Parent Teacher conference

We had Zac's parent/teacher conference last week. I thought I'd be all nervous and excited, but instead, we were both thinking we knew what we would hear. And we were pretty much right.

After the conference, Brian looked at me and asked, "Does she seem completely emotionally detached? Or is it just me?"

I laughed. That is the perfect way to describe her.


Reading MAP scores:
Phonological awareness: 176
Phonics: 168
Concepts of Print: 170
Vocab and Word Structure: 183
Comprehension: 187
Writing: 172

Lexile Range: 62-212

Math MAP scores:
Problem Solving 167
Number Sense: 165
Computation: 175
Measurement and Geometry: 184
Statistics and Probability: 177
Algebra: 181

(explanation of map scores and range - basically he falls in 2nd grade)

TPRI: It only goes through 2nd grade and he scored perfect on that.


Personally I was very disappointed by the reading map scores, but that's the teacher in me. From my experience, I think he reads at a higher level. (I gave him this quick assessment last week and he scored in 5th grade.) On the flip side, I was surprised his math scores were as high as they were. But it is what it is.



So, we knew his scores before the conference. But for all we know, all the kids score well on these. It was a 15 minute conference. The first 10, she just handed us paper after paper of his work. Then she showed us his scores. Then there were like 2 minutes left.

And it went similar to this. (I remember her answers because I've dissected this conference in 82 different ways, trying to sort through my frustration and irritation and disappointment.)


Are there other kids on his level in your class?
No

Are there other kids in Kindergarten on his level that he could work with?
I don't know, but we don't have our classes at the same time.

What does he do during reading groups?
All the children have a copy of the same reader. So, I have the other kids in his group read, and when they get stuck on a word, Zachariah reads.

If he's already tested past the take-home readers, will you still be sending books home for us to read with him?
Yes, and they might look easy, but there are some harder words [showing us book], like "grasshopper" and "fellow."

(I know there was a look on my face at this point. I couldn't help it.)

Does he ever have different work than the other kids?
He does the same work. But we do need to work on self-motivation. When I ask him to do additional work, he usually asks me why he has to do it.

Does he have good behavior in class?
Yes, all the kids look up to him. He's a great helper, too. The kids know they can always go to him for help.

So, is there anything extra or challenging that he can do besides help the other kids?
I am sure that the other children will soon catch up to Zachariah, and at that time, he will have other students he can work with.

But if the other kids are moving up, then Zachariah just stays and waits for them to catch up? Shouldn't he have the chance to move up quickly, too?

This is where she shrugged and smiled. As in, our time was up and the conference was over.

No joke.

And that was pretty much it.

Oh, and she did give us a copy of the ABC cards we cut out. We couldn't believe it. It was a joke that we might get those. And we did? I guess we'll keep them for Selah Grace?

All in all, it was just disappointing.

Unfortunately, it was pretty much what we were expecting.


Is it stupid of me that I was expecting some kind of compliment on Zac? Not only because he's my kiddo, but because he's a really good kid? And a smart kid? Or just because it's our very first parent/teacher conference and above all, we'd like to know you care about him? Or at least like him?


For various reasons, we do not want to move teachers. But ohmygoodness, no wonder he isn't a fan of school. He has two choices with his work: do the boring stuff OR be the only kid in there who has to do something harder. (and I'm using "harder" very loosely - what I saw was hardly differentiating. It was just busy work to keep him busy longer.)

I have a few specific issues, as a parent.
1. We're sending him to school to learn. Not to help you teach.
2. My child deserves to learn just like everyone else.
3. It's a shame that a teacher with that much experience doesn't have the supplemental materials (or the desire) to meet the needs of the kids at different levels in her classroom.
4. If he isn't challenged NOW, then what happens when he finally is challenged? He will not know how to handle it. He will not know how to handle other kids being better than him. He should be learning this now, and should be grouped with some other "ahead" kids to give him a run for his money.




When you have a kid who is behind, you have all sorts of resources to help you. Because test scores are important, of course. But when you have one ahead, it just comes off as bragging. It's frustrating because the kids all have the same needs at this age. This is the age to soak up knowledge, to learn how to try hard, to learn what it means to give your best, to be excited about learning.

When he had the day off last Friday, we did a packet of work here, and he was so into it. I know he's still got the desire in there. He loves the harder stuff - the math puzzles, the word puzzles, the problem solving. It made me happy he still has the desire, but sad that he's in an environment where it doesn't matter.

His teacher stinks.

That's what I think about that.