It answers a lot of questions

We had Parent/Teacher Conferences on Wednesday and Thursday (which meant Wed-Fri we had Early Release!) and it was exhausting, but somewhat informative. Unfortunately, I didn't see most of my 8th graders, because the teachers on their teams had the kids fill out student-led conference forms, that had to be discussed with parents and signed before the day of conferences. This eliminated a lot of the "Why did YOU GIVE my son an F?" questions. They had the answers right there. Each of their teachers had to fill out a comment for them, regarding their academic performance and their behavior in class. When the forms came around to me, there were some I didn't even have to think twice about. They were the ones that I either wrote, "Doing great! Keep it up!" or the opposite, "He/she has potential, but doesn't do his/her work and doesn't apply him/herself."

But the ones that did come to conferences answered a lot of questions for me--good and bad. I would say 95% of the parents I saw have a child that is passing (and really, passing with flying colors) in my class. Those are the easy ones. "Hey, he's doing great. I have no complaints. He does his work and tests well." The end. Quick and painless. In fact, I didn't have a SINGLE PARENT come that was for a child that's failing my class. That's kinda sad. Don't they care? I know there's a lot of factors and explanations of why the parent might not come to conferences, but I still find it sad. I just couldn't see not coming to see my child's teacher if my child was having trouble. Especially the first quarter, when there's still time to do something about it! Especially when they're in 8th grade. Only one more year until they get into high school.

I believe there's a direct corrolation between the amount a child's parent (or guardian or whoever) is involved in their academic life and how well the child succeeds. Now, I'm not saying there isn't a chance that a child won't struggle if their parents are active in their school life, but I think there's a less likelihood, when there is someone around who cares. I can't be that person for them. I can't go home with them and make sure they're doing their homework and getting a good dinner and breakfast and not watching 6 hours of television and not playing video games like Grand Theft Auto and aren't sitting around on MySpace writing in explitives about who they want to get with and who's hot to their friends instead of studying. I care about my kids, I really do. Even the ones who make me absolutely crazy at times. I want them to do well. I want them to pass. I want them to learn. And I want them to care about themselves and their education. But if I'm the only one who's an advocate for them, what happens after 3:30? Apparently nothing in some cases.