PTC - From Apprehensive to Astounded!

All of last week I was secretly dreading this parent teacher conference. I had heard through the rumor mill that numerous parents were not pleased with the IZ classes and especially the notion of group work. We are making great changes in the world of education at North Marion and anytime there is change, there is conflict! I kept preparing myself, going over possible questions that the parents would pose and attempting to have a ready-set of answers to give them. When 5:30 hit and I glanced outside of our door, what I saw made the knot in my throat get bigger! There was a line of parents waiting and that line never got smaller until 6:40. To amazement my apprehension was built up for no reason! As the parents began to trickle in, I quickly realized that they were not opposed to what was happening in the Innovation Zone. They were however, anxious to learn about this new way of teaching. As April said in her post, we broke it all down for the parents. We explained everything to a t! We had examples of group projects, which the parents were absolutely amazed at! They couldn't believe that their children were producing such professional products! Personally, what I think made a huge difference, was the fact that April and I were not shy to let the parents know that this is new to us to. We stressed to them that this was a learning experience for us as well as the students. Every parent was responsive to the fact that we would make mistakes along the way and they were incredibly supportive of us and our innovation zone! Many told us that even though we had mistakes here and there that they felt this was a wonderful experience for their children! We apologized to almost every parent for the misconception we gave the students when we introduced the classes at the beginning of the year. We realized quickly that we gave the students and parents the impression that our grades in our class were going to be based solely on group work. When we showed the parents that the students were in fact receiving more individual grades than group grades they were very relieved! With this being said, they were instantly more open to the concept of their students working in groups! It was amazing to see how quickly the parents made the connection between how our classes were functioning and how the real world functions! They thought it was wonderful that we were preparing their children for the real world! Also, we took the time to make sure that each parent we saw knew how to use edline and if they didn't we logged into our page and showed the parents how to use it. They were very happy to have this process explained to them! Also, every parent that we saw wanted to be involved in their student's education they just needed assistance in knowing how to be involved. Speaking of involvement, we actually had one parent tell us that herself and a group of other parents wanted to work with us in the innovation and provide any help that they could! This was such a positive thing to hear! It let us know that not only are we engaging the students but the parents are eager to be engaged as well!! We had many thank yous from the parents for various reasons! We had thank yous for exposing their children to technology because that was something that they wouldn't be able to get home. We had thank yous for caring for their children and the outcome of their grades! We had thank yous for hearing their concerns and taking the time to explain things to them! As April said when 5:30 came and the announcement was made that parent teacher conference was over, we walked out in the hall and told the line of parents that we would stay and see them all. They were so appreciative that we made this gesture and each parent that came in our room after 5:30 thanked us for staying to see them! We ended up staying until 6:40 to make sure to see every parent and we generally spent at least twenty minutes with each parent. The thank yous were worth more than the parents would know! This change is stressful for everyone, teachers, parents, and students, but we're doing great things and it's not gone unnoticed! Who knew parent teacher conference would be such a motivating experience!! Oh and an important fact to note, we saw very few parents who had children that A's. No parent put the blame for the lack of an A on anyone other than their student! They didn't blame April or I and they had no other excuses for that matter! Simply that they would work with us to ensure that their students were working harder!
P.S. - Every parent LOVED the calendar that keep on edline! It allows them to be more in touch with their student's education on a day to day basis, as well as, making them a more active part of daily instruction!