As a parent, I don't like the appointment system for parent/teacher conferences. Trying to figure out which teachers had time slots available within a close timeframe took me just about half an hour. Meanwhile, "Sign Up Genius" (the site we used) has become even less intuitive over time. On a phone, it takes scrolling and loading over multiple screens just for one teacher's availability. On the computer, the required save button was hidden under elements like an "accept cookies" bar or an ad. This made it so some parents tonight through that they had appointments that they didn't actually have.
As a teacher, I don't like the appointment system. I prefer the pre-Covid round-robin style as it allowed for more flexibility. I feel like the appointment system is a hindrance for parents who already don't need much of an excuse to be disengaged with their child's education (or even life). Sadly, those are the parents that we teachers most need to see. Meanwhile, I prefer getting to see my colleagues all together. It is my opinion that teachers too often retreat into their classrooms. The round-robin conferences brought us together more as a staff--however, that's just my opinion, and (as was pointed out to me just today) I am a bit of an extrovert.
I still love parent-teacher conferences. It gives me a chance to get more insight into why many of my students behave and perform the ways that they do. It also provides me with the opportunity to get everyone on the same page, working together for the benefit of the students. Sure, there are some conferences that are tougher than others, and there are some that require me to reevaluate things that I have done, but I feel that all of that can be positive as long as someone (even if it's just me) learns from the experience.
As a teacher, I don't like the appointment system. I prefer the pre-Covid round-robin style as it allowed for more flexibility. I feel like the appointment system is a hindrance for parents who already don't need much of an excuse to be disengaged with their child's education (or even life). Sadly, those are the parents that we teachers most need to see. Meanwhile, I prefer getting to see my colleagues all together. It is my opinion that teachers too often retreat into their classrooms. The round-robin conferences brought us together more as a staff--however, that's just my opinion, and (as was pointed out to me just today) I am a bit of an extrovert.
I still love parent-teacher conferences. It gives me a chance to get more insight into why many of my students behave and perform the ways that they do. It also provides me with the opportunity to get everyone on the same page, working together for the benefit of the students. Sure, there are some conferences that are tougher than others, and there are some that require me to reevaluate things that I have done, but I feel that all of that can be positive as long as someone (even if it's just me) learns from the experience.
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