Last week was one of the longest in my life.
This week FLEW by.
Parent Teacher Conferences were on Wednesday and Thursday night. Overall, it went well. I only had a couple parents that weren't too thrilled about a couple things I was doing:
One dad was flabbergasted that his son had a multiplication chart on his desk so when he took his timed tests, "he has all the answers?" I tried to explain to him that it's good to understand how to use certain tools, like calculators, to help with certain things. I assured him that our timings would would have less and less time so his son wouldn't be able to use the multiplication as a crutch if he was going to pass them off in less time. That seemed to quiet him, but at first he seemed quite appalled!
Another mother left a facebook status after she talked with me that my principal Cami told me about this morning. She was just saying how upset she was about how her son was getting bullied at school and she was going in to talk to his teacher (me) about it. Apparently, I handled it just fine because according to another facebook status, she said that things had been taken care of. My principal was upset that she was posting about something that should probably be a private matter to discuss, but she was grateful to me for handling it so well.
Other than that, it went well. Besides the fact that I currently have NO voice.
I knew that would happen, so brilliantly, I decided to make today a Read-a-thon day! No teaching for me, the kids are still learning (they read the whole day and are using math to add and subtract the number of pages they read, and at the end of the day, we graph the results as a class to find the winner), and I have time to rest my voice, get caught up on things I need to get done and relax for once this week! Like I said, BRILLIANT!!!
Well, that's how my week has gone. Luckily it's over after today and I'll have a much needed weekend! And, I have next week to look forward to. Monday--field trip. Tuesday--substitute so I can go to a district meeting. Wednesday--last day of the week and the only day I have to teach. Thursday and Friday--UEA/Fall Break! Sweet!
Your principal follows the parent's facebook statuses?!? That is so weird. And inappropriate of the parents to post things like that. Facebook is so weird. I hate it. I think it creates unnecessary drama. And I am actually really interested in the whole giving them the times tables things. I am horrified by how some of my students don't know the basics like that. Do you really think it helps them to not have to memorize them? Congrats on making it through!!! I have mine on Wednesday and recently had to give two girls zeros on a huge test because they cheated. That is going to be a joyous conversation. :)
ReplyDeleteMy principal didn't follow the facebook statuses. Someone told her about it so she looked into it. Also, I really care about them memorizing the X Tables. I'm sometimes horrified too that my kids don't know them yet because they should have memorized them in 3rd grade. At the beginning of the year, because they don't know it, I give them strategies to help them understand multiplication and they have to take the test in 3 minutes. After that, though, the time just gets lower and lower, so they really do have to memorize them if they are going to pass the tests. I have flashcards and I make the kids make flashcards too, because it is so important that they have them memorized. It's annoying sometimes to me when kids don't know what 3x3 is right off the top of their heads. It should definitely be memorized!!! I've just noticed that they're not memorized when they come to me, so I have to start as if I were teaching them from scratch. Anyway, I love you lots, and hope your conferences go well! How is teaching going by the way? Geometry, mainly...
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