Make Way

It's 6:30 on the first of two long nights. Parent-Teacher Conferences here at MTHS go from 3:00-8:00 (with a break in the middle for dinner). I've only got one more kid scheduled for tonight, and so far there have been no drop-ins, so I'm going to kill some time talking to you.

Here's a comparison between my three schools:

DPJH
- Conferences went for two nights
- The Friday of that same week was a comp day for teachers
- I was usually hopping from beginning to end at the fall conference
- Parents just showed up and made their way around to whoever they wanted to see/who had the shortest lines
- All of the teachers were in the gym in alphabetical order, which meant that
a) There were people to talk to between sessions (I usually chatted with Watts and Weyrauch) and
b) All of our stuff was in our rooms, so we had to print off grades and tell students to come get papers from us tomorrow.

STMS
- Two nights
- The comp day was later in the year... I think that's how they justified Spring Break?
- As the 8th grade team, we were required to call every parent and schedule appointments. Even though we filled the appointment slots, we had parents who would just show up, which would throw off the whole schedule.
- We split the team up into two rooms for conferences (Math and Science in one, Me and History in the other) in one person's classroom. Again, that meant we left supplies/computers behind, but we did get to
a) Share the translator,
b) Talk about writing in both classes (at least History and I did)
c) Protect ourselves against angry parents by having witnesses.

(No, seriously. That was actually the main reason behind meeting in pairs.)

MTHS
- Two nights
- Comp day's the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I'm already tired and don't want to wait that long.
- We stay in our rooms (yay for supply/computer access!)
- Kids or parents can request conferences in advance and sign up for 15-minute appointments. Drop-ins are fine, but, like I said, I haven't seen any yet.
- Things are light. I've seen five parents so far, and I only have one more to go today. Tomorrow's about the same.

Bonus info:
- Only one angry speech parent so far! She left "before [she] started crying" after arguing at me for 20 minutes. Too bad, since her kids are awesome.


I'm not sure yet which system I like the best. DPJH was certainly more jovial (I used to haul down my bungee-chair, a plant, a table cloth, and some mints; just to liven up my table spot), and I wish we had this Friday off. Still, it's nice to be able to sit here and blog while I'm waiting.

Oh, also? The fog's descending outside as I type, and I heard rumors that snow started falling on the pass between MTHS and home around 1:30 this afternoon. I drove the carpool group this morning, which means I'll have to face it in about an hour. AND it's supposed to snow most of the day tomorrow, too, to boot. Ew, ew, ew!

Wish me driving luck, please!