I was reading Steve's blog this morning when he casually described school interviews being conducted on Zoom. Immediately I said WOW! What a great idea!
Now I was a teacher and we had parent teacher interviews regularly. Well, not in the very olden days. Interviews were a marathon. We went from 9 to 9. It was a long stressful day. You'd get home about 10:00 PM and be shaking.
I encouraged kids to attend interviews with their parents. Then the kid knew what both teacher and parent said. Sometimes a kid got beat up when there was just a parent. Sometimes there was an argument when the parent went home if the student didn't attend the interview. I wanted both parent and student to go way with a positive attitude.
Now I'm not sure how Steve's school did interviews but I can see some definite advantages. The logistics would be much easier. You wouldn't have parents racing to the school for interviews. Scheduling could be much easier. The parent could attend the interview from the office. Just think how this would help reduce greenhouse gas. The parent and student could be in their own home. Preparations could be made and students work and marks on display. This would be much quieter as there wouldn't be people running around the school. A parent with two students may have 10 in interviews to attend. Hey, even the teacher could be at home.
We keep wondering what changes covid might make to our society. This to me is a good change and I hope it continues after covid. Some technology is being developed and improved so that work can be done from home and in other off site places.
