Question for ES Teachers

[Anonymous]

Why are parent-teacher conferences set up for only 15 or 20 minutes at our ES school? Speaking from a parent's perspective, I feel that the amount of time alloted feels laughably short. Interested in hearing from teaching professionals on the thought behind the short duration. TIA!

[Anonymous]

What do you expect? that a teacher devotes about 15 hours of his/her time to parent conferences?

That's absurd!

Your child is not that special, and no one wants to sit for 30 minutes with the likes of you and your kind.

[Anonymous]

You do know that you can ask to meet with his/her teacher at any time, right? You don't have to sign up just for conference day. I met with my son's K teacher last year one day after school and we talked for 30+ mins. He was in no hurry. Just FYI.

[Anonymous]

Wow! That was a pretty harsh comeback to compare 15 minutes to 15 hours. And I'm not the OP. Once I had a 30 minute conference and it was such a difference compared to the 15 minute ones. We actually covered more than 1-2 topics and I felt satisfied that I knew where my child was doing well and needed work on both socially and academically. Everyone thinks 15 minute conferences are too short. I've never heard a parent or teacher say that they are adequate. I agree that you can always schedule another conference or try to talk to them after school but it always seems like then I'm taking away a teacher's time to do something they already planned for school or just to be off from work. I would prefer them to be the appropriate time to actually discuss my child thoroughly once and not have to bother them additional times. At the very least, I would like to get a report on my child prior to the conference so that we could just discuss one or two things at the conference in a more relaxed manor. It is odd to come in knowing so little about how my child is doing and then having to try to rush through everything. I always feel like I am a frantic parent and that is because I feel I have to in order to get the information I need to parent well.

[Anonymous]

I believe the 15 hours comment was referring tot eh fact that if every parent got 30+ minutes, it would take 15 hours of the teacher's time. The school can only plan these conferences for times that the teacher is not teaching students. MCPS cuts the school day short for two days to fit in these conferences. If you need to know more, shoot the teacher an e-mail so she can answer more fully when she has time. You shouldn't be getting surprises at the conference if you are touching base with the teacher on a regular basis.

[Anonymous]

I view the 15 minutes as time to discuss the most important issues that have arisen. Our teacher's ask us in advance for questions we might have so they can better prepare for the conference. If there is a major issue we arrange another longer meeting, stay in contact thru phone calls or emails. The teacher's only have so much time and there are a lot of kids. Some kids need more time to discuss than others.

[Anonymous]

Not the OP but this will be our first parent teacher conference in MCPS For 2nd grade what do you typically cover? Is it data driven showing how your child has done on assessments or more free flow where you get generally how child is doing and then questions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not the OP but this will be our first parent teacher conference in MCPS For 2nd grade what do you typically cover? Is it data driven showing how your child has done on assessments or more free flow where you get generally how child is doing and then questions?

IME the experience the teacher has about 10-15 minutes of information to cover (including recent work/assessments), leaving about 5 minutes (or less) for parents to ask questions.

[Anonymous]

To actually answer your question (about why it is structured that way), it is because there are 2 half days allotted for conferences when teachers are not with students. Even so, this means that teachers have to work hours beyond their duty day at least one (if not both) of those days to meet with the parents of all of their students. If a teacher has, say, 26 students, half an hour per student would equate to 13 total hours spent in conferences. That doesn't account for the extra time you have to build in between conferences (typically 5-10 minutes) to account for people who showed up late, so you didn't start on time, or ran over because you just weren't done talking.

I second the PP who mentioned you can ask for a meeting or conference with your child's teacher AT ANY TIME throughout the school year.

[Anonymous]

This thread is filled with neurotic answers.

First of all, talk to your child. If your child's not a talker, I'm sure that the teacher has some website - or posts updates through the school.

15 minutes is more than enough time to focus on some strengths and weaknesses, as it's not just about your child. It's like a factory - cranking out conference after conference. So don't expect the heavens to suddenly open up during those 15 minutes - illuminating your child's entire academic world.

Email the teacher if you have concerns. But please don't go overboard. One of our assistant principals had to intervene when one parent was particularly annoying, requesting daily updates! totally neurotic parenting

Be practical. Again, your child is NOT the only one in the class. So be proactive. If there's an issue, be prepared to help at home by adding a bit more structure to your child's homework slot. And read to your child EACH night.