Running Records

Last week I witnessed the mythical running record. My teacher was preparing for parent teacher conferences and I was able to watch her perform a running reading record with a student. After actually watching one in person and being able to ask questions, I really don't feel they are as difficult as I once thought. Time consuming? Absolutely. But once you understand what the short hand signals mean it is just a lengthy process, not a difficult one.

I also taught my first transition lesson. I have been around kindergarten classes before, volunteered in them, gone on field trips, and tutored. Never have I felt like a mother duck with fear of loosing 27 of her children! The line to get to PE was extraordinarily long! Even though I didn't stand in the complete front and I had my partner acting like the assistant, I was still petrified I was going to lose one wondering off. This goes hand in hand with the fact that I think 27 5 year olds in one classroom is ridiculous...

Thinking about my teacher getting ready for parent teacher conferences made me think about culturally diverse families attending these meetings. I looked through the text and discovered habitudes- unexamined attitudes or preconceptions of cultural traits. It seems a little daughting actually when I think about it because not even two parents from the same culture will present themselves the same way during a conference, so how I can prepare myself for a conference with someone who doesn't speak my language or has vastly different beliefs about education? More riticoral questions really, I know I can research tips but I feel that experiences are often more poignant and meaningful to me. So maybe just time and my first few rounds of parent teacher conferences will help ease my concerns.