"Your child is not the center of the universe

[buster]

Conferences are coming up. How do I effectively convey to parents without breeching confidentiality that things don't get done and you cannot work individually with their child because so many of your class require one on one individualized attention (their problems are more severe)? I have so many students that have unique needs that require me to physically be in 10 places at one time. No wonder I'm exhausted at the end of the day.

 

[phoebe611]

one on one

You may have children who need more one on one time, but you need to make sure that each child is getting some one on one. To each of these parents their child IS the center of the universe and should be treated as such - Yeah right! Anyway, just make sure you are specific about that child's abilities in the conference and make sure to end on a positive note. It will make it seem that you spend more time with him/her than the others to the parent and they will probably be more receptive to what you have to say. Good luck!

 

[brooke]

tell us more

Buster,
I have an exceptionally needy class so I know what you mean by needy. However, I'm not concerned about the parents demanding that I give their child more one-to-one attention. What's happening? Do you have a parent complaining? My general opinion is that if you can talk to a parent with a genuine understanding of their child's strengths and weaknesses, then you sound brilliant. Parent teacher conferences are just a few minutes long--I don't find parents ever complain. They just want to know how their child is doing and how they can help.

 

[buster]

conferences

Our conferences our 20 minutes long. No, I don't have any one parent complaining. My "needy" students are such high maintence it's just very draining and I feel like there's nothing left for the rest. Each of these students also comes with there own set of specialty teachers (speech and language, hearing, autistic, remedial reading, Title 1) that I have to consult and collabarate with, besides our regular special teachers. I do a lot of individualization but it just seems like it's never enough. It seems like time is a very rare commodity.

 

[brooke]

I sympathsize

Buster,
Your class sounds like mine. Based on your concerns, I imagine that you're a great teacher. You want to give every child 110% and I bet that you are. I posted last week asking for comfort because I'm so exhausted trying to manage my very needy class. Some years are like this. You say you're individualization doesn't sound like enough. However, I imagine that your doing more for these students than any of their former teachers. Don't be surprised if your parents are delighted with what you've done for their children. We're four work days away from a three-day weekend. You deserve to have a wonderful Veteran's Day weekend. Keep doing what you're doing, you're making a positive difference in these children's lives.

 

[istoleahalo]

As a "special teacher" one suggestion I have is make a list for each child of test scores, what they can do independantly and what areas they may need help in. Have each specialty teacher look over it and add to it if needed. Have this (or a neater copy) in front of you at the confrence so you can easily refer to it, then, like one of the other posters said, you look like you spend so much time with this child and know everything there is to know!