The Teacher's Alphabet

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! In lieu of this week to celebrate the amazing teachers everywhere, I have created the Teacher's Alphabet. Thank you to each and every teacher out there!

 A: A/C: you keep the A/C cranked down to the lowest temperature it will go... which is usually comparable to the Artic... never mind that it is below freezing outside, and you are wearing your jackets and mittens inside. That hot flash will hit at any moment while you are teaching, so you have to be prepared. 

B: Bulletin Board: at the beginning of the school year, you create the most magnificent looking board, by the end of the year you are hoping the tape can hold up what is left of it! 

C: Cold: I’m not sick, I’m not sick... you keep repeating to yourself, because having to write sub plans would be way harder than just coming in and suffering through it. 

D: Dry Erase Markers: these are a coveted gem in the classroom. Finding these at a garage sale is like hitting the jack pot for teachers. If you really want to get on the teachers good aide, buy them in all different colors. 

E: Eat in 10 minutes: it’s amazing how quickly a teacher can eat. They can eat their food, grade papers, have a parent teacher conference, and use the restroom all in a 30 minute time period. 

10 Ways to ROCK the next conference with your child's Teacher

Being a former teacher I have been through plenty Parent-Teacher Conferences. We call conferences at the beginning of the year, middle, and end. In between there we stay in contact with parents to update them on how their child is progressing. Below I have listed steps, as a parent, that you can take to make the conference with your child's teacher go smoothly.

 Don’t assume your child is in trouble

Teacher's hold conferences for many different reasons. We like to keep in contact with parent's to update them on their child's progress (behavior and academically). If you are called into a conference with your child's teacher don't automatically think it is because your child is in trouble. There could be many different reasons the teacher(s) would like to conference with you. At the beginning of our school year we had conferences with every single child's parents just to get to know them a little bit better. We showed them some data we had at the beginning of the year and what steps we wanted to take going into the year to help their child succeed. 

 Bring a list of questions or concerns

When you attend your child's conference you will be asked if you have any questions or concerns. I recommend throughout the year to write down any questions that you have that pop up. If there is a major concern that pops up please get in contact with your child's teacher as soon as possible. We want to know if something is going on that we are not aware of. When a parent comes with questions we are more than happy to answer them and as thoroughly as possible. The parent may ask a question that we didn't think  to discuss with them. This will help even further to cover all basics to help your child succeed.