Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Parent Teacher Conferences-Reflection

As previously posted, I changed the way I did conferences this semester. Instead of concentrating on my students' progress via their grades in class, I conducted conferences with their learning as the focus. I asked my students to reflect on their learning based on the following questions:
  • Assess your learning in class so far this semester. Look at your participation, growth in writing, comprehension, etc..
  • Where, in terms of your learning, do you want to be at the end of the semester?
  • How are you going to get there?
  • What can I do to help?
  • Write a message to your parents.
The students then were asked to bring home a copy of their learning assessment for their parents to read before conferences as well as place a copy in my class drop box for me to access at conferences. Most of my students did give a copy of their assessment to their parents. Some parents hadn't read it but had been told by their kids they had a letter for them about school and so they read it off my laptop as part of our conference time. Only a few parents had no idea their child had written a learning assessment. Overall, the reaction I received from a number of parents was positive to what they read regardless of how their child grade-wise was doing in my class (we post grades online so almost all of our parents know their child's grade). In fact, I recall only once throughout two nights of conferences actually talking about grades- the student is failing.

What was difficult about this whole process was that 5 minutes for conferences was definitely not long enough. I had actual conversations with parents about their child and feel like I took away more from them about how their child is growing as a learner, or how their child needs to grow as a learner. I felt like I listened as much as I talked which is a huge change from the way I participated in conferences before. I was the one relaying all my information to the parent rather than allowing them to give me insight into their child and react to what their child had written.

Here are a few samples of things students said in their assessments:

Student 1: I have grown a lot so far during this year in terms of my reading comprehension and the understanding of different texts. Being in this class has definitely improved these things. I love coming to this class every day because it is very enjoyable and it is a great learning environment. The way that our class learns is so different that it is almost motivational for me to learn in it because it is so much fun. We have already read Macbeth and Lord of the Flies so far this year. Every day we would have discussions in class about the story, which not only allowed me to share my ideas and interact, but it allowed me to gain more understanding of what was going on in the story. When our class was required to read and annotate Lord of the Flies it helped me learn about the book by myself. My reading understanding has definitely improved. I also love participating and speaking up in this class because everyone will listen and then be able to give you feed back about your thoughts.

At the end of this semester I want to be able to read a book without any annotations or discussions but still be able to fully understand it. I want my mind processing to become much better, and for me to have deeper thoughts even when reading a book that was not assigned in class. I love reading and it would be great if I were able to understand something without having to research or ask questions about it on paper. I want my head to do all of the work in my head and be able to understand a book that I might read in my free time.

I am going to achieve this goal by doing all of my work for reading books. I will annotate and ask questions which will then teach me to do thinking for myself in my head. It is something that I will have to work for, and it will also come as I get older and grow in my thoughts and ways.

Mrs. Smith, you can help me achieve this goal by having more class discussions and helping me ask good questions. It might sound like a funny goal, but it would be amazing if I could understand everything that I read. Even if it was some book that had nothing to do with our class. I don’t know if there is much else you can do to help me achieve this goal. It is mostly something that I have to work for.

Student 2: Mrs. Smith’s class really is my favorite class. I actually understand what is going on. She always has interesting and different projects for us to do so that we don’t lose interest and work hard. Even though I like the work in her class I think that she kind of gives us a lot of it. Even though her class is my favorite, it is also the class that I have the most homework in. But the reason why I don’t mind doing it so much is because a lot of it is done on the computer and I like working on the computer. But I always do the work that we are given. But now that cross country is over I will have a lot more time to work on my homework and assignments. I know you think that I am a horrible student that doesn’t work hard and only cares about her social life, but I’m really not like that. I promise that my grades will go up and I am striving for an A in this class, Soccer/ Rec, and US History and a B in Science and Math. I really want those grades by the end of the semester. I am going to start going into my teachers when I need help after school and during my off hours, I’m going to spend less time on the phone willingly instead of being grounded from it, and I’m going to start studying really really hard on all my tests. I don’t like studying for tests very much but I will start doing it more often. Mrs. Smith doesn’t have to do anything to help me other than when I go in for help because she is already doing a good job teaching me in class. But the only thing I would like for you to help me with is to not put me down so much. I know I have bad grades, but I’m working on it really hard and when you take my phone away and tell me I can’t go trick or treating with my best friend. High school is already stressful enough and it doesn’t help very much when things like that happen.

