Yesterday was the big day for our parent conference. Tracey went for both of us. I was tied up at work and was not able to attend. In the past has always wanted either me to handle the meeting or at least go with her. This time however, she was ready to go and if I had gone I doubt I would have got a word in. The woman was ready to go!
She gets to the meeting and of course it is her, the principal and the teacher. I don’t want to go into great specifics but it is safe to say that the school did not come off looking very good. You can read my previous post to read the email I sent them to give them a list of our questions.
I am not sure where to start. It is not often that a parent will set up a meeting and give you much information regarding their concern because they don’t want you to have a prepared statement to their concern.
Jacks teacher is in her first year in a regular classroom. She has education experience but nothing to this level. She is going up against a mother who has 16 years of classroom experience and a father with 15 years of educational experience with 7 of those years being a campus administrator. To say that she is at a disadvantage here is an understatement. The last parent meeting we had the best defense she had was “that is how they do it here.”
So to be fair I sent her and the principal an email (you can read it below) to give them a heads up. They had four days to get ready for this meeting. IF a parent conference involved me and the teacher there was obviously a problem. I would always go in ahead of time and talk with the teacher about what was going on. If we screwed up…we screwed up. The important thing is to not make excuses to the parent in the conference. Admit our wrong doing.. Privately, before the conference, I would coach the teacher on how to handle the situation in the future so that they can learn and be better! We all make mistakes. The important thing to remember is that we learn from them. In the meeting with the parents we tell them what we are going to do in the future. I usually figure out a way to take the heat for the mistake so that the teacher feels as though they are supported and not being left out to dry. It is a win-win situation. The parent has been heard and their concerns are validated. The teacher learns how not to get in that situation again.
This did NOT happen here. As a matter of fact I don’t think the principal even talked to the teacher AT ALL before the conference. If he had he would have coached them a bit better.
This is the funniest part: In regards to how is the campus monitoring the effectiveness of tutoring and what is done if it is found to not be effective? Example: Jack makes good grades on stuff we work with him on but consistently makes 70’s and 60’s on work covered in class and tutoring.
This was actually said by Jack’s tutoring teacher who joined the meeting:
Another teacher in the third grade (who plans math for the grade level) gives the tutoring teacher a packet of work to give to the kids. If the kid needs help the tutor try’s to help the kid.
Question by us: what strategy are you using when you are working with Jack?
Tutor: Strategy?
Tracey: Yes what problem solving strategy are you using to help the kids ?
Tutor: All I get is a bunch of packets and I hand them out to the kids.
LLLLLLOOOONNNNNGGGG SILENCE as Tracey let’s this INCREDIBLE DUMB statement sink in.
She looks over at the principal he is not reacting. Tracey handled that beautifully. She gave them rope and they hung themselves.
This is too easy!
Then the principal says this: What you have to understand Mrs. Huffman is that you and your husband are much more knowledgeable than the typical parent. You are asking questions that the typical would not know to ask..
What the hell does that mean? Excuse my staff for being idiots….I got nothin’
Dude! If you are going into a parent conference and you have seen their concerns and you got a first year teacher and you are facing parents with over 30 years of experience and one of the parents was a campus administrator you better get in there and find out what the hell is going on.
NOT SMART!
And I loved how Tracey handled this statement to the principal. Any parent Mr…….. is going to come into this situation and what to know what the school is doing to ensure their child is learning.
BRAVO MOMMA! BRAVO
Friday, November 20, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
It Must Be Magic
So Tracey and I have been trying to set up a teacher conference with Jacks teacher for about two weeks. Our first challenge was she kept trying to set it up during the day. She knows we both work but it was worth it so Tracey was going to take a personal day and go during the teachers 45 minute conference period. HENCE THE NAME...CONFERENCE PERIOD. Then we were informed that she could only give us about 20-30 minutes. When we told her we needed more time and that we would need to meet before or after school we were informed that she does not get to school until 7:45 and she leaves at 3:45. Again a 15 minute conference.
So I sent her an email listing our questions and a little detail on each question to give her a heads up on her answers so that we could meet HER time contraints. Because in a profession where you serve the public ITS ALL ABOUT YOU!!
We contacted the principal of the campus trying to get him to help us set up a longer conference. We needed 45 minutes to an hour.
Again we were stonewalled. He would not help us at all.
So we decided that many of our questions he could answeer since HE IS THE INSTRUCTIONAL LEADER of the campus. So I sent him the exact same email we sent Tracey's teacher.
We got a call today and SOMEHOW peoples schedules opened up at Jacks school and LIKE MAGIC we got a parent conference set up on OUR TIME SCHEDULE.... What was in this magic email???? Read below.
