference period) conference if needed. This year I've got all parents scheduled. Two didn't show up. One was at 5:15 and the other was a phone conference who gave me one choice of time...3:15, which many parents want since it is right after school. SIGH. Of course the 3:15 appointment was for a child who should have been retained last year...
Students are welcome to attend the conference with their parent. We're talking about them and normally nothing is said that they shouldn't know. I also let them show their parent or sibling around our room a bit. I don't look forward to conferences but I always end up enjoying most of them.
|
|
|
|
Post by betsy on Oct 1, 2014 1:27:38 GMT
Our elementary schools have THREE DAYS in a row of noon dismissals to schedule parent conferences in the afternoon. While I love that that means I can take the full 30 minutes allotted per teacher, it also means working parents have to deal with three days of half days in one week, 2 times a year. We take the kids, but they color, read, or show off their classroom to their sibling, and never have we had a problem. Then again, so far, we haven't had any real issues to tackle with a teacher during the conference, either.
Each teacher has also reiterated that they are available during the specials period to call parents over any issue, and all have, so far, been very responsive over email.
We're a rather small, suburban district.
|
|
|
|
Post by peasful1 on Oct 1, 2014 1:33:56 GMT
our school technically has two days set aside for conferences, two half-days, but they usually try to jam them all in mon-thurs to get off early on Friday.They are all very accommodating and offer a variety of times.
|
|
|
|
Post by ktdoesntscrap on Oct 1, 2014 1:44:50 GMT
We use a google doc to sign up.. which is easy.
The teacher emails the link to the parents and you choose the time.
Much easier then choosing a couple of times and trying to fit it in.
|
|
|
|
Post by myshelly on Oct 1, 2014 1:57:33 GMT
In the school district where we live the kids have tomorrow off from school and conferences are during regular school hours of 7:50 to 2:50. No evening conferences.
Children are not invited.
I homeschool, but I am babysitting several public schooled kiddos tomorrow while their parents go to the conferences.
|
|
|
|
Post by smokey2471 on Oct 1, 2014 2:18:12 GMT
Our school only does conferences with students who are having a problem or if a parent request one! Yay no conference for me. We had open house the Friday before school started to meet the teacher. I like how they do it. Open house is from 6:30-8:45 and if your last mane starts with A-h you drop in between 6:30-7:15 I-P 7:15-8:00 Q-Z 8:00-8:45. Of course if you come earlier or later it's ok but this way not everyone is showing up at the same time. Our school does teams so all the kids on team A have the same teachers. So usually the team goes to one teachers room and you meet the team at one time. It sounds confusing but works nicely. Also our school has online grading app with email option. Most teams have a private facebook page where they post homework, projects reminders etc. as well as a no reply text group that sends out remember to study for the test text reminders. I love that!
|
|
|
|
Post by freecharlie on Oct 1, 2014 2:30:14 GMT
I think it is crap they don't allow kids. I would want to boycott the conference.
I also wouldn't go to open house and when they complained about lack of parental involvement, I'd point to the parent unfriendly policies.
I also wouldn't fundraise for them.
|
|
|
|
Post by freecharlie on Oct 1, 2014 2:34:10 GMT
I think it is crap they don't allow kids. I would want to boycott the conference. I also wouldn't go to open house and when they complained about lack of parental involvement, I'd point to the parent unfriendly policies. I also wouldn't fundraise for them. Eta, the kid's district do conferences two nights a week from 4-8. Teachers get a comp day from it. Elementary conferences are 20 minutes in length. Middle school is 10 min per teacher My district dies conferences from 4-8 plus half day on Friday. It is part of our contract. |
|
|
|
Post by kellybelly77 on Oct 1, 2014 2:35:00 GMT
I've never used a baby sitter for teacher conferences. Little ones who don't understand what is going on stay in our laps, bigger ones can sit in the hallway and read. Teachers actually like to have the students there too, so we can all talk for part of the meeting. Our school encourages parents to leave kids at home. But if you can't they get the high school kids to come over and baby sit in the gym for about $2 per kid. |
|
|
|
Post by fwscrapper on Oct 1, 2014 2:41:12 GMT
I teach 2nd grade. We only get a half day out of school to hold conferences. I have 20 minutes sessions. For students that I know will take longer, I plan for that.
