Parent/Teacher Conferences

11-6-08 Parent/Teacher Conferences. I never knew just how boring and interesting such things could be. I'm the sophomore sponsor, and so that's the parents I talk to, the parents of the sophomores. Now my sophomores are a lovely bunch of teenagers. Sure, they have their terrible moments, but on the whole, they're good kids. Of the sixteen kids I had last quarter, I had thirteen parents and/or guardians show up (one person was an older sister!). Most of the kids had okay grades, and mostly the parents were content with them. What bothered them more was the absences and tardies. I had to explain to a good number of parents (mostly mothers) why their child was late to second period in the afternoon (biology). The reason for that is that they hang outside the classroom and ignore Jordan as he tells and asks them to come in. Some of them even have absences resulting from this hallway loitering. Several of the mothers were like, "That's not going to happen anymore." One father, when confronted with his son's many morning absences and afternoon tardies, said, "I work every day but Monday, and so I ask him every night if he went to school, and he says, 'Yeah.' And why should I doubt him? I'm going to have to straighten that boy out."

It was interesting to talk with the parents of my kids, and get a feel for why they're the way they are. Mainly, the parents care, but they're not nearly as present as they'd like to be. One of the things I learned while researching the Marshallese before I came here was that they're a very family-oriented culture. For centuries they lived in large extended family units where everyone played a role, from small children to elderly adults. I think it's difficult to maintain that family connection here on Ebeye. Most people who move here do so because of the jobs they can get at the military base, which pays well but also sucks time out of their lives. As I'm sure I've mentioned before, time runs differently here. Most people I had ever talked to have called it "island time." The U.S. Military does not work on island time, but rather on precise military time. People who leave the outer islands come to Ebeye and find a place that runs on time--the ferry has a schedule, schools have schedules, churches have schedules, Kwaj has schedules. Pretty much everything has a schedule except the power outages. These schedules, if not used properly, can take over a person's life and rob them of time that they need to build relationships with their families.

Parent/Teacher Conferences was also boring. There were gaps of time when nobody showed up at all, and so we teachers talked and joked. We kept a running tally of how many parents each teacher had come (it's why I knew I had thirteen parents show). I also did crossword puzzles--about four of them, I think. It was fun. I had forgotten that I had brought a book of them with me, and so it kept me entertained, and will keep me entertained until I run out of puzzles (I only brought the one book). Ryan bought us some soda and these "fudge cake" things that had expired in May. (No wonder they were cheap!) Unfortunately, I ate one before I discovered the expiration date. (Well, Emily discovered it, but still.) I had no ill effects from it, though, and that was good.

Overall, it went well. I received permission from one mom to spank her daughter if necessary (even though she's a sophomore), and one mom told me that her daughter "has no boys in her life," which I know to be utterly false, because I've seen her flirting with one of the junior boys. One of the dads joked/complained that the mom in front him talked a lot, and then reassured me that he'd talk fast. What made me laugh the most was one sophomore's sister. I didn't know she was his sister at the time, so I was naturally confused when I said that he's a good kid in class and a nice kid, and she goes, "Well, he's annoying to me." I was like, What? So, using my sisterly intuition, I guessed that she was his older sister--and then I found out later that she was. That was a relief!

More later...