Good Morning! I understand that you and Tracey are in the process of setting up a time to sit down and talk regarding Jack’s grades in math. I also understand there are some time constraints to being able to meet so I am emailing you to let you know ahead of time what our questions are at this time. As we were monitoring his grades in the on line grading system we had a few questions.
Grade Input- We noticed that Jack had a mid C average in math. For quite some time that is where he has been performing. In one day (this past Monday November 9th) we noticed his average dropped 5 points to a 70. When we looked at his grades several grades had been entered with obvious low grades being earned by Jack. We did get a couple but not all of the assignments that were recently added to the grade book. They said "Re Do" across the top of the paper. In the past we have noticed that when we do this with Jack and he turns it in to you his grade improves. Our concern here is with the cut off for grades being due (Thursday November 12th) do we have time to work with Jack at home and get this turned back into you to show Jack’s mastery of learning on these concepts? When we turn in a "re do" paper is a new grade given on that paper or is an alternative assignment given to Jack and a new grade based on what he earned on that assignment put into the grade book? Again, in the past we have noticed some improvement in Jack’s grades after we work with him but we are not clear on how his grade improved. Of course we have tried getting information from Jack but he is not sure either.
Grade Input Guidelines- I know there is nothing district wide mandated but at your campus is there a guideline as to getting grades into the computer prior to grades being due for report cards and progress reports? I ask this because with some of Jack’s grades that were recently put into the grade book Tracey and I fear that we don't have time to help Jack understand the concepts prior to testing. What is happening to us is we think Jack is doing well because he is rocking along working with us. Then in one day we see 5 grades being entered that are not good and we are backed up to either a report card or a test being given in a matter of days.
Please understand Tracey and I know the demands being placed on you as a classroom teacher. We just want to make sure that when we are notified of Jack’s grades that we have enough time to help Jack.
Graded Work Coming Home- There are some grades in the grade book that we do not see coming home in Jacks folder. On the other side of that we are seeing papers come home with grades on them but they are not entered into the grade book. This is causing some confusion on our part.
Monitoring the Effectiveness of Tutoring: In talking with Jack I became aware that Jack is not being tutored by you in math. Here we have a student who is not performing well consistently in math and he is being tutored by someone who is not his math teacher. My concern with this system being in place is that with Jack’s grades being what they are he is obviously not learning what he needs to. This could be for several reasons. What procedure is in place to monitor the effectiveness of tutoring? If it is determined to not be effective what procedures are in place to correct the problem? Is is possible for Jack to tutor with you? If this will not work then Tracey and I will be pulling Jack from math tutoring and he will work with us. That might be the easiest thing to do for you and Jack.
Mastery Learning- What procedures are taken as a campus when a student does not perform well on a given assignment?
• Does the student simply correct the problems missed?
• Is there a reteach of the concepts being missed by either small group instruction or whole class given the circumstances of how well the class did on the assignment.
• Is there a reteach of the concept being missed by the student and an alternative assessment being given for major grades such as test?
• Have you been given direction from either your grade level or campus administration as to the guidelines for mastery learning or is it up to the individual teacher to determine what to do when facing this situation? In talking with parents with kids in other classes it seems to us that each teacher is doing something different. While that is not optimal, if that is the system in place so be it. We are just confused as to what the procedure in place looks like at this time.
I know there is a lot of information here so you can see why I am sending this to you now. I was not sure you and Tracey could cover this much information in 15 to 30 minutes.
So in review:
• Timelines for getting grades put into the computer in a timely manner for parents so that averages don't drop 5-10 points in a day.
• How does the "Re Do" policy actually affect Jack's grade?
• Tutoring- How is it being monitored for effectiveness.
• Tutoring Part 2- If it is determined to not be effective what procedures are in place to make it effective?
• Mastery Learning- As a grade level, campus, or individual teacher, what procedure is in place to ensure mastery learning?
• Thank you for your time. I look forward to speaking with Tracey at the conclusion of your conference.
So I sent her an email listing our questions and a little detail on each question to give her a heads up on her answers so that we could meet HER time contraints. Because in a profession where you serve the public ITS ALL ABOUT YOU!!
We contacted the principal of the campus trying to get him to help us set up a longer conference. We needed 45 minutes to an hour.
Again we were stonewalled. He would not help us at all.
So we decided that many of our questions he could answeer since HE IS THE INSTRUCTIONAL LEADER of the campus. So I sent him the exact same email we sent Tracey's teacher.