There is no way that I could see all 20 parents in one afternoon. I start holding conferences up to two weeks in advance. I have done phone conferences in some instances.
Call her and request another day. Chances are she will welcome not having a jammed packed day.
As far as my own kids, DH doesn't come to all conferences. We have one child in SpEd. He attends all ARDs and conferences with him bc he is a little more complicated.
|
|
SabrinaP
Pearl Clutcher
Busy Teacher Pea
Posts: 4,355 
Location: Dallas Texas
|
Post by SabrinaP on Oct 1, 2014 2:47:27 GMT
We use a google doc to sign up.. which is easy. The teacher emails the link to the parents and you choose the time. Much easier then choosing a couple of times and trying to fit it in. That is such a great idea! I'm totally stealing it! |
|
|
|
Post by Amelia Bedelia on Oct 1, 2014 8:06:18 GMT
Our school does the sign up thing where parents circle a few dates and times and the teacher figures out what works best for everyone. It sucks but I have a pretty open schedule and I just circled a few days and said whatever time slots aren't taken are fine with me.
That said, the conference was fantastic. Dd is in 7th grade. Students are assigned a mentor. Dd and I met with her mentor for 45 minutes. We went over her grades in their online grade book and discussed that. The rest of the time was about dd setting goals, both personal and academic, and discussing what kind of college she wants to attend, what colleges look at from applicants, and what she can do in middle school and high school to achieve her goals.
Best conference ever.
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 2, 2024 6:04:41 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2014 11:29:50 GMT
In elementary, conferences were mandatory. The teachers had to do everything they could to get 100% attendance. Since it was a charter school, most parents were easily scheduled. Now at the regular public middle school, the teachers are only required to meet with parents whose students are at a C or lower. Everyone else can make the call if they want to meet or not. The last time I got the scheduling slip, I emailed the teachers and asked if there are any concerns about either kids' grades or behavior. I ended up meeting with one teacher because as smart as my oldest is, he struggles with actually putting his thoughts onto paper.
At all of the conferences, the students were encouraged to be there. I remember at the charter school one year, they asked for a few parent volunteers to hang out in the library to mind the kids that didn't have conferences or were not school aged. The parents could decide to leave them in the library for the 20 minutes or so they needed. I know a few parents took advantage of that and left their toddlers while they talked to the older siblings' teachers. They only did that a couple times. Either they ran out of volunteers or someone just didn't want to organize it anymore.
|
|
|
|
Post by brina on Oct 1, 2014 11:31:32 GMT
When my kids were younger my best friend and I would arrange back to back conferences and meet on the school playground with our kids. I would watch them while she had her conference, she would watch them while I had mine and then we would sit and chat for a while afterwards. The kids got a couple of hours to play, we had a chance to catch up, and we both had a sitter for our conference time.
One year the local girl scout troop (cadets and above, so 6-8 grade) provided a drop in service in the school gym during conference times. It was free for parents and the girl scouts earned community service hours.
|
|
grinningcat
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,663
Jun 26, 2014 13:06:35 GMT
|
Post by grinningcat on Oct 1, 2014 12:07:26 GMT
Those are weird times since most parents work and couldn't get away (though it seems like school expect parents to take time off from work... so strange).
Conferences were not something my parents did. In fact, they found them to be a hassle and annoyance. There was no concerns or things they needed to work with the teacher and my mother was already dealing with her own set of conferences for her school... so why the hell would she go to mine and have to deal with more? Not to mention, kids were never welcome at conferences, and that's something that was still in place when my nieces and nephews went to school. If my sister or brother went (very rarely, only when concerns were raised) the kids were not invited. How can one have a proper meeting when the kid was in the room? So as aunt, I took the kids out for a fun night... bowling, dinner, fun stuff like that. Didn't happen very often though, which was kind of a bummer since it was fun to take the kids out.
|
|
