Report Cards

It's that time of year... report cards.

November reporting is always a tough time for me and from what I can tell, for teachers in general. For me personally, I feel as though I'm still getting to know my students and having share the information I have gathered and put it in a child's file seems kind of daunting. The information that I have is always my opinion on how I see things. Another teacher who may see that same thing may interpret in another way. They may not even see the same things that I see. And this always stresses me out. Am I doing it right?

Teachers aren't really taught how to write a report card or make comments to parents during university courses. It's kind of a sink or float thing.

For anyone who doesn't actually know a teacher personally, I believe, doesn't actually understand what goes into making a report card. Words are carefully chosen as we would never want to come out and say things to upset a parent yet we want them to know the truth about their child's learning and behaviours . Hours are spent going over notes from conversations, observations and the products we collect to paint a complete picture of a child in as few words as we possibly can so as to not overwhelm parents. Giving each child a score out of 5, or a percentage becomes difficult. What do you really base this number on? An arbitrary ideal in your head? A mathematical formula?

For me, report cards are the hardest part of being a teacher. These reports cards are permanently with each child as they make their way through school and can be looked at when needed by future teachers. This is a lot of pressure for anyone. Is the information we are writing down accurate and written in a way that is not making things sound all good for a student who is really struggling?

If I could change one thing about teaching... no report cards! Just informal meetings with parents throughout the year as they are interested in how their child is learning at school.

I know this would never happen in the near future, but maybe one day.