Busted

I’m relatively new at 8th grade TA, and I love the self-sufficiency of my brood. All but one of them screen-shared their slide show with great ease and began their conference today without trying to bypass the awkward introduction. By now they all know the drill.

Since two-thirds of my students made the A-B Honor Roll last quarter, most of today’s conferences were joyous occasions for parent and child. Several students had a bit of explaining to do about one grade or another, but one poor lad left his dad completely vexed about the total lack of conference prep as well as the abysmal grades in Student Vue. 

Student M is the kid who knows how to look busy and stay under the radar, nods along with the group, never meets your gaze, and does his own thing. I’m not surprised he was unprepared. He won’t accept guidance, and he’s not happy about school or life right now. But at least he’s finally getting to school on time most days and the quietly defiant hood-up statement has also largely subsided.

No way was I going to cover for him today. So he was basically laid wide open by his own undone deeds, but that needed to happen. The sub plot to all of this is the parents’ separation and consequent lack of awareness about the fact that their son has checked out of third quarter already. When email and phone calls go unanswered, a live conference becomes the big wake up call that Dad needs most of all. 

Together with the Flex TA Teacher, we came up with several action items to help Student M get himself back on track. But what I hope most of all is that Dad starts paying more attention to his namesake, because that's what the kid needs more than a polished slide show or stellar grades right now. He needs to know that he matters to his own distracted folks.