Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never. I'm not a helicopter parent by any means, but I want to know what DCs are good at, what they struggle with, and most importantly, I always ask how I can help support the teacher and what she is trying to accomplish at home. They seem to appreciate the question. Maybe it doesn't matter, but frankly I also want to be know as a parent who is involved and cares about her kids' education.

It may be luck of the draw, but I haven't ever been to a PT conference that was not informative. I also push the teachers a bit though to go beyond "she/he is doing well." They are always up to the task and get specific and give good feedback on what can be improved.

This is my experience, too. The basic presentation is barely worthwhile, but follow-up questions yield useful insight. For one kid, my concerns are mostly social, so it's helpful to hear observations about the playground, for instance.

Teacher's aren't even outside at recess, how would they be able to give feedback about playground situations?

Anonymous wrote:I love parent teacher conferences. I request them even if they are not mandatory. It’s a great opportunity to find out about how your child is doing in class and about your child’s teacher.

Even the stories about short conferences where the teacher moves on to the next parents after 5 minutes are important. That would tell me I need to worry about and watch for the teacher overlooking my child’s needs because they are doing fine.

Same. We both WOH and still attend every one. Heck, kid's current teacher mostly conducts the conference in a language I'm not fluent in, and I still attend (spouse translates). I feel it's our responsibility to hear how she's doing and what we can do at home to ensure she gets the most out of her education. We also ask about classroom dynamics, etc.

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Just wow.

You send your kid to school and they spend like 5-7 hours a day 180 days a year with this person and you don't even want to talk to him or her for 10-20 min?

Mind blown.

I absolutely agree. Unreal.

I bet the teacher would have agreed to a phone conference in lieu of an in person meeting, since the travel time is prohibitive for you.

I love parent teacher conferences. I request them even if they are not mandatory. It’s a great opportunity to find out about how your child is doing in class and about your child’s teacher.

Even the stories about short conferences where the teacher moves on to the next parents after 5 minutes are important. That would tell me I need to worry about and watch for the teacher overlooking my child’s needs because they are doing fine.

Anonymous wrote:No, I would never skip a parent teacher conference. I was a teacher before becoming a parent and I know how those parents who skip are talked about among the teachers of all grades.

Parental involvement is a cornerstone to a child’s success. Parent-Teacher Conferences are part of that involvement.

While I don’t doubt that was your experience, I just want to say that’s a bummer. I’ve taught, and I have empathy for parents who can’t make it to conferences. My own parents often had trouble because they were divorced and both worked relatively far from my school. As a teacher I’ve had to leave in the middle of a conference day due to illness, and I felt terribly for rescheduling with parents after they took time off to meet with me. So I try to extend some understanding to people who miss conferences, whether by choice or necessity. If a child has a significant need, I’m going to be in touch with the family anyway, and I also try to remember to share the good news when it happens.

Wow. Just wow.

You send your kid to school and they spend like 5-7 hours a day 180 days a year with this person and you don't even want to talk to him or her for 10-20 min?

Mind blown.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My parents teachers conference literally took just two minutes . Teacher showed my kid’s report card, where the reading level is at, some of the class works and said things are on track. Then nicely sent me out...makes me wonder why need to schedule a 20 minutes conference

Our experience too. We got 10, not the 20 minutes and teacher rushed us through as next family was early. Pointless. I would have been pissed to take off work for that, if I worked.

I don’t put up with that. I come with my list of questions and if the teacher rushes me I say “actually I have a few more questions.”

The teacher has never met my child... we've had several long term subs, so what does she really have to offer?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My parents teachers conference literally took just two minutes . Teacher showed my kid’s report card, where the reading level is at, some of the class works and said things are on track. Then nicely sent me out...makes me wonder why need to schedule a 20 minutes conference

Our experience too. We got 10, not the 20 minutes and teacher rushed us through as next family was early. Pointless. I would have been pissed to take off work for that, if I worked.

I don’t put up with that. I come with my list of questions and if the teacher rushes me I say “actually I have a few more questions.”

Anonymous wrote:My parents teachers conference literally took just two minutes . Teacher showed my kid’s report card, where the reading level is at, some of the class works and said things are on track. Then nicely sent me out...makes me wonder why need to schedule a 20 minutes conference

Our experience too. We got 10, not the 20 minutes and teacher rushed us through as next family was early. Pointless. I would have been pissed to take off work for that, if I worked.

Anonymous wrote:This thread is a great example of people caring more about their job than their kids. So sad. Go to the damn conference! Even just to let your kid and their teacher know you give a $hit!

I am a SAHP and have skipped them depending on the teacher. They aren't willing to talk about my child's needs. They go over one test result which I knew and said my child is doing well and ignore the areas of struggle. What's the point? When this year and it was pointless too.

This thread is a great example of people caring more about their job than their kids. So sad. Go to the damn conference! Even just to let your kid and their teacher know you give a $hit!