Student, Parent, Teacher Conversations - All Next Week during a week-long Minimum Day Schedule

Sign up at the gate before or after school this week for a 20 minute time slot. Each available time includes two teachers so that we can give families more access to teachers and help us to record your thoughts and questions for feedback.

Goals: The conversations will be a chance to -

• Bring the student, parent, and teacher together in one conversation together using the language of the virtues as a starting place
  • We know our parents have the greatest influence on your children and want to join with you to talk about your child’s thinking and learning.
• Talk together about long-term intellectual character growth & how that works out in the daily ins-and-outs of school
• Support and empower self-reflection
• Allow teachers to gather frequently asked questions to refine our communication and provide a FAQ that we will add to our website

But it’s only 20 minutes!
One group norm our teachers have been valuing lately in professional development is to accept and expect non-closure. Our 20 minute conversations are one-part of a full middle school experience that works to create a culture of thinking and growth mindset, academic support, and a desire for openness and respect between students, parents, and teachers. We can all grow in knowledge of our students through these conferences but we should also expect that they will not resolve all concerns!

Questions for Student, Parents, and Teachers:
Families - Prepare for the Conversation by talking together ahead of the conference about these questions. Report cards can be used as a reference but we are looking for each individual’s reflection, there are no “correct answers." The conversation will start with the student, then parent and teacher will respond around the table answering each of the following in rounds:

• What intellectual virtues has the student grow in? How? What virtues can the student continue to grow in? How?
• What other concerns or questions do you have?
• Student summarize the conference & each person quickly debrief - how was this conversation helpful for you?