Student 3:

1. Assessing my learning: I feel like I have learned a lot this semester, but not just learned. I feel like I have actually connected things we learned to life. Macbeth and LOF, for instance, were very relevant to human nature. It was so interesting to read these and talk about humans and society and the attrition thereof. The discussions we have are awesome and I always want to keep going. I think the main thing I need to work on is responding to others more on blogger. I need to learn how to have actual conversations on blogger (since it is hard for me to do this when there is no actual verbal dialogue going on). Other than that though, I feel pretty confident with what I have learned.

2. At the end of the semester I really want to take the idea of “learning outside of the school walls” to a whole new level. I definitely incorporate what I learn with how I live, but I feel like I could do more. Overall, there is no specific goal I want to achieve, like better grades or anything, just continuing to add my learning to my way of living. After all, that is the true reason for education.

3.I just want to continue conferencing with you about papers. This really helps me to understand what I need to fix in my writing, and it is just so cool that a teacher actually wants to spend time talking about learning instead of just being a teacher when in the classroom.

Student 4:
I have grown in class in a few different ways. First off, I am able to make connections to different things better. For example, I was able to make a lot of connections to Lord of the Files and Macbeth. I have also been able to manage my time better. I feel that I have participated in class quite a bit. I not only raise my name in class, but I also participate in all of the class blog discussions. I feel that my writing has always been pretty good, but I feel that I have gotten a little bit better at extending my word choice. For example, I think that I used good vocabulary words in my Macbeth essay. I think that I do have a good foundation for my comprehension. I feel that I really benefit when we discuss the book in class, though.

At the end of the semester, I would like to be in the position where I feel less stressed. At times, we have a lot of homework, and on other nights we don’t have hardly any at all. I would like to have a more constant amount so that we can plan out nightly homework a little bit more. I would also like to write more essays, rather than do so many projects.

I will reach that goal by trying to plan ahead more. I will try to use all of my time wisely. I will continue doing what I have been doing all semester. I think that I have been doing a pretty good job this semester.

You can help my by giving us more warning for all of our projects, and assignments. I think that you could maybe print us out a sheet that has due dates and our schedule for about a month. There would be no surprises this way, and we might be able to all have things done on time.

Would I do it again? Most definitely, but I would do a couple of things differently. One I would make sure all the parents had received the letter early enough to read it and be able to react to it. Also, I would have sent a letter with their child's learning assessment indicating my purpose behind doing conferences differently.

I am going to ask my students and hopefully their parents to comment on this process as well. Yep, that's right I want the parents to create blogger accounts as well so they can participate in the conversation. After all, that was my goal all around to create a conversation about learning.
¡

54 comments:

  1. What a fantastic idea. I'm sure that time limits were a problem. I don't know how you could even scratch the surface. I'm glad to hear that the parents were willing to share. Sure does make the education process work better when parent/teacher share information.

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  2. I was very appreciative of the conference format. Though my daughter's grades are of some concern, I'm extremely interested in how she is responding to your class and teaching methods. I know she's blossoming in terms of her critical thinking and I'm thrilled. You're doing a phenomenal job. I hope all of these kids ultimately know how fortunate they are to have a teacher who is so dedicated to - and passionate about - their learning.

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  3. As I was reading through your post on how the parent teacher conferences went I felt like the format of your conferences was a good idea. I like that you are not as concerned about the grade itself, but more concerened that we are learning. I know that my grades are not as large of a concern for my parents as they might be for most other parents because they know that I work hard to earn good grades and I am devistated when I recieve a bad grade so I think that they too appreicated the way you did conferences! Thanks!

