Parent teacher conferences are always a treat. And I mean that in the most sarcastic way possible. It’s not that I don’t enjoy meeting the parents, I do, and it is quite the window into the student’s life. But, most of the parents who show up are the parent of your kids who are performing well and you really don’t need much to say to them other than I really like your kid, they are doing well. And every now and then if they are too quiet you say you wish they would participate more in class. But my favorite of all the parents who do show up are those of students who are smart enough, but are performing badly because they are going to become a professional athlete. If you are a teacher of any grade above 5th grade you are probably smiling along with this. These are the parents that tell you that their kid couldn’t do the work (not because it was too hard) but because he had practice or was doing extra workouts so that he could become the next big thing in whatever sport. So … [Read more...]