Anonymous
08/31/2024 17:22
Subject: MCPS Back to School night
What do people think about the new format being rolled out - where instead of following your child's schedule and hearing the same stupid PPT presentation in 7 classrooms and sitting in the little desks, they have all the English teachers in one hallway, for example, or they have a fair type event with food trucks.
It is supposed to be more culturally appropriate, and I guess it is. Adults do not like sitting in little desks being lectured to by overwhelmingly white teachers. I am torn. I hate the traditional format, but don't know if I will like the new way.
What do you all think?
It is supposed to be more culturally appropriate, and I guess it is. Adults do not like sitting in little desks being lectured to by overwhelmingly white teachers. I am torn. I hate the traditional format, but don't know if I will like the new way.
What do you all think?
Anonymous
08/31/2024 17:07
Subject: MCPS Back to School night
Anonymous wrote:Teacher here - I wish BTSN was later in September. The first few weeks of school are incredibly hectic. Everyone is exhausted. I enjoy meeting parents but would prefer it when I am less frazzled. I barely know the kids when BTSN rolls around so I cannot connect the parents with the kids in my head and everything becomes a blur.
Possibly the point to have it so early. They don't want too many "how's my Larlo doing?" type questions when the evening is to provide classroom and course info. Parent teacher conferences are later on in the Fall.
Anonymous
08/31/2024 10:24
Subject: MCPS Back to School night
Teacher here - I wish BTSN was later in September. The first few weeks of school are incredibly hectic. Everyone is exhausted. I enjoy meeting parents but would prefer it when I am less frazzled. I barely know the kids when BTSN rolls around so I cannot connect the parents with the kids in my head and everything becomes a blur.
Anonymous
08/31/2024 10:22
Subject: MCPS Back to School night
I've only witnessed one elementary school with surround-sound Bose speakers in all four corners of the APR, which was a nice surprise. But all the other schools I've dropped in for, some didn't have any systems.
Anonymous
08/31/2024 10:02
Subject: MCPS Back to School night
For es and ms (maybe even hs) the speaker system may or may not be sufficient, unfortunately. At my school we make sure that there is at least one speaker in the back of the room so everyone can hear. But few schools have the equipment or know-how to pull that off.
Anonymous
08/31/2024 02:22
Subject: MCPS Back to School night
Nope. Waste of time. I agree with a 10min video of each teacher/course and a syllabus.
Anonymous
08/30/2024 21:40
Subject: MCPS Back to School night
I liked Wheaton’s format but I’m familiar with the building. Parents needed to know their students’ teachers to discover the correct rooms. Once you had that info though, it was great to be able to talk with the teacher. I was ahead of the crowds so it worked for me. The QR code didn’t work well and there weren’t enough posters showing what rooms to go to.
Anonymous
08/30/2024 06:40
Subject: MCPS Back to School night
It was also really crowded!
Anonymous
08/30/2024 06:40
Subject: Re:MCPS Back to School night
Anonymous wrote:Wheaton HS BTSN was rough. Tips for future:
1. Give parents an actual map (or QR code that links to a map). I had to ask a student ambassador for directions and they sent me in the wrong direction. (Or didn’t know their left from their right)
3. Have teachers/staff wear name tags- not just the id on the lanyard. I went into one of the classrooms and had a teacher ask me “is your child in my class?” And I had to respond “what’s your name?” As she wasn’t wearing a name tag/id.
3. If we have to go to the auditorium for the initial presentation, talk loudly into the mic, esp as families are still coming in and finding their seats. I was in the back and many of us didn’t hear what was said.
4. Because we didn’t hear half of the information, several parents started going to the classrooms based on their kids schedule. But classes were lumped together in various rooms across the school. Lots of initial confusion.
5. Because they lump teachers in certain rooms (10th grade English teachers in one room, regular precalc teachers in another), you may have 4-5 teachers in one room that gets really crowded and stuffy, really fast.
6. (And this is more for MCPS) can BTSN be later in the year- say end of September so that teachers have time to learn who students are? Esp for HS as many students are still changing their schedules and teachers are still learning the names of the 150+ students they have….
That sounds horrible.
DC's school had a traditional BTSN and it was great. The teachers seemed happy and enthusiastic to be there or they faked it really well. The environment was really positive.