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  4. I like your idea more than the normal parent teacher confrence script, mainly because you way gives a perspective on how the student (myslef) learns, and how they learn. On the car ride home my mom said "All the teachers i talked to where all boring but when i got to Anne Smith, she really had my attention, and it wasn't as boring as the previous ones, and the ones in the past." So clearly parents perfer your method of parent teacher confrences than the plain script version.

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  5. I thought that the idea of us writing about how we want to grow in english class and where we would like to be by the end of the semester was a great idea. It reminded me of what I'd like to achieve in english and what I have to do to be able to get there. The time limit of only 5 min seems really short for conferences and does not get much discussion out of parents but I heard there were a lot of people lined up for teachers. I think it might be a big help if parents shared their thoughts on their child; what they need to improve on, what they seem to be good at, etc.

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  6. This learning method for conferences is very effective. It can let the parents know how the student thinks they are doing, and what they need to work on. Then, when both the parent and teacher have read how the students feels, that's what they can discuss and try to improve. I think its important not just to talk about grades at conferences but the learning ability of the student. This method can help in more ways than one and hopefully will be used in the future to help students improve.

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  7. Though i was not at my conferences I heard good feedback and bad feed back,as all students might hear. Im glad that this specific parent teacher conference was not just about grades but also covered other issues. Though maybe the teacher could not only adress the parent at conferences, but could adress the student ahead of time to ensure positive feedback and no negative comments.

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  8. I think that focusing on your leaning is a better way to run conferences because the parents can simlply look at the grade online, but not how their children's class participlation and strengths and weaknesses are unless they were told by their children which most likely didn't occur.

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  9. I think that the way you had us do the Parent Teacher Conferences was a good idea because this is a better way to let our parents know how we are really doing. Usually when they go, they might hear maybe how we are doing well in class and then the grade in that class. But this way, our parents can see our progress and know where we are struggling, like with writing or homework. We also can look back on what we wrote and see where we need improvement and where we have done really well.

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  10. That very long line to see you was SO worth the wait because I walked away with a thorough understanding of what my daughter's goals in your class are, via her letter to us, and with a clarity on what your vision is for her and the rest of your class. This was more important to me to talk with you about than other information that the campus portal provides, especially because we have regular communication with our daughter about her grades and how she is adjusting to the new challenges in your class. I was amazed at how much you knew about her extracurricular activities and grateful for your suggestions and resources to help her be successful in all areas! My 5 minutes with you felt like 50 as far as the quality of the conference went! Thank you so much; we're blessed to have you!!

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  11. From reading your posts, you have progressive ideas and like to keep learning fun. The new twist to stating goals was making it a team approach by including the teacher as a valuable resource. Not only do you try new ideas, but you seek to improve/expand those ideas. I do think by concentrating on learning vs grades that we both walked away with a better understanding of the student. Thanks!

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  12. I enjoyed the learning based conference very much! Oftentimes in High school we, as parents, miss out on the process that is taking place within our child; instead being updated just by a grade. My goal for Tyler all along is to become an excellent writer and communicatior. Using the tools of the 21st century in this class is a great way to hook our kids and keep them interested and participating

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  13. My mom came home from conferences excited about Ms. Smith as a teacher and how her teaching style catered to my learning style. For years, I have been complaining to my mom about how little intellectuality there is in school anymore. It is just the regurgitation of facts. Not intelligence and understanding. The fact that my mom got to talk to the teacher about learning, and not just grades, seemed to really excite her. She talked about the conference with Ms. Smith more than anything else. I don't see why conferences shouldn't be this way, seeing as it truly is about understanding and not just grades. After all, learning has changed, why shouldn't conferences?

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  14. I really like your method of parent teacher conferences! It's much more helpful to actually be focusing on the learning instead of the letter grades. And then, by talking about the way I learn and my strengths and weaknesses, that will help improve my grade. My mom said she can't comment tonight, but she is going to try to do it tomorrow.

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  15. I would say that the ultimate goal of school is to learn, not necessarily achieve good grades. In my opinion, the idea of a student learning something important outweighs a bad grade. I also thought it was clever to ask the students how the class was going for them and what their goals were for the semester. This made the whole ordeal more personal and relaxed. Overall, I liked this idea a lot.

