Parent Teacher Conferences: the Student’s Perspective

We’ve all experienced the classic Parent Teacher conference elementary through high school. You sit in a stiff plastic chair by your parents as your teacher at a desk across from you lays down your fate. You are ether and excellent student with a pat on a back from mom and dad or a terrible student awaiting scolding as soon as you leave that night.

Emmi Norfolk a freshman at GJHS is usually in the clear when it comes to being ostracized by her parents after conferences. “I usually have a 3.75 [GPA] anyways,” Norfolk said.

“Every time I go to conferences teachers are like, yah she’s doing great and whatever, so it’s not like my mom is getting startling information about me,” Norfolk said.

For Norfolk the car ride home doesn’t concern her that much but for her friend Summer Colosky, also a freshman at GJHS, it’s a different story.

Colosky thinks that going to conferences in elementary school was much easier and less stressful then going to ones in high school because in elementary school it was easier to keep her grades up.

“[Conferences] have never really helped me in any shape or form really, like I’ll get yelled at by my parents and they’ll just be like, ok you need to work harder, and I’ll be like, ok, and then I’ll work the same amount and the conference didn’t really change anything,” Colosky said.

Colosky dislikes the conferences because, “my grades are garbage and my dad yells at me,” Colosky said. But despite this fact her parents always insist on going to every conference every year.

For Norfolk conferences are a once a year habit while Colosky sees them as a four times a year detriment.

“I think conferences are valuable so that parents can get to know teachers and see student teacher relationships and how their student is doing,” Norfolk said.

This up and coming Wednesday February 7th parent teacher conferences will be held at Grand Junction High School for teachers and students to attend.

For every student, Parent Teacher Conferences are a different story. This Wednesday many students and parents will be elated while others might be quarrelling out the door. Norfolk and Colosky really show that even if they are friends grades, teachers and different parents can either make or break your conference experience.