A few years ago our school did away with team-based study halls. There are a lot of pros and cons to that decision, but one benefit was more unencumbered teacher time after school. In order to encourage students to seek help voluntarily, the teachers on my team instituted "office hours", scheduling a 30 minute time once a week when we would be in our room for drop ins.
That information goes home in our weekly newsletter, but to be honest, not many kids take advantage of the opportunity. Earlier this week, I received an email from a parent who wondered if office hours were only for students, or if she might stop by, too. I had never considered such an option, but I couldn't really think of any reason why not, and so I said sure.
It was an interesting half hour: I answered several questions about some of the technology and my objectives for certain activities and assignments. She was very nice, just genuinely curious and confused by some things. At the end of the meeting, she thanked me for my time, and I was happy to help, because I understood we had a common objective.
The beginning of the year is crazy, and it is tempting to push things like that back. But honestly? I am busy from September to June, and any time spent filling in the gaps for any stakeholders-- students, parents, colleagues, community-- who are interested, is well-spent indeed.
That information goes home in our weekly newsletter, but to be honest, not many kids take advantage of the opportunity. Earlier this week, I received an email from a parent who wondered if office hours were only for students, or if she might stop by, too. I had never considered such an option, but I couldn't really think of any reason why not, and so I said sure.
It was an interesting half hour: I answered several questions about some of the technology and my objectives for certain activities and assignments. She was very nice, just genuinely curious and confused by some things. At the end of the meeting, she thanked me for my time, and I was happy to help, because I understood we had a common objective.
The beginning of the year is crazy, and it is tempting to push things like that back. But honestly? I am busy from September to June, and any time spent filling in the gaps for any stakeholders-- students, parents, colleagues, community-- who are interested, is well-spent indeed.
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