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  16. I think that the way you did conferences this year was very interesting and different. Even though my mom didn't have time to go to you for conferences because she had to try to meet at least 6 of each me and my sisters teachers she read my letter and it really helped. I hope that you do conferences the same way next year because it seems to be working really well.

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  17. The conference sheet verified the discussions that we have had about this class during the first quarter. She is enjoys the reading and is learning to communicate effectively in a variety of ways. The blog makes it possible for me to keep up with her class without directly contacting Ms. Smith. I also appreciate learning along with her new ways to communicate in the 21st century!

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  18. As with every one else, I too agree that it is great that this class focuses on learning more than grades, because I have had those classes where you get a 120% grade and you don't learn one thing. This class seems to challenge the style of learning in schools, and moves and changes along with technology instead of falling behind practicing old habits. As far as conferences, I think the learning style used in this class was showcased in the conferences very well, and my mom really seemed to enjoy the small amount of time she had with you.

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  19. We enjoyed the way conferences were "presented" to us rather than just a grade on a sheet of paper. It gave us more insight into the learning process that our daughter is being challenged with every day. In middle school she could be shy about particapating in class but the opportunity to blog has helped her to find her voice and be more confident in her ideas, thoughts and beliefs.

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  20. I really liked how you set up conferences where the students could have a say in how they think they are doing, regardless of grades. I liked that we could talk about our growth as learners instead of how we are doing on tests or projects. It was just really nice to be able to kind of defend ourselves and let you know where we think we are.

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  21. I like the fact that Mrs. Smith doesn't think grades matter all that much. Of course grades are important but I like the way she held conferences and disscussed our learning, our goals, and our work. Most teachers focus on just the grades and the assignments but that doesn't matter as much as our learning does. So I thought the way Mrs. Smith made us reflect on ourselves and made the conferences about our learning,and not our grades, was a very refreshing idea in the normal parent- teacher conference routine.

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  22. Like many have said, I have really enjoyed this class. I love the whole style and the way that we learn, it is great! Although we didn't go to conferances this year, I think that this is a great idea. itotally agree that it is not all about the grade, but about what we learn and how we gow as a learner. From hearing about conferances from previous years, I think that this is a nice idea and gives parents an ven better idea of how we do.

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  23. Thank you for being a teacher that is an active listener. I was impressed by your insights about what my son was producing. I feel that you will help him suceed as a learner with the patience that you showed me on his inabilty to save his information on a project correctly. I was impressed that when we both came the following night that you gave him the directions told him what to do and let him come back and show you what he had done. I am impressed and am thankful that my child has a teacher who cares.

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  24. Although my parents and I never attended parent teacher conferences we all believe that this is a really good idea to really get into what the kids are learning and talking to the parents about the kids' experiences in the class and not focus soley on their grade. I think it eases the pressure of the kids a little bit as well because the parents are more focused on how we are learning and now that they understand it, they can help their child better their personal learning becuase they parents and the child are on the same page with the pace and context of the cirriculum

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  25. I appreciate the comments offered at P/T conferences. It is always nice to connect with the wonderful people who spend so much time with our children and know that they are being given the tools needed to be successful in their futures. The children are very blessed to have a teacher who puts in the extra effort to insure their success. Thank you!

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  26. I was pleased with our conference. We were able to cover all the pertinant information about your class, expectations, goals, and how they effect my child. Thanks!

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  27. I think that it was good that during the parent teacher conferences, more than grades were discussed. I have many friends that are very intelligent just become stressed out over tests, papers, assignments, ect. I also agree with jackien, that setting goals, not only in this class, but in life in general helps you achieve them. So often, I have wanted to accomplish something, but until I actually write it down, and set some time constrant, I never get it done. Sharing these goals with our parents is wonderful. Achieving something is much easier with support.

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  28. My parents were unable to attend the conferences, but they definitly think that your style was a great idea. I can see now how grades don't matter, rather, the information gained is the only important part. I think that it was a great idea to have the students write a letter to their parents so that they were prepared. The questions that they had to answer were very in depth. Great job Ms. Smith!!!

