There were parent meetings that week, and the 1st grade one would be today. Valerie had learned about hers, first, and told me--hers would be at 5. So when my Kazakh teacher told me, I said, yes, I knew.
Then today I learned that the meetings were at 6:00. Valerie had purposely changed the time of hers so that she wouldn't have to stay late.
So we would be at the parent meeting until 7 or 8 pm, with no food!! Sophia eats a tiny lunch, due to her excessive pickiness, and usually is quite cranky by 5:30, when we usually leave.
Guess who wasn't happy?
Guess who had half a mind to start the parent meeting with a long rant about how the teachers were being mistreated and how the children ran free and wild and unsupervised?
Give me credit for being polite and positive during the meeting. Dock off points from our principal for pissing off his teachers right before a parent meeting.
I played the Sophia card--it's late, she's hungry--plus "I didn't know we'd have to stay so late!" and my Kazakh teacher and assistant said that I could go first, quickly talk about what the kids were doing in English etc, and then sneak out early. My parents hardly speak any English anyways.
Valerie had created an English assessment for the children--basically, show them the flashcards of all the words we've learned and have them say what it is, plus a few other things, such as count to 20, answer "How are you?" and read a few words. I had worked hard to finish all these assessments and record them in my gradebook. (My gradebook is just a cheap copybook with grid paper.)
Valerie had gone home sick and not finished hers (she came back for her parent meeting). I hadn't been able to talk to her, so while I had scores for every child, I couldn't quite say what they mean. Later, I learned that Valerie's students on the whole scored about 80 to 100% correct--including sentence structure, "It's a," "It's an" etc--whereas mine scored on average 50% accuracy, far less if you count sentence structure. I gave credit for anything that sounded like "It's"--Valerie only gave partial credit for that. Wow. Her students' English is SO much better than mine!
But that night I didn't know all that. I only knew what my results were. Parents asked who was the best. I've noticed that hiding students' grades from other parents is not common practice around here. Teachers post lists of every students' grade, so that everyone can see.
But I didn't say who was the best, or the worst. Just tried my best to explain what was average in my class.
Really, I would like to talk more to the parents, to tell them what we're doing. But it was so late and I was hungry!
The Kazakh teacher started talking in Kazakh and showing pictures of the class, and so I snuck out. Sophia was in another room watching a video. Kids were NOT in the parents' meetings, the assistants were supposedly watching them.
Valerie was stunned when I popped my head into her room to ask if she was ready to leave. How could I be finished earlier than her, when her meeting started an hour earlier?
Well, for one thing, her parents speak better English! For another, the first half of her meeting consisted of a powerpoint slide and information about Kazakh. For another, she stuck around and answered individual parent questions.
Since that meeting, however, I have found that the parents engage me more when they pick their kids up from school, they ask more questions, and I have been able to talk one-on-one with many. I've prepared a sheet with the lyrics from all the songs we sing, plus some sheets with the vocabulary items that we have been studying.
Just--inform me in advance of parent meetings, find a way for me to eat before them, and, above all, don't take away Christmas right before a parent meeting!
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