8/21/09
Parents,
Please try all the communication tools we already have in place prior to calling to set up a parent conference. While we do understand the need for conferences, we also know that if students are having to follow up at home what we're doing at school,their academic success rate can increase. If you've tried all the suggestions for at least a week or more and you've not seen a marked improvement with your 7th grader after speaking with them about all of these tools, then please contact us to check in with us.
In parent conferences, I always mention that education is like a three-legged stool and without one of the legs, the stool is unstable. The student, parents, and teacher make up the three legs. The student is the most crucial part because ultimately they are the ones who have to make the effort to do whatever it takes to do well in order to learn and get the required work done. The parents using the tools and suggestions we already have in place backs up what the teachers are teaching at school.
If only one or two of the three-part system is doing most of the work, this will also cause the stool to be unbalanced. It takes all three parts for the stool to be balanced.
Please know we do understand that there are certain situations in which a parent conference is absolutely necessary. But, in reality, if it is being requested for the everyday kinds of questions from parents, this can more than likely be taken care of once parents become more informed about what's going on with their 7th grader at school by using the communication tools.
Thank you for offering your support from home with following through with the tools we have in place. We do appreciate your efforts.