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  29. Ms.Smith,
    Thank you so much for asking for feedback, it's very important to the process of learning on both sides. Your conference format is a great idea, we all should know on a daily basis how our kids are doing grade wise in any given class, that's a given. To be able to talk about concepts and teaching/learning styles as opposed to grades is so important and really gets to the heart of your class, which is such a breath of fresh air!!!!! Bravo to you.

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  30. I know that not all students can say this, but throughout high school I have been able to at least talk to my mom about my classes. I have been able to communicate with her my goals for a class as well as concerns or frustrations. Having to write this down seemed a little redundant for me. Also-I don't remember being told to give a copy of this to my mom before confereces...?

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  31. I really liked the idea of the new way to do parent teacher conferences because then it is not so pressurized on if you have a C or an A in the class it is more like what you are achieving and how you are developing as a learner. Personally I think that that is more important than if you have a 95% in the class. That basically just shows that you did all of your work well, not that you are learning and developing in new ways. OVerall ms.smiths way of teaching is great and her new ways to do things are fun, interesting, and benefishal.

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  32. I thought it was a good idea for conferences to not only be focused on grades. I mean to me grades are important to help you get into a good college and are important for parents to understand what grades the child has but it is also important for the parents to understand how they have earned that grade and what they are learning to help them in the future. That is why I think that it was helpful not to only discuss the grades, but the student in general. The parent can now talk with the teacher on a whole different level. Also I liked how we wrote a note so it was almost like we had a say in the conference.

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  34. Ms. Smith -

    Thank you for the opportunity to comment on conferences. It's nice to know that you are interested in our thoughts!

    Learning based conferences are a refreshing idea! I appreciate the fact that you listened and took notes during our conference. You were interested in improving the learning environment in your classroom. And you seem genuinely interested in the success of each of your students.

    Thank you for your openness to comments and input from both your students and their parents (although blogging is completely new to me!)

    And thank you for keeping our students up to date on the latest technology and tools available!

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  35. I think that eventhough many students get nervous when their parents talk to their teacher, it's really not that bad once it's over. I think it actually helps students because then their parents can also explain to them what their doing good on and what their not by talking to their teachers. I think it's also a relief for some parents because when they think their kids are not doing so good the teachers can explain why. Maybe their just strugling with some stuff but their trying really hard.

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  36. I feel this way of conferencing is more beneficial to both the teacher and the student/parent. My parents did not attend conferences, but this method makes a lot of sense. This way the discussion is more focused on the student’s achievements or how to make those achievements happen. It does not make the student the failure, but more so just points out how the student learns and how the teaching styles need to be changed to help that student succeed. The teacher may already know how to do this, but the parent can reinforce it. Or vise-versa. The parent may have no idea or the teacher may have no idea. It seems like it would be a beneficial conversation to both the parent and the teacher.

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  37. I really like the format of the confrences. I want my parents to see where I am at with my learning, not my grade. I do believe that my grade shows my work ethic to some extent, but I do not base my learning off of what letter I have in one class. I like to make sure that what I take away from a class will effect my future learning. It is hard though not to concentrate so much on my grades today because the way our school system is set up and how our grades have an effect on who is looking at them, like colleges and stuff. I do hope though that soon in the future school takes a huge turn from how they base the learning of the student and begin to stray away from grades and more to the learning in itself.

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  38. It is a great idea because it does not focus on just the student's grade which is always the focus. You allowed for us to tell how we feel we have developed and learned new things over the semester. School should focus on us learning all that we can not just what our grade is at the end of the semester. This is how conferences should always be.

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  39. I think that this is a great idea. Even though neither of my parents attended conferences, I know that both of them would have really enjoyed your thoughts. I think that it is fantastic that you were able to get parents to stop talking and thinking about grades, but rather speak about the students perspective.

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  40. I really like the idea of the conference format. I liked how the conference was more focused on the learning achievements of the students than the grades. Also, i liked how us, the students, were brought into the conference by writing on how the class was going. So our parents could hear both the teachers and students thought on how the class is going. it makes it easier for the teacher and parents to understand the students goals.

