Today is the midpoint in the long anticipated week that includes report cards, a visiting team observing and writing a report recommending a term of accreditation, and spring student led conferences.
Report cards were originally slated to be sent home today, but due to the other two factors, they will be sent home on Monday. They are on their third draft, sent out as PDFs for the teachers to read through and make edits. They are finally ready to be stored and printed as soon as everyone re-reads them and makes final edits. I caught a missing conjunction in ALL of my science comments tonight, so the third edit was certainly worth my while.
The accreditation visiting committee came virtually this go round, literally touring the school and meeting with different groups via Zoom, as thumbnail videos on screens carried around on laptops by the school's administration. The visitors were a part of our building Monday through Wednesday, and met with the entire school staff Tuesday afternoon and again today. They made a beautiful slide presentation of their visit to begin today's meeting. They had taken screen shots of many of their interactions and set the photos to a song for our opening prayer. It brought tears to my eyes. All of the amazing things we do at my school were seen and praised. The process validated my decision to endure the commute and come back to the building with the best principal I have ever had the privilege of calling my boss.
Conferences begin tomorrow. Students spent some of this week preparing to lead their conferences by filling in a slide show I created for them. Those who take the process seriously will have thoroughly reflected on their first two trimesters and set goals for the final third of their fourth grade school year. They will be ready to present this information to me and their parents over the next two days. For some students the conference will be an opportunity for me and their parents to ask questions and explore these ideas to help them reflect and set goals.
Halfway through the week, I am exhausted. But it's a good kind of tired. I really liked visiting with the accreditation team and reaffirming all the good work that happens at my school. It's nice to have a format that requires me to remember why I do what I do. The prayer from today's meeting reverberated with the idea that teaching in a Catholic school is not a job, it's a ministry.
The next two days will be tiring in their own right. I won't have to commute to the school building; since we still can't allow parents into the building spring conferences will be held via Zoom. I'll be holding them from the home set up in my bedroom that came into being during remote teaching.
It's a good thing I love this kind of thing. Reflection and growth are the goals of all three of the processes at work this week. The school will become a better version of itself as a result of accreditation. My students will become better versions of themselves as a result of conferencing. I will become a better version of my teacher self through writing report cards and reflecting on student growth from the start of the year. I have always loved knowing and feeling growth is happening in my life. This is an exhausting week, but a good one. It's also a good thing that the sun is making an appearance more and more often these days.
