Before
any formal parent/teacher conference, I like to do an extensive search on the
student regarding whom we are meeting. In this case, if Ingrid were my student
I would proceed this way.
First, I make a copy of my records showing the entire student’s grades, behavior remarks, work habits, and discipline comments. Second, I contact her counselor to have a copy off her grades from different classes. Finally, I would contact some of her other teachers to have an idea about her achievement in their respective subjects.
Once
I receive Ingrid’s grandmother, I start by praising her and enumerating all her
good qualities as a person and as a student. Thenceforth, I would describe
Ingrid’s global performance on the standardized test, insisting on the fact
that she achieved high scores in special content domains (Reading
comprehension, Science, and social studies) while she did lower on others
(Spelling, Math computation, and Math concepts). Ingrid’s has shown strengths in
three subjects and weaknesses on three others.
It has difficult to draw conclusion
from her results regarding her mastery’s area or her preferences’ tendency. The
fact she performers highly in Science and poorly in
Math makes it hard to say she’s a scientific student. On the other hand, her
high achievement in Reading comprehension,
and low accomplishment in Spelling does not allow resolving that Ingrid is a
literary student.
With
that said, we need to understand the reasons behind her low scores. Are these
scores reflecting difficulties in processing information? Or are they echoing
struggles in taking particular tests? Or perhaps they are indicators of a lack
of interest related to some subjects? ... Etc.
They
are so many inquiries to be explored with Ingrid’s grandmother in order to help
her in achieving better scores in the future.
The
grandmother could play an important role in helping Ingrid developing skills
and reaching higher performance. Here are three ways she can intervene
throughout:
1 1-
Have an open
communication with the teachers. A weekly note from the teachers explaining
Ingrid’s achievement and describing where she has to try harder.
2 2-
Monitor Ingrid’s homework quality and consistency. Extra
practice at home might bring Ingrid to her class-level average if it is not
higher.
3 3-
Encourage Ingrid by doing fun activities. Nowadays,
there are some many different fun ways to learn: websites, apps, educational
games….
4- Plan incentives for every high accomplishment. Students enjoy getting rewarded for their efforts and they are encouraged to achieve better when there is compensation.
I find your ideas for improvement at home to be very helpful suggestions. Open communication is extremely important between the student's guardian and their educator. You made a great point with the suggestion of weekly notes from the teacher on areas where Ingrid needs more work. Would this note receive a response? Would this be a weekly document between the teacher and guardian that provided feedback from both parties?
ReplyDeleteI also really like the idea of encouragement through more enjoyable activities. There are many games, apps, etc that can digitally assist our students in learning and they often enjoy this format. There could also be some incentive for the student after the successful completion of various digital learning programs.
Definitely,the grandmother would notify the teachers about all activities and drills Ingrid did. Moreover, this exchange of information between the teachers and guardian it's an effective tool to monitor the student's efforts and achievements.
ReplyDeleteAsmaa, idealist I found your first approach very interesting, but when I was trying to keep weekly communication with one of my students parent last semester it was almost impossible. I found myself running out of time doing my "other stuff" and leaving that as my last priority. I guess, it was because I was devoting time for only one student, while the "other stuff" involve the whole group, so I decided it was more important.
ReplyDeleteBy reading your suggestions I also though in public library material, which is rarely used by students, and we as teachers, could suggest or encourage the students to make for use of those resources.
Pulling all of this information about Ingrid would show her grandmother how invested you are in helping Ingrid to become a better student. I really love how you not only have come up with a way to fix the problem, but take the time to ask why it is that Ingrid is having difficulties in certain areas. Many times we try to 'fix' problems without first looking for a source of it. Finding the reason behind Ingrid's lower scores would ensure that the intervention put in place would help her greatly.
ReplyDelete