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  41. Although I wasn't present for conferences, from what I could infer, this way of going about discussing student progress in the class is far better. There are a lot of people who understand concepts and can put things together, but forget to turn a thing or two in. A grade is not always reflective on what you have learned over the year.

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  42. I'm probably going to sound like a broken record player when commenting about the parent teacher conferences, but I thought that they way you presented the progress of your students to their parents was I believe a lot more effective than just discussing what missing assignments they haven't made up, or that their student is an excellent student because they can complete all the homework. That should be left to the parent portal on infinite campus. My parents were not able to make it to conferences, but I told them about the way that you presented the conferences, and my Mom really regretted not being able to attend. She told me that she really would've liked to hear from your point of view about how I am progressing throughout this semester, rather than just looking at a grade percentage.

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  44. I think that talking about the way we learn and what we are learning is much more important than our grades themselves because ultimatley in the long run that is all that matters. After college we aren't even going to remember our grade in english but what we learned is what will stick with us.

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  45. I think that the whole idea of parent teacher conferences is good but a new approach was needed. Knowing that students want to achieve things not based on a grade will help improve knowledge as well as their overall performance in the class.

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  46. Good idea. Having been unable to attend the conferences, this will be a unique way to share information and communication.

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  47. Mrs. Smith,
    I think regardless of how you conducted the parent teacher conferences, you have created an atmosphere in your classroom that has caused our children to identify their strenghts and weaknesses and finally take ownership of them. You have inspired them to think "outside of the box" as they prepare to enter the tough world of higher education. Thank you. The Tidwells

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  48. Mrs. Smith,

    I am very glad that you are my son's teacher because he likes your teaching methods. He always tell us about your blogs and the use of computer in class. He told us that your class is very dynamic. He likes the challenges that you bring to the class. Finally, the conference was excellent. We appreciate the time and effort you invest in our son. Thank you.

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  49. I think this was a good format for conferences because as we have spoken about in class, what your grade was in your English class isn't going to be important. What you remember from reading novels and what you learned about connecting works to the history at the time they were written will be important. Grades should be discussed maybe a little if there is concern over whether or not they accurately reflect the student's learning is important, but only if there is a question. Talking about where we hoped to be at the end of the semester was helpful because it was like setting a realistic goal that had to do with learning and, for the most part, not saying "I want to get an A". Now we all have something to work for as well as contninuing to learn about interesting material.

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  50. Good idea to have the parents blogging...I have some blogging with my kids.

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  51. I appreciated the new format for parent teacher conferences. You are absolutely right, I can check my daughters grades anytime. I prefer to hear what my child thinks about her learning and to exchange information regarding learning styles, personality, and whatever else goes in to the mix of growing and learning. Your format is innovative and I love it. I would love to have more than 5 minutes. Thanks for making this process more exciting!

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  52. I think it is great that you are trying to include the parents in your class by having us participate in the blogging! I enjoyed the conference format this year. I also think what you are doing in class is very exciting for them. I know my son looks forward to your class. The technology part of no textbooks, but using laptops, is really neat, a wave for the future at AHS! I appreciate your enthusiasm for teaching and the new ways you teach such as the blogging.

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  53. I loved your idea for conferences...however, I did not see my son's assesment or parent letter. Unfortunately I could not attend conferences since I had the same hours for conferences at the school I work at. I had sent an email asking for feedback on his progress and a possible time to meet and hadn't heard back. I think it would be helpful to have a format for parents who truly are interested, committed and involved to get the feedback even if they can't possibly attend conferences on the scheduled days/times. I appreciate being included in what he is learning and discussing and reading. He seems to really love what he's learned so far and talks all the time about connections and insights he has that he's never had before. Thank you for opening his mind and for working hard to include parents in the process, you really are inspiring.

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  54. Great idea. I blogged about it at my school here, http://henricowarriors.org/hasley/?p=348. I put you as the author of the idea. I hope it continues to work for you.

    Mike Hasley
    AHS, 1986

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