Another Open House

Tonight was Open House. I love meeting parents and talking about the classes, so Open House is actually an activity I enjoy. This year we moved from seven-minute class sessions to 10-minute sessions, and I noticed the change because my usual speech lasted just seven minutes.

Before the Open House began, the four of us who teach the sections of Freshman Honors English held a meeting for parents in that class. The purpose was to inform parents of the sequence of classes in honors, the curriculum we teach and how to help their children to have balance and manage time. I spoke about the literature we teach and the amount of reading we have. During the part about the writing we do, one parent spoke up and questioned why we prohibit the use of the verb “to be.” My colleague explained very well, but this parent would not let the issue go. I thought she was inappropriate to do so in the large group. Her husband brought the issue up again during my class session because their son is in my class. I explained that it was just one activity we use to force students to write in different ways, such as using third person or present tense. I found out later that the mom had brought the issue up before with my colleague, so it’s been a back-and-forth discussion for a while.

Overall, my classes went well, and I had a pretty good turnout — parents of honors students and parents of journalism students — usually show up. I believe that Open House should be something we discuss as a staff because perhaps we can find a way to spend our time that is better for parents and students and staff. For example, we could add more time to our conference schedule. That might lead to some increase in learning and achievement.

-- Wenatchee, Wash.