Parent teacher conferences - code words?

[Anonymous]

solid = above average

[Anonymous]

I've never had a teacher mention how busy they are during a conference, much less start out the conference with this statement. I wonder if "I'm busy" is coming in response to PP leading off each conference with a "Why haven't you X, Y, Z?" list of grievances. If one teacher started a conference with "I'm so busy" then I'd give PP the benefit of the doubt, but if most of the teachers PP has conferenced with open the discussion this way, I kind of think that says more about PP than the teachers.

[Anonymous]

Despite that a pp has called me backside, each year in middle school, when I greeted the teacher and sat down for the first conference of the year, they each expressed how busy they were. One also complained that they shouldn't have to meet in the evening rather than during the day. I hadn't even said two words yet, and had just met them. Maybe you are right, maybe we had our child at the wrong middle school. Sounds like you now best.

[Anonymous]

That does sound awful. I am sorry your teachers come off as so self important or exhausted. I think you need to talk to the principal. Sounds like an unhealthy work environment with unhappy faculty. Ugh!

[Anonymous]

Busy? yes, I've heard that many times. It's very lame when the teacher does that.

[Anonymous]

conferences in the lower grade levels (before letter grades start) are often a waste of time - some teachers are better than others when it comes to parent conferences. The school our children attended required teachers to follow an outline - very few ever made it through their presentation. Oftentimes, they would start with an opening remark which rambled into general conversation that left little time to review the actual presentation and ratings. These opening remarks provided a good indication of whether the teacher(s) liked the child for sure, but they rarely provided a good summary of child's progress and strengths/weaknesses. It was quite common for DH and I to leave conference thinking child was doing well/poorly and then leaf through the report later to find out the opposite was true. Given that most parents take time off work to attend I think teachers should be better prepared and/or trained for conferences. I would've preferred to have the written assessment mailed to me instead of having to find childcare for the lost school days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've always loved hearing teachers respond to parental concerns about a child's work/grades with "it's developmental", which means "I'm totally clueless about what to do with your kids, so please get off my back."

It is also code for "your kid is not as bright as you think she is, but you will go batshit crazy if I suggest that she is anything but a genius."

If that's what it's code for, then that's a pretty unprofessional and lazy response to the question "What can we do to help X improve as a writer?".