After two very intense days of parent teacher conferences, a ritual which all teachers are forced to undergo to somehow prove their worth, it has occurred to me that parent teachers conferences are like speed dating, minus the alcohol. Let's do a comparison, shall we? PT conferences and speed dating both require one to dress up a little. If you dress down, you look like you don't care, but if you over dress, you're trying too hard. So you need the right amount of finesse in choosing your wardrobe. You want something that reads confidence but isn't too forceful. You don't want your outfit to be too over the top either, weird, or funky, or again, they might not take you seriously. Heels too high are not uncomfortable they can sometimes give the wrong message, in both cases.
Speed dating, you have a limited amount time, usually 12 - 15 minutes, to show your best qualities. You try to put on your best smile and say something meaningful about yourself that won't either offend the person sitting across from you or make them think you're a possible stalker or serial killer. Same goes with PT conferences. You have 12 - 15 minutes to show your best smile and prove your worth to the parents paying your salary. You want to show what you're doing in your classroom to help their child's development.
Speed dating also requires that you keep an open mind and the eye rolling to a minimum. When your date expresses that he wears his lucky underwear to basketball games, goes on and on about the last monster truck rally, you try to keep your expression even but pleasant. Same with PT conferences. You're trying to find a way to tell the parent sitting across from you what a total mess up their kid is without coming out and saying "what a total f*&% up your kid is", though tempted you are. When the little timer "dings" at the end of your 12 minutes, you quickly move on to the next one, just like in speed dating. Really, the only difference is, in speed dating, you're allowed to have a glass of wine or two to help you get through the night.
Not all speed dates are awful, though, I have yet to have a friend who has been to a successful one and actually met anyone they'd like to see more than 12 minutes. But I have had conferences that have been successful and actually been thanked for my hard work and dedication to my work, even though their kid was a total mess up. They even offered to buy me a drink at the end of the night.
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