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.