Pondering Preschool: parent-teacher communication

Showing posts with label parent-teacher communication. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Tuesday SOL: What do you learn at conferences?

This is a Tuesday
Slice of Life.
All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day.

Check out the Two Writing Teachers website for many more reflections on teaching.

His parents and teachers sit down at the table while he surveys the empty classroom with a smile. This is different, his eyes seems to say. "Where is everybody?" he asks. Family conferences are such a treat for me - watching the children interact with their families, seeing the children one at a time, and no need to juggle conversations with several peers simultaneously.

"This is your family conference," I explain, "we're going to meet with you, to talk about your successes this year in preschool, to share with your parents what you have learned."

"Okay!" he says, excitedly, and then he pulls a chair up and sits down between the teachers, with a big smile.

That one movement - pulling a chair not to the side of the table where his parents were sitting, but to a new position between his teachers - fills me with smiles every time I think of it. This is a child who is at peace at school. He loves school, he loves his teachers, he loves learning, he loves sharing with his family all his joys.

He shared "I am getting really good at writing. I am going to get better."
(Yes, he has learned to write his name this school year.)
"I am super fast at counting! I beat my Daddy at clean up."
His father shared that they have timed games at home for finding things, for cleaning up, etc.
We talked about what a good friend he is, how he will speak up to his classmates when he doesn't like something - "I don't want to play that" or "I don't like it when you yell at me."

So beautiful. So precious. So mature.

Just four years old.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

What are their hopes and dreams?

This is a Tuesday Slice of Life for Two Writing Teachers.

Check out their website for many more reflections on teaching.

______________________________

This year we will spend Veteran's Day (tomorrow) doing family conferences.

I am looking forward to conversing with families about their children,

hearing their feedback about the school year to date and sharing their strengths and needs.

With 23 preschoolers to share about,

I know I will be exhausted by tomorrow evening, and

I suspect my voice will be hoarse.

What are families often wondering about?

Most importantly - do I love their child?

Yes, yes, yes, I'm head over heels already, without exception; I'm excited to share why.

Also, I predict they'll want to know more about their child's

friendships,

behavior,

favorite activities,

math and literacy skills, and, of course,

eating, toileting, and napping.

I love hearing what is same and different about a child's behavior at home versus school.

Today's a good day to share the children's own "hopes and dreams,"

which I gathered the first week or so of school.

Funny, they aren't focused on the same things that we adults are!

I love clouds! See the clouds? I love clouds. It’s rainy outside. I can make people and you will see a person when I am done. I learned how to. Look at the tree I made. It’s a blue tree. I like this stuff. I’m going to draw my Mom and my Dad and I love my grandma, so I’m going to make my Grandma. I like everyone in my family. Even my brother! He is part of my family.

I love Mummy and the park, the slide.

I love my Mommy and I like my baby and Daddy. Look at my picture! It’s a monster. Let me draw eyes like this!

I love “A” and “B” and “I”! My name! I went to the pool yesterday. Mommy doesn’t know how to swim. This is for Mommy’s birthday. And I love flowers. The flowers make me sneeze. Painting is my favorite! I have painting at home, too. I’m makin a toy and polkadots and a circle and a marshmallow snowman with a lot of chocolate. And I like sprinkles, too! And this is teeth and this is an umbrella.

I like my Mommy and my Daddy. I love my Grandpa. I love my Daddy and my Mommy.

I love black, black, black, and I love Mommy and my brother and my sister. And, I love painting. I make a circle.

I love orange and I love Daddy and Mommy

I like going camping with Daddy. The camping isn’t finished. I just wanted Daddy, not Benjamin. He’s too little. He’s with my grandparents and he is at their house. I like helping Mommy make muffins in the morning that I can eat. Dad took me to school and I made my bed, but my bed is too wrinkly. I made a lollipop that I like.

I love Pokemon and superheroes and Spiderman. Pokemon. I can draw Pokemon. Mommy and Daddy like this. I just draw Spiderman.

I made a tree fort! And I love my Poppa.

My Mommy and my Daddy and my Daddy and my brother and my dog. And these are stars. My Mom never let me use a permanent marker! I’m making a human with marshmallows.

I love Momma and I love my Daddy, too. I’m drawing a picture of my Mommy and I make a rainbow and I drawed a sun, the sunshine! I’m making a river, I’m making a boat. That’s my side and that’s Daddy side. I didn’t know you had markers!

I draw me! It’s a wave. I like to go to the beach and play with the sand. And these are marshmallows.

I love Batman. Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na, Batmaaaaan! I watched in the Lego movie, there was a Batman in the Lego movie. I’m ddrawing a spiderman shooting out a web, all kinds of webs. My Dad knows all about Spiderman and he knows a lot about Batman.

I love rain and I love clouds. I am an artist. I love flowers.

I love a circle and a candle and another circle. I’m making a cake! I’m making one for Mommy, Daddy, and brother. I love my Mommy and my Daddy.

I love engines best. I only love engines. I do like cars and I also like monsters! I am not done with my engine. I love engines.

I love a flatbed truck and car carriers and a firetruck.

My Mommy and my Daddy. I am going to draw them soon. I am drawing their eyelids. This is Daddy. He is looking at the animals and the boats. And I made this boat. I made another boat in the water.