Parent Teacher Confrences

This week was parent teacher conferences. First was Caden's. The report on him was basically LAZY! Of course his teacher didn't say that, its just how it is interpreted. And, we know it. He learns something and then figures he knows and there is no need to try any harder. He does well in math and reading and all other subjects. The problem is he rushes through things so he can draw on the back of his papers. He has basically given up on taking reading quizzes. He reads all of the time, but doesn't see the point in the quizzes. Unfortunately the quizzes are how his reading is accessed. If he only takes 3 quizzes in on quarter of school, he isn't proving that his reading is improving. So, we have to convince him to take the quizzes.
Carly's conference was great. Her teacher is fantastic and we ended up just visiting for 40 minutes. We talked about Carly a little. She is a great student, she works hard, she doesn't like recess, she is very helpful . . . and her comprehension isn't getting any better. That is just something I don't know how to fix. I don't know if she is just lazy, doesn't get it, or if she just has no confidence that she can do it. Her teacher is working on things with her though. I just worry about her.
Jason's conferences were not at all as good as those two. We went into a classroom with all of his 7th grade teachers. Science went well despite his C. We like his teachers and he is comfortable in there. Social Studies was not good. He is disruptive and moody. So, he's a 13 year old boy? He has a poor grade, really poor. So Jay took this chance to explain how unhappy he is with the lack of preparation when we pre-arrange absences with the school for hockey. We also don't feel he should carry zeros for class work and class participation on days that he was absent and it was pre-arranged. Of course, no one knew what we were talking about. Then Mr Math teacher stepped in and let us know how awful Jason is. He doesn't turn in work, he is disruptive, and moody. Well, Jay just about lost it. I explained that all of the work that Mr Math says Jason hasn't turned in was in fact turned in. I was there when one of them was turned in, and I've seen others graded in his notebook. We were told that if Jason had his folder organized the way it should be, he would be able to find his homework. We were also told that if he took notes in class he should know how to do all of the work. That was after I explained exactly what he didn't know for a test he was having today. I responded with "I shouldn't have to teach my son math from the Internet at home when he should be able to ask his teacher for help, but was too scared." So, then the English teacher jumped in and said Jason was great. He is social but on task. If he needs help he asks. He takes pride in his work and tests. WOW what a difference! That only made J angry though. Not at Jason, or at the English teacher. He was very upset that the two teachers that Jason felt were unapproachable were the two that says he is disruptive. Jay told them that he's been to the counselor about it several times but maybe it was time to go higher and he walked out.
We went home after that, pulled out Jason's math notebook, and then there they were. In his well organized binder, graded papers that were shown as a zero on the teacher's records! That was all it took for Jay. We gathered up Jason's papers and went straight to the school and into the counselor's office. Shortly after that we were in with the principal. We'll see how today goes for Jason. The principal assured us Jason would get a new homeroom teacher (it is currently Mr Math) and the math teacher would be questioned about Jason's zeros. He took an account of what went on in the conference and was taken aback by some of the things Mr Math said to us as well as some of the things he has said to Jason during class.