Things Parent/Teacher Conferences Bring to Mind

This week was the last of my parent/teacher conferences.  This convinced me it is time to retire.  It may not be for the reason you may think.  The parents treated me with respect and made no comments about my age or how out of touch I might be with families today.  That's been part of my goal for some time:  to retire before I became that crazy lady just putting in her time.  As I told my principal the other day, I still have the heart for teaching.  I am getting to retire on my terms, truly a gift in these times. 

I am grateful for so many of the little things that happen these days.  I am getting notes I have always gotten from children, but treasure them even more.  When I see my eighth grade grandson in the hall, I smile because although he tries to pretend I am not there, when I drive him home from school on occasion, he talks my head off about his day. He also sincerely thanks me for coming to any of his games, as does his sister.   He does not complain when I sneak him a birthday treat that I should not eat.

I am not gleefully crossing things off my list.  When we go on the field trips I have taken my class on each year, the docents smile and wish me well.  President Benjamin Harrison Home is working very hard to convince me to become a docent there.  We get to make a wooden soldier ornament at the Harrison Home and tour the building.  My favorite thing there is a letter Helen Keller wrote to the president.

This picture was taken at Survive Alive, a wonderful fire safety experience for the children.  I was thrilled when they asked me to put on the equipment!

My colleague next door asked me what are the top five things I will not miss.  I had no trouble coming up with number one:  tattling.  I have two different answers for a tattle:  Did you tell me to help that person out or to get him/her in trouble?  or Now tell me one good thing about that person. These are greeted with a  red faces every time.  Don't ask me what I really want to say.

I am now focusing on the first day of a week of fall break--a little taste of the future, I pray!

It's No Mystery

Teachers will tell you that they "borrow" their great ideas from other teachers.  We are always collecting, gathering, and applying new techniques to reel the student in.  We are competing with the huge amount of technology the children experience each day outside of the classroom.

One of the simplest things I do is Mystery Reader.  Parents, grandparents, and very special people sign up on signupgenius.com to come in on Wednesdays and share twenty minutes of books with my students.  I stole this idea from a lady I team taught with many years ago.  Her son is in my room this year and she has come in to read and experience the joy from the other end of the spectrum.

Some of the parents are nervous about coming in to read, others dive in and become creative.  The students do not care--they love Mystery Reader.  I have had parents dress in gorilla costumes, bring a treat to match the story, and change voices to share their favorites with the children.  I learned that you MUST wear a boa when you read a Fancy Nancy book.  The children don't care about the special trappings, they love the books!

Some years, it has become very competitive to get on the schedule--I should have sold the spots those years.  Other years, I have to beg for people to sign up.  This year I put up a plea on Facebook for readers and got volunteers whose children have experienced Mystery Reader and want to share that joy with my current class.

As the day arrives, the students speculate who the reader will be.  I used to have a sign-up sheet on the door, but the children soon learned to read the names, so the mystery was gone.  When the reader arrives, I call the child they are related to to come introduce the reader.  What power that child has!  The first time nervous reader quickly warms up and begins to enjoy the time with the children.  I have learned about new books this way and rediscovered some old treasures.

As much as I love technology, I love this quote I saw on Facebook yesterday:   There is no app to replace your lap.  Read to your child.  Share books with your child and lead right into sharing Bible lessons with him or her, too!