Dear Teachers Q & A

September 23, 2021 noon

Attending Conferences Is a Must This Year

Parents: Hopefully, you were able to attend back-to-school night at the start of the school year. It should have given you a good picture of what your children will be studying this year. Soon, you should be receiving information about upcoming parent/teacher conferences. This year, conferences may return to in-person ones or could remain virtual, but either way, you need to attend to find out some specific information from the teacher. You need to know exactly where your child is academically at the start of this school year.

While you participate in a conference, be sure to keep the focus on your child. It is very important to avoid lengthy discussions of subjects not related to the purpose of the conference. And be sure to make it clear to teachers that you want to work with them to help your child succeed in school,

You should expect the teacher to give you answers to these questions:

Is my child performing at, above or below the expected grade level in all of his or her classes?
Does my child need special help in any academic subject? What help will be given? How can we help at home?
When will my child take state standardized tests this year to evaluate his or her progress in school?
How would you describe my child’s work habits? Does he or she regularly complete homework and classwork?
What goals are appropriate for my child this year?

Above are the questions you need answers to before your conference time expires. If there is time, here are some more questions for which answers would be helpful:

How well does my child get along with his or her classmates and teachers?
Are there any discipline problems? How can they be improved or eliminated?
Can we look over some of my child’s work together? I would like to see specific areas where my child needs improvements or excels.

Before the conference, definitely talk to your child. You need to hear first-hand exactly what he or she thinks about how the school year is going so far. Your child might give you specific issues to discuss with the teacher. Another key step is to make sure you have looked over your child’s work—the quality of the work should not be a surprise to you. And you certainly should be aware of whether your child’s grades have improved, gone down or remained the same since last year. As part of your conference preparation, jot down anything you want to talk over with the teacher, from too much homework being assigned to your child’s difficulties with story problems. Try to limit your list to items vital to your child’s success in school.

At the end of the conference, be sure you and the teacher sum up together any decisions that have been made about your child. Also, remember to thank teachers for all the help they are giving your child. If necessary, you can schedule an additional conference.

Your job is not done when the conference ends. In the busyness of life, don’t just forget about the conference once it’s over. Be sure to discuss it with your child’s other parent if he or she was not able to attend. And talk about the conference with your child. Begin by pointing out all the strengths brought out by the teacher. Then talk about the suggestions that were made for improvement. Agree with your child on a plan of action to improve any problem areas. Did the teacher suggest that your child needs a better study schedule? Did you agree to find a tutor to help your child in certain areas? Start to carry out these plans.

Computer Work vs. Paperwork in the Classroom!

Question: Our school stayed in person for most of the pandemic, yet there was a time when almost all of our children’s work was done virtually on the computer. This year at our children’s school, almost all assignments are still being done on the computer. Are there any good arguments for them to do some of their work on paper? – Paperless!

Answer: We are definitely in the digital era! And educators appear to want to get as many computers and as much work on computers as they can into classrooms. Also, many millennials think computers are a superior way for their children to learn. Here are a few arguments for doing work on paper rather than computers:

Parents are more likely to help their children with homework that is done on paper.
Universities are finding out that students who write their class notes by hand retain the information better than students who take notes on their computers. This is probably true for students at all levels.
Students universally admit that the biggest challenge of working online is the temptation to look at something else like Facebook updates, Instagram or photos.
Also, students type at very different speeds, so, writing a timed essay may put slower typists at a disadvantage.

Parents should send questions and comments to dearteacher@dearteacher.com, and to learn more about helping their children succeed in school, visit the DearTeacher website.

As always, please consult your health care provider with any questions or concerns.

Parents should send questions and comments to DearTeacher@DearTeacher.com and to learn more about helping their children succeed in school visit the DearTeacher website.

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