We got a call today and SOMEHOW peoples schedules opened up at Jacks school and LIKE MAGIC we got a parent conference set up on OUR TIME SCHEDULE.... What was in this magic email???? Read below.
Good Morning! I understand that you and Tracey are in the process of setting up a time to sit down and talk regarding Jack’s grades in math. I also understand there are some time constraints to being able to meet so I am emailing you to let you know ahead of time what our questions are at this time. As we were monitoring his grades in the on line grading system we had a few questions.
Grade Input- We noticed that Jack had a mid C average in math. For quite some time that is where he has been performing. In one day (this past Monday November 9th) we noticed his average dropped 5 points to a 70. When we looked at his grades several grades had been entered with obvious low grades being earned by Jack. We did get a couple but not all of the assignments that were recently added to the grade book. They said "Re Do" across the top of the paper. In the past we have noticed that when we do this with Jack and he turns it in to you his grade improves. Our concern here is with the cut off for grades being due (Thursday November 12th) do we have time to work with Jack at home and get this turned back into you to show Jack’s mastery of learning on these concepts? When we turn in a "re do" paper is a new grade given on that paper or is an alternative assignment given to Jack and a new grade based on what he earned on that assignment put into the grade book? Again, in the past we have noticed some improvement in Jack’s grades after we work with him but we are not clear on how his grade improved. Of course we have tried getting information from Jack but he is not sure either.
Grade Input Guidelines- I know there is nothing district wide mandated but at your campus is there a guideline as to getting grades into the computer prior to grades being due for report cards and progress reports? I ask this because with some of Jack’s grades that were recently put into the grade book Tracey and I fear that we don't have time to help Jack understand the concepts prior to testing. What is happening to us is we think Jack is doing well because he is rocking along working with us. Then in one day we see 5 grades being entered that are not good and we are backed up to either a report card or a test being given in a matter of days.
Please understand Tracey and I know the demands being placed on you as a classroom teacher. We just want to make sure that when we are notified of Jack’s grades that we have enough time to help Jack.
Graded Work Coming Home- There are some grades in the grade book that we do not see coming home in Jacks folder. On the other side of that we are seeing papers come home with grades on them but they are not entered into the grade book. This is causing some confusion on our part.
Monitoring the Effectiveness of Tutoring: In talking with Jack I became aware that Jack is not being tutored by you in math. Here we have a student who is not performing well consistently in math and he is being tutored by someone who is not his math teacher. My concern with this system being in place is that with Jack’s grades being what they are he is obviously not learning what he needs to. This could be for several reasons. What procedure is in place to monitor the effectiveness of tutoring? If it is determined to not be effective what procedures are in place to correct the problem? Is is possible for Jack to tutor with you? If this will not work then Tracey and I will be pulling Jack from math tutoring and he will work with us. That might be the easiest thing to do for you and Jack.
Mastery Learning- What procedures are taken as a campus when a student does not perform well on a given assignment?
• Does the student simply correct the problems missed?
• Is there a reteach of the concepts being missed by either small group instruction or whole class given the circumstances of how well the class did on the assignment.
• Is there a reteach of the concept being missed by the student and an alternative assessment being given for major grades such as test?
• Have you been given direction from either your grade level or campus administration as to the guidelines for mastery learning or is it up to the individual teacher to determine what to do when facing this situation? In talking with parents with kids in other classes it seems to us that each teacher is doing something different. While that is not optimal, if that is the system in place so be it. We are just confused as to what the procedure in place looks like at this time.
I know there is a lot of information here so you can see why I am sending this to you now. I was not sure you and Tracey could cover this much information in 15 to 30 minutes.
So in review:
• Timelines for getting grades put into the computer in a timely manner for parents so that averages don't drop 5-10 points in a day.
• How does the "Re Do" policy actually affect Jack's grade?
• Tutoring- How is it being monitored for effectiveness.
• Tutoring Part 2- If it is determined to not be effective what procedures are in place to make it effective?
• Mastery Learning- As a grade level, campus, or individual teacher, what procedure is in place to ensure mastery learning?
• Thank you for your time. I look forward to speaking with Tracey at the conclusion of your conference.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Do I Need A Shrink?
Last night we were winding down for the evening. Tracey and I were lying in bed talking. We were discussing how I was doing. For quite some time now I have been having problems with my feet and hands. I won’t go into a lot of detail but I will say both can be extremely painful. Add to this about a week ago I started having some vision problems. I see pretty clearly but it is like I am looking through fog at all times. I mentioned that I wish God would give me some relief in one area. You know…if you are going to mess with my vision then let my feet be pain free.
