Just a sigh of relief that I survived my first conseil de classe tonight. I over-prepared because I was really nervous, but it went very well. What is a conseil de classe, you ask? Well, we don't do those at my school in the US so I had no idea what to expect before going to it.
A conseil de classe is a meeting where the all of the teachers of a class meet to discuss the class as a whole and then to discuss each individual student and to make recommendations about their work and behavior. Two student delegates attend and present their impressions of their class and state concerns about their courses. Two parent delegates attend and present concerns from the parents.
Tonight's meeting was about my students in troisième trois, which is the equivalent of ninth grade. These are the oldest students that I teach this year, and they are a pretty good class even if they do drive me nuts with their chatting.
The student delegates had two complaints about my English class. They said that I don't write on the board enough and that they thought that their participation grades were too low. I was able to answer both criticisms well, I think, and we moved along. Whew! One down, five to go!
There was a "parent pénible" in my second conseil de classe so I left feeling worn out by her helpful suggestions. The assistant principal spoke to me afterwards, though, and told me to ignore all of them. She said that I am the teaching professional and that I get to decide how to teach, not the parents.
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