Anonymous
08/29/2024 20:43
Subject: MCPS Back to School night
Anonymous wrote:Teachers hate every second of BTSN and honestly just have a link I can click with a 10 minute presentation of you, your class, expectations, etc... and I will actually learn more than walking in and listening to some yo yo parent ruins the 7 minutes we have when they ask about AP exams.
My impression for middle school and high school has been that the times are so short with each teacher that you mostly listen to their presentation and then maybe one parent asks a brief question and then the bell rings while the teacher is answering it and you’re off to a new class. But maybe my kids’ teachers are especially chatty?
Anonymous
08/29/2024 20:40
Subject: Re:MCPS Back to School night
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I attend them but I think format is so brief and crammed that as a parent, you don't get a lot of value from the hour or so of time you invest in the experience.
I think elementary is the most valuable, followed by middle and high school being the least valuable. I can sort of see the value of running through your kids' schedule at the secondary level, but given that you're spending so much time on the logistics of moving from classroom to classroom (and getting lost along the way) only for the teacher to breathlessly and double-speed attempt to talk through their syllabus, it seems like it's a setup to fail.
I disagree. In high school it’s the only opportunity to meet teachers and interact with them and see the setting my kid spends his day in. In elementary it’sa waste of time.
+1. I feel the same for middle school. For elementary school it’s easy to get a sense of a single teacher even without the open house-I find it more helpful to meet other parents in my kid’s class. But middle school open house (which our school actually had before the school year even started for some reason m) was really interesting to get a sense of the teachers and what the year would be like-things my kid could look forward to this year, whether they assign homework regularly etc rather than just random emails from ParentVue.
Anonymous
08/29/2024 19:43
Subject: Re:MCPS Back to School night
Wheaton HS BTSN was rough. Tips for future:
1. Give parents an actual map (or QR code that links to a map). I had to ask a student ambassador for directions and they sent me in the wrong direction. (Or didn’t know their left from their right)
3. Have teachers/staff wear name tags- not just the id on the lanyard. I went into one of the classrooms and had a teacher ask me “is your child in my class?” And I had to respond “what’s your name?” As she wasn’t wearing a name tag/id.
3. If we have to go to the auditorium for the initial presentation, talk loudly into the mic, esp as families are still coming in and finding their seats. I was in the back and many of us didn’t hear what was said.
4. Because we didn’t hear half of the information, several parents started going to the classrooms based on their kids schedule. But classes were lumped together in various rooms across the school. Lots of initial confusion.
5. Because they lump teachers in certain rooms (10th grade English teachers in one room, regular precalc teachers in another), you may have 4-5 teachers in one room that gets really crowded and stuffy, really fast.
6. (And this is more for MCPS) can BTSN be later in the year- say end of September so that teachers have time to learn who students are? Esp for HS as many students are still changing their schedules and teachers are still learning the names of the 150+ students they have….
1. Give parents an actual map (or QR code that links to a map). I had to ask a student ambassador for directions and they sent me in the wrong direction. (Or didn’t know their left from their right)
3. Have teachers/staff wear name tags- not just the id on the lanyard. I went into one of the classrooms and had a teacher ask me “is your child in my class?” And I had to respond “what’s your name?” As she wasn’t wearing a name tag/id.
3. If we have to go to the auditorium for the initial presentation, talk loudly into the mic, esp as families are still coming in and finding their seats. I was in the back and many of us didn’t hear what was said.
4. Because we didn’t hear half of the information, several parents started going to the classrooms based on their kids schedule. But classes were lumped together in various rooms across the school. Lots of initial confusion.
5. Because they lump teachers in certain rooms (10th grade English teachers in one room, regular precalc teachers in another), you may have 4-5 teachers in one room that gets really crowded and stuffy, really fast.
6. (And this is more for MCPS) can BTSN be later in the year- say end of September so that teachers have time to learn who students are? Esp for HS as many students are still changing their schedules and teachers are still learning the names of the 150+ students they have….
Anonymous
08/29/2024 09:04
Subject: MCPS Back to School night
Anonymous wrote:Do they sell food for parents rushing to the evening program after work??
Our school has had a couple of food trucks out front.
Anonymous
08/29/2024 09:00
Subject: MCPS Back to School night
Do they sell food for parents rushing to the evening program after work??
Anonymous
08/28/2024 23:55
Subject: MCPS Back to School night
Teachers hate every second of BTSN and honestly just have a link I can click with a 10 minute presentation of you, your class, expectations, etc... and I will actually learn more than walking in and listening to some yo yo parent ruins the 7 minutes we have when they ask about AP exams.