I have good days and bad days. Some days I function pretty well. Then again some days it is all I can do to make through my work day. When I get home I make it to my recliner and prop my feet up and there I am.
I mentioned to Tracey that I try to stay upbeat but sometimes I get a little depressed at my physical condition. She then asked me if I considered going to a counselor. Well no why would I need to do that? …. Was my thought. Because you have changed was her answer.
WOW…WOW….WOW….What do you mean I have changed?
DO I REALLY WANT TO HEAR THIS?
This led into about a 45 minute conversation of some deep soul searching. As our conversation ended and Tracey fell asleep I sat there and stared at the ceiling for about a hour. You know when everyone is asleep and you are alone with your thoughts it is amazing how much self therapy you can cover in such a short amount of time. While there are areas that I have handled very well there are areas that I have let slip as a father, a husband, a partner, and a friend.
This blog entry is my witness. From this time forward I am going to be better.
Thanks Sweety for everything.
I have good days and bad days. Some days I function pretty well. Then again some days it is all I can do to make through my work day. When I get home I make it to my recliner and prop my feet up and there I am.
I mentioned to Tracey that I try to stay upbeat but sometimes I get a little depressed at my physical condition. She then asked me if I considered going to a counselor. Well no why would I need to do that? …. Was my thought. Because you have changed was her answer.
WOW…WOW….WOW….What do you mean I have changed?
DO I REALLY WANT TO HEAR THIS?
This led into about a 45 minute conversation of some deep soul searching. As our conversation ended and Tracey fell asleep I sat there and stared at the ceiling for about a hour. You know when everyone is asleep and you are alone with your thoughts it is amazing how much self therapy you can cover in such a short amount of time. While there are areas that I have handled very well there are areas that I have let slip as a father, a husband, a partner, and a friend.
This blog entry is my witness. From this time forward I am going to be better.
Thanks Sweety for everything.
Going To The Symphony
Jack's class went to the symphony last week. As you can tell he was dressed to impress.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Coach Huffdaddy Starts The Season Strong! WIN 51-21
I want to thank everyone for being here today. Obviously I am very pleased with today's outcome. We do have some areas we need to work on but overall I can't complain for this being our first game. Do you guys have questions?
We noticed that you altered your schedule to include Duke as your opener. Why did you go in that direction?
Well if you want to win in football you need to schedule a school that is good in basketball...he he ya know what I am saying? Seriously, I just wanted to schedule a team that appeared equal to my team talent wise. Of course that did not to turn out to be true because we beat the heck out of them. What did we have a little over 600 yards in offense?
Tell us about your defense? Overall they did well today. I wish we held them a bit more but when we were up 48-7 all of the sudden the refs started finding personal fouls to help them get down the field.
Why did you go for two when you were up 48-7. I don't like the number 49. I would rather stay at 48 or move up to 50.
You were seen eating peanuts on the sideline during the game do you have a comment on that? We were up 48-7 and I got the munchies. I just missed the hotdog guy and the cotton candy dude was nowhere to be found. Peanuts won!
Listen, it was a good start for us. I am happy with how we looked for it being our first game. I look forward to opening it up a bit more on both sides of the ball. We have a lot of work to do to get ready for UAB. Whoever that is...they have a dragon on their helmet. Hopefully with a little luck we can start out 2-0.
We noticed that you altered your schedule to include Duke as your opener. Why did you go in that direction?
Well if you want to win in football you need to schedule a school that is good in basketball...he he ya know what I am saying? Seriously, I just wanted to schedule a team that appeared equal to my team talent wise. Of course that did not to turn out to be true because we beat the heck out of them. What did we have a little over 600 yards in offense?
Tell us about your defense? Overall they did well today. I wish we held them a bit more but when we were up 48-7 all of the sudden the refs started finding personal fouls to help them get down the field.
Why did you go for two when you were up 48-7. I don't like the number 49. I would rather stay at 48 or move up to 50.
You were seen eating peanuts on the sideline during the game do you have a comment on that? We were up 48-7 and I got the munchies. I just missed the hotdog guy and the cotton candy dude was nowhere to be found. Peanuts won!
Listen, it was a good start for us. I am happy with how we looked for it being our first game. I look forward to opening it up a bit more on both sides of the ball. We have a lot of work to do to get ready for UAB. Whoever that is...they have a dragon on their helmet. Hopefully with a little luck we can start out 2-0.
I LOVE These Types of Video Clips
Maybe its because I have been in a situation where I might not see my kids again but I choke up EVERY TIME I see a video like this one.
Tricked On Halloween - Watch more Funny Videos
Tricked On Halloween - Watch more Funny Videos
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