Conferences

It's Whitney here from The Crazy Schoolteacher.  Anyone else out there gearing up for fall parent-teacher conferences?  Report Cards, Data Notebooks, Student Work...Oh my!  I am out in full panic mode force trying to get everything ready.

I like to be overly prepared for parent-teacher conferences.  Let's face it...none of us want to be caught off guard by a question or feel not prepared.  My first step in preparing for conferences is working on data notebooks with my students.  Each student has a data notebook to keep track of test scores, reflection and student work examples.  I use this tool to drive my conferences.  I'm not going to lie...it is a lot of work.  But let me tell you, it is WORTH every minute of it!  You can read more about my data notebooks here.

I feel like conferences are so rushed, when it is over I ALWAYS remember something that I wanted to point out.  I prepare a  3 STARS & A WISH for each child.  This forces me to point out 3 positive things for each child, while also allowing me to talk about an area they need to improve on.  You can grab 3 STARS & A WISH here.

Although they can be stressful, conferences are a great time to build a relationship with all of the people who love our kiddos.  Each year I always dread all of the extra work and time that goes into it...but I always come out of it feeling excited to work and love on all of my kiddos.

Now, it's time for a Starbucks to end the week!