The Question That Stopped This Teacher in Her Tracks: ‘I Know My Son Can Write, but Does He Have a Friend?’
May 16, 2018
By: Kai-Leé Berke
Source: The 74
Early in my career, I was a new pre-K teacher on a Marine Corps base. As my first round of parent conferences approached, I was nervous. Marines, in my experience, are punctual and organized. They want reasoning rooted in facts. I wanted my conferences to be the same, so I made sure I was fully prepared.
Throughout the year, I had been observing and documenting my students’ knowledge, skills, and behavior using an ongoing, observation-based assessment system. I had portfolio samples, my assessment ratings, and copious notes from my observations of each child. I was especially excited to meet the mother of one child in particular.