Friday, September 28, 2007

Back to School Night

In a way I got brought back to reality today. At Back to School Night I was telling the parents of my gifted class about all of the neat things I was planning for their children this year. I was telling them about field trips, camping trips, science camp, blogs, podcasts, wikis and how Power Point was not an end point but a starting point. I am very excited about the year I have planned. I asked for questions and one women asked me why I didn't stamp the student's agenda? How did I answer? I told her I didn't do it because I didn't want to take time to check if my students could copy correctly. I also said it was boring and I would rather teach math/science or especially technology. I guess I was reminded that just because I am excited, the rest of the world isn't necessarily so. Oh well, go figure.

2 comments:

Janice Stearns said...

I think sometimes, parents are worried about student accountability. It's a difficult adjustment to have students be accountable for their own learning, and might take some time. It's a difficult shift for parents to understand that copying from the board is a low level skill. Is the student agenda a way for parents to know what work is expected of their student? Maybe there's another way for parents to know what work is due- maybe a student generated agenda, where one person a day is responsible for posting the work for the day. I'm just brainstorming...
I'm sure your enthusiasm will begin to grow on you parents.

Edie_Walker said...

I agree with you and I'm sure I will do just that, but it just took me by surprise. On the ride to Malibu Creek yesterday another mother told me that because of my plans for my students she was comfortable about her daughters education. Now of course I have to live up to her expectations. Lots of fun.