a certain slant of light.

I just finished up four hours (straight) of parent-teacher conferences, and tomorrow morning (at eight), I have my "first" (aside from the Fargo one at the job fair, but that seems to be different--on the spot versus Lakeville calling me up) interview. It is for a Theatre/Yearbook position, so I have done what I can to speak with the yearbook and drama folks at Roseville Area High School. I feel pretty good about it right now, but we'll see what I'm saying as I try to fall asleep tonight and in the minutes as I drive to the interview (it's actually about forty minutes from where I am right now).

Parent-teacher conferences... I spoke to so many! And I can't even complain because another teacher, one that does Honors English 10, had 47. Whew! I had a lot of pleasant parents, and I have been in the groove of the school, so I felt confident going in, and I've learned that if you feel good about what you are teaching, then discussing it with others isn't so hard... And if you have a parent that is pretty upset, for any reason, let them talk, then repeat back to them what you've heard them saying, and work out your reasoning as well as potential solutions. I actually only had one parent that yelled, and she was yelling at the student rather than at me, although she was strongly hinting that her son needs some one-on-one time. (He's coming in after school on Monday, but I don't have the kind of time to do that for every student. I wish the class sizes were smaller, but there's not a lot I can do about it. Try my hardest; that's about all.) So we scheduled one-on-one time for Monday, and I'll see what I can do in helping improve his writing. This parent also answered her cell phone twice during the conversation. (!) When it was over, Amy leaned over and told me that I handled the situation really well, which was great.

Otherwise, the experiences were positive. I made sure I let the parents know what their kids were doing well and what they could do to get better. Some were concerned about the grades, so we worked out a plan, which was especially helpful when the student was actually with the parent. "OK, what do you think you could do better?"

Well, I'm going to get ready for bed pretty soon... In an hour or two, I want to be sleeping and fully refreshed for tomorrow's interview! Wish me luck!