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 Parent teacher conference day and the "nickel and dimed 
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Joined: Mon Sep 01, 2003 9:09 am
Posts: 23
As parent teacher conference day approaches, I keep thinking about the "nickel and dimed" moms (and maybe some dads). I know that some companies set aside time for employees to volunteer/visit school, but most of these moms aren't working for those companies. Most of my teachers are very flexible and will schedule around weird work hours, but it is not always possible and some teachers aren't as willing as others to do this. I hear things like, "She's known about PTC day since school started. If she really cared about her kid, she would have gotten off." As most of you school folks know, the "nickel and dimed" moms are sometimes the ones we need to talk to the most. Are there any creative ideas floating around in your brilliant minds about how we could restructure/change our parent teacher conferences to accomodate these folks?


Sun Oct 19, 2003 7:14 pm
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Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 10:00 am
Posts: 41
Location: Newton-Conover Middle School- Newton, NC
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As a former Exceptional Childrens' teacher, I was responsible for many meetings that parent attendance was necessary. I ran into the problem of parents not being able to attend during work hours. I negotiated with administration to offer incentives to the regular education teachers, the ones reluctant to alter their normal workday hours, for flex time, duty free lunch, etc. in exchange for a late or early meeting with working parents. Another thing we also did was conduct meetings at the parents place of employment during their lunch break. This helped out the parent, in addition to making their employer aware of the importance of parental involvement with education. Hopefully, this would ease the tention for future requests for parental leave to visit their childrens' school.

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Amy E. Wilson


Mon Oct 20, 2003 9:21 am
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Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2003 5:11 pm
Posts: 51
Location: Southwest Middle School - Gastonia, NC
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I have been trying to work with teachers to help them understand that parents are very concerned about their children, but they risk losing their jobs if they leave work for a conference. Though the majority of teachers understand these sorts of situations, it is very frusterating as an administrator to talk with the other teachers who don't seem to understand. I feel for the students because it isn't their fault. These are the students who need the most help and support. It is a sad situation.

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Daphne King


Mon Oct 20, 2003 11:53 am
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Joined: Mon Sep 01, 2003 5:46 pm
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Cindy,
I don't know if it is possible at your school, but one thing we do at my school to help with the problem of parents who work and can't get off for conferences is schedule a set day and change the workday time of the teachers. Instead of working the "regular" hours, teachers come in and work from 11:00am - 7:00pm. Having hours like this make it easier for those parents who can't get there during normal working hours. If these hours pose problems for a teacher, arrangements are made on an individual basis.


Tue Oct 28, 2003 9:51 am
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