Sunday, September 30, 2012
Essential Conversation
In reading "the Essential conversation" by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot I found it interesting that she wrote a whole book about parent-teacher conferences. But it gave me a lot to think about because I thought about how I usually do parent-teacher conferences. When I read the part in the book about how parent-teacher conferences become ritualistic because you give out the same platitudes and it becomes routine. I noticed that I do that at my conferences because sometimes I am not sure how to go about telling a parent what their child really does. I just give general information and tell them that their child is doing well. After reading this it has made me more committed to not being routine in my conferences but to give the parents true information about their child.
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Shanyse,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed hearing your perspective on parent-teacher conferences when we met for our online classwork. It was interesting to hear you consider how silence might be used and interpreted. It is interesting to hear that you are also considering what is said at conference as well as what is not said. Just remember that if anything you say brings up conflict, you might practice using the contrasting statement model:"I don't want you to think ______________, because (insert a positive statement here). Then pause and say "but I DO want to say that ___________________." I think the contrasting statements are going to take practice, but they are good to have in our teacher "toolboxes" for moments when conflict or misunderstanding may arise.
Thanks for sharing your experience in relation to the reading. Very helpful!
Carmen