Daily Feedback 2016
One of the things I find special about our school is that parents are given feedback about their child during pick-up. It’s like a parent/teacher conference every day! At dismissal, we have everyone who is picking up our students line up outside in the hallway. When class is over, the teacher comes out in the hallway, sees who is in line first, and then calls for the child to come to the door. At this time, the teacher will usually provide some feedback about how the day went. Sometimes the feedback is positive, like “Johnny had a super day today!” Sometimes it may be physically related, like “Johnny seemed really tired and he was coughing a lot.” It may be about some specific behavior we are working on with the child, like “Johnny worked really hard not to touch (hit, punch, kick, karate chop, etc.) his preschool pals today, but we did have to move his card to yellow, because he whacked Joey over the head with a block.” We hope that this specific feedback will help you in a constructive way as we work together to guide and instruct these little minds.
If we perceive we need to talk to you about a serious, or a potential embarrassing situation, we will do our best to ask you to wait until the other students have left before talking to you, but please keep in mind, that something you may think is serious, we may not view in the same way. Please give our teachers the benefit of the doubt, that we are on your side, and want the best for your children, and don’t want to embarrass anyone! A lot of times I like to have the student there, so they are involved in the conversation about how their day went. This tends to be a very productive way of teaching behavior modification, plus, it’s great to hear if you had wonderful behavior!
Also, as I (Sandy) try my best to keep my voice low, I have a loud voice that carries. It carries a lot, and I have been told you can hear it clearly throughout the building. I’ve taught preschool for since 1997 and the loud voice is a blessing when instructing in the classroom. Plus, I can’t hear very well anymore, again which tends to my loudness! (If you see me around town, and say hi, but I do not respond, please don’t be offended, because I probably couldn’t hear you!) So, yes, there is a good chance that anything I say to you in the hallway could be overheard by others.
While I personally think the feedback is helpful, and constructive, you may not. I also find that our preschool families are so supportive, that they are not going to judge you by what is said. We have all been there. Our children have had super days, and not such great days. However, please let us know if you do not want us to give you feedback after dismissal. Really, let us know, we can’t read your mind! We really try our best to support our parents and families in the best way we know how, and we need to know what fits best with you.