This was officially my second observation with parent-teacher conference meetings, as I had previously observed parent-teacher conference meetings at with my last Practicum course with my previous mentor teacher. My mentor teacher had emailed parents of students who were at risk of failing or were currently failing, which was required by the school. Otherwise, parents of the students were emailed by the school to contact their student's teachers if interested in scheduling a meeting. I would say overall the parent-teacher conference I observed was somewhat uneventful, which I am sure many teachers prefer. I arrived Friday morning at 8 am and was there until a little after 10 am; within those two hours my mentor teacher and I had met with two parents. Now again, as I am sure you have now heard numerous times, my mentor teacher is doing a variation of a flipped classroom. At the beginning of this semester he had sent an email to parents explaining his new technique and implementation of teaching. However, he did re-explain the process of teaching to the parents within the meetings in which he: pre-records himself explaining/teaching a lesson through screencasting a PowerPoint, creates formative assessments, and uploads a unit at a time all onto Schoology. He emphasized two things: one, this is a self-paced teaching therefore students can move through a unit as quickly or slowly as they would like, and the overall success of this new teaching as students are learning not only new lessons at a high level and fast-paced manner but also learning new skills such as time management and planning. Now, at this point in the semester students had taken only two tests and were still learning this new format of teaching/learning.

       Student A is in the CP level of economics, and at the time of the meeting the student had a C in the class. The parent was concerned as their child (Student A) was receiving a C, but mentioned how they thought their child was really trying in the course. My mentor teacher emphasized that the student was certainly applying themselves, but was not necessarily grasping the new concepts. From what he had observed from watching the class and more specifically Student A, was that perhaps the student was rushing to get through the lessons (videos & assessments) instead of watching the videos, taking notes, and slowly completing the assessments. He suggested for future assessments and overall lessons that perhaps Student A should watch the lesson videos, perhaps even re-watch the videos, and take notes while listening to the lesson videos, to help improve comprehension and formative assessment grades.

    Student B is in the honors level of economics, and at the time of the meeting the student was currently moving between grades from a C to a B. This student had failed the first test (class average was 82.92%), and had doubled their score by the second test. The parent for Student B was concerned as they suggested their child is certainly smart as they are in multiple honors courses. To which my mentor teacher assured that Student B was in no danger of doing poorly within the class as there are going to be over 50 formative assessments to improve the overall grade, in addition to there being over 6 unit tests so no one singular test will largely and/or negatively affect a final grade. Additionally, my mentor teacher mentioned that the first test was difficult for many as they had never taken an economics test before and it also required a lot of math, while the second test revolved around less math and more terminology. Both parents left reassured and more knowledgeable about the class their student was taking and specifically more aware of how they were doing and how they could continue to improve. 

       Although I only observed two parent-teacher meetings, it was extremely interesting to see how my mentor teacher not only communicated with the parents in a calm and reassuring manner but also how he explained the success of the classroom and potential of the students. It was also interesting to hear about the two students unique backgrounds and their "majors" within the school, as I strongly believe every student learns differently due to the environment they are raised in. I learned both of these students certainly have their hands full as they spend a large amount of time both in and out of the school studying and practicing to enhance their skill in their specific art major. I believe my mentor teacher utilizes Schoology to its fullest potential, and consequently he spends a good amount of time educating others (students, parents, and even other teachers) how to properly and effectively use this modern site. One similar theme I noticed with both meetings, although the two students were in different levels of economics, was that he explained his teaching format of a variation of a flipped classroom and that he emphasized how parents can observe their own child's progress through Schoology. With Schoology and this format of teaching, parents can quite literally see if their child has completed each lesson, each assessment, and if they are on top or behind within a unit. I am certainly grateful for all that I have learned thus far from my mentor teacher with Schoology, and I look forward to utilizing it within my future classroom.