More on parent-teacher relations
I will do this one in English even if it is out of turn, just for you Mrs. English. Because school ends in just four weeks, we asked to meet the boys’ teachers for a quick wrap-up. We have met Emmanuel’s teachers a couple times during the year because of the difficulties Emmanuel and most children were experiencing with the organization of the class (more here). Believe it or not, I had never met Gabriel’s teacher beyond introducing myself on the doorstep of the school when I came back to Paris in November. She immediately granted us a meeting, a quick 10 minutes before the beginning of school this morning. She seemed somewhat surprised that we had asked to meet her. I think that French teachers expect to meet parents only if there is a problem.
There is a planned group meeting in the classroom at the beginning of the year where the teacher sort of lectures parents and that is the end of that. We are not really supposed to see each other again until the school party at the end of the year, except for an occasional hello on the doorstep at 4:30 p.m. when children are released. No parent conference, no volunteering in the classroom of course. School is the kingdom of the teachers and the parents are rarely invited in. I have to admit that when EJ suggested this meeting, I even wondered why he felt it was needed. We both knew Gabriel had a very good first year in primary school. In a very French manner, I wondered why the meeting was necessary.
We felt we had to preface the meeting by saying it was a nice way to wrap up the year (and a way to acknowledge Gabriel’s excellent year and make him proud of his work). She immediately said that “I have only compliments for Gabriel” and gave us a few points (“He is a very neat writer, particularly for a boy”, “He participates in the class”, “He is very good at expressing himself”). We did not learn anything new in this meeting. She did not show us any schoolwork. She is probably still scratching her head and wondering why in the world we asked for this meeting. I just hope that it fulfilled its goal of letting Gabriel know that we value his work at school, something he is probably already aware of. Emmanuel’s two teachers are next…
kelloucq
le 09.06.08 à 10:20
dans Actualités
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