Bob's Home Court: November 2005

Parent Teacher Interviews

Here are my tips for parents:

Your child is great, love ‘em, gift from God … totally!
News flash: They might not be the same at school as they are at home. If the teacher says that little Johnny is a pain in class, chances are that’s pretty accurate. I can hear the rebuttals now; “well I remember Mr/ Mrs so and so and they were so crooked they had to screw their socks on! “ Before we get our knickers in a twist we need to remember that everybody involved in teaching and learning is a human and therefore imperfect. However most (no not all teachers or any other group) teachers have the interest of the child at heart. You should listen to them.

I know it is not popular opinion but teachers are professionals and (you might want to sit down for this one) experts. The reaction I get to this cracks me up! If a doctor says to you I need to cut parts out of you, you are hurrying them up and handing them the sharpest butter knife in the drawer. However if a teacher shares a negative opinion about your child’s effort / behavior / ability how do you take it? Rough stuff isn’t it!?
At least go into the interview with an open mind.

Book appointments ahead of time to avoid disappointment.

Read the papers stuffed in with the report card, some of them may be useful, some may be encouraging you to buy more chocolate. Bring the report card to the interview(s).

If your child has multiple teachers (usually middle and high school) bringing a copy of their timetable maybe of use.

When you get home you may want to talk the interviews over with your spouse before you talk to little Johnny or Joanie.

The Last Post

Just back from a concert with Cantus Vocum. Stop reading this and go out and buy their records. A wonderful chamber choir. But I digress, since it is remembrance day, the last post was played and tonight one of the young men in the band I play in, played the last post as near to perfect as I 've ever heard it. Well done JP! It may not seem like a big deal to the listener.. you should try it. You may want to practice first though. To all of those brave souls who have played it or stumbled though it (and unfortunately I 've witnessed few perfomances as good as the one tonight) I salute you. You have more nerve ( and chops ) than I have.

Fundraising …. eewwhhh

It’s amazing what we do for our kids. Both of ours came home this fall with huge boxes of chocolate, both were sent back untouched. We sent in a cheque that about matches what the school would have made if we had sold the chocolate. At least this way I don’t have to hide the chocolate away or throw it out after it has moldered away for a year (true story).

Nobody wants kids going door to door anymore, but we still have incentive sales programs! Drive the relatives nuts! Right on! That’s not much of a journey anyway. This is a necessary evil for schools that want to go the second mile for your child. So in a sick way if you are annoyed by more fundraising that’s okay; but if you aren’t annoyed by requests regarding fundraising; perhaps you should be … annoyed.

This is a necessary evil for schools that want to go the second mile for your child.

Usually fundraisers are for the extras, better computers, cameras nice books or videos, uniforms etc. I always like to know the goals and objectives of the fundraisers and most schools will send home a note telling the parents about the details.

Science fair Survival Guide

Oh the hypocrisy! Here I am a science teacher and one of the greatest stresses in my life is the science fair, not the one at the school where I teach, but the one at my son's school. I don’t want to be one those parents who end up doing the projects for the kid (it’s happened once or twice) but I want him to do well. Science is not my son’s favourite subject, he is (gulp) artsy, he likes to write, and he’s theatrical and musical. As a result he need’s my help. And I am torn. I want the project to be excellent because I know he’s a good enough student to do an excellent project but it is tricky to help without doing.
What can we do to get through this?

Assuming your child has to do an experimental project, you will need to follow the scientific method. Find the version of the scientific method your child is using in their science textbook. (There are only slight variations but that may affect your procedures.) Stick with this method.

Many teachers will break the science fair up into manageable chunks which is intended to increase the probability of the students actually completing the project. The drawback here is that this increases the number of deadlines involved. More for you to keep on top of!

Many teachers will post helpful outlines, links to science fair ideas, rubrics (marking schemes) on the school’s webpage. Have a look. Some schools are more into this than others. I’ve added some links to the bottom of this post.

In my house we are keeping a binder of science fair handouts from the teacher, internet research, rough drafts etc. near the computer so we have one place to compile and organize

It is really important that you let your child accept responsibility as they grow, but if they are not on top of their science fair deadlines or any schoolwork for that matter, check with the teacher. Again you may want to start with the school webpage and find an email address for the teacher, as most, not all, have better access to a computer with email than to a telephone!

I hope this helps.

My School's Page (Thanks Pat)
Discovery School
All Science Fair

Link o rama

So I was thinking, why not add some favourite sites for my target audience, or at least one of them. This one's for all the tech heads and photo geeks out there ... hope it helps.

NetLingo.com: The Internet Language Dictionary

Jargon File

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing

The Gimp ... free graphics software

Design Theory

The Center for Universal Design

National Design Museum