Teacher 0:02
Good morning, Mr. Bennett, or Mr. Reed. I’m Teacher. I’m so happy that you could come in to talk with me today…
Parent 0:09
Of course.
Teacher 0:10
…about Katie. So I wanted to start off by saying that I’m so happy that Katie’s in my class this here. She’s a wonderful student, and she’s performing on grade level for reading and on grade level for most of her other subjects as well, so…
Parent 0:24
Great.
Teacher 0:24
…she’s doing really well academically. I do have a couple of concerns about Katie’s social interactions in my classroom.
Parent 0:34
Oh, she alright?
Teacher 0:35
She’s a little bit reserved. She doesn’t really want to participate in whole group discussions. She doesn’t really interact with the other children, and they’ve stopped kind of trying to interact with her because she’s so quiet. So I was wondering if you’d seen any kind of this behavior at home?
Parent 0:54
Oh, wow. No, actually, this is kind of a surprise. I’ll be honest.
Teacher 1:01
Yeah. So she, she, is she, what is she like at home? Just kind of give me a perspective?
Well, I mean, my wife and I, you know, we have dinner with her every night after, you know, we’re done working, and she’s done with school, and she talks about the book she’s reading, and we share ideas and talk about our day. So that’s never
—yeah, that’s never been a problem.
It’s never been a problem, okay.
Parent 1:25
No.
Teacher 1:26
Does Katie have a lot of friends that she hangs out with outside of school, like on the weekends and things?
Um, well you know, she goes to Girl Scouts, and Sunday school on the weekends. So, you know, she has kids there that she’s friends with, I think.
(inaudible) she interacts with?
Parent 1:45
Yeah.
Teacher 1:46
Okay.
Parent 1:48
Huh.
Teacher 1:48
I’m, what I’m hearing is that so a lot of the conversations I guess you’re having with Katie are about books, and I’ve noticed that Katie really loves books and my classroom
—
Parent 1:57
She does. Mm hmm.
Teacher 1:58
Which is great. I’m so excited that she, you know, is excited about reading. So do you think that maybe bringing reading into conversations with other peers in her
—in my classroom might be a good way to get Katie interested in talking with them?
Parent 2:11
Possibly, yeah, ’cause, I mean, this doesn’t sound like Katie at all. So what’s probably something you’re doing or?
Teacher 2:22
Okay, I, I’m, you know, I’m welcome to that feedback. Um, so has Katie mentioned anything about my classroom that you think might be something that’s bothering her that I can work on or?
Parent 2:33
No, I’ve not. Honestly, I’ve not heard a thing, which is why this is sort of…
Teacher 2:39
—kind of surprising. Yeah. So I want you to know that I’m super invested in making sure Katie has the best experience she can in my classroom. So here are some things that I’m thinking that maybe we could try. First trying that thing with, with using books as kind of a passageway into conversation with her friends and peers in the classroom. Maybe, what do you think about trying to find one one person in the classroom that she’s most comfortable with and using that as a starting point?
Parent 3:11
Yeah.
Teacher 3:12
Okay. So in
—
Parent 3:15
Well, wait. Experience makes a difference, and all her other teachers had so much more experience than you do.
Teacher 3:22
Right. I, that’s a valid point. I am, you know, a pretty young and new teacher. But I want you to know that, you know, I’ve had just as much training as all the other teachers at this school and, you know, I’m, I’m prepared to help Katie as much as I can. So I don’t want you to worry that, you know, I’m underprepared, or I’m not going to service Katie as well as some of the other teachers. I’m so invested in making sure she has a really good experience this year. So I just, you know, I wanted to have this conversation with you and kind of find out maybe some suggestions that you have…
Parent 3:54
Yeah.
Teacher 3:54
…work well, with Katie.
Parent 3:55
Last year’s teacher had Katie and some other students, you know, involved in a book club, and that, that went really, really well.
Teacher 4:06
So she was really invested in that? That was something…
Parent 4:08
Oh, yeah.
Teacher 4:08
…she really enjoyed?
Parent 4:10
Without a doubt.
Teacher 4:11
So what are some things that they did in that book club? If you don’t mind me asking, so maybe I could—
Parent 4:14
I think it was, you know, just really getting together, deciding on the kind of content they were using, and they’d get together and talk about, you know, one chapter at a time kind of your standard issue book club.
Teacher 4:27
Perfect. Okay
Parent 4:28
Because I am, you know, worried about what this means for Katie. So…
Teacher 4:32
Yeah, I agree. I’m, I’m worried about her too, which is why I’m glad we’re having this conversation. So definitely try you know, instituting a book club in our classrooms so that maybe Katie can connect with the other students on that level.
Parent 4:45
That sounds great.
Teacher 4:47
And, you know, finding her that peer that she likes to work with and incorporating books more into the classroom. Um, I also noticed that she’s kind of quiet when we try and do whole group discussion. So is Katie someone that you typically it, does she enjoy being in large groups? Or is she kind of more reserved in that respect?
Parent 5:07
I’ve never, the, the reserved thing is, this is a new thing I’ve not, I’ve not—
Teacher 5:14
So she’s pretty outgoing normally?
Parent 5:16
I mean, I’ve never noticed anything like this before, and maybe it’s me. You know? I mean, there’s been a weight on my shoulders. So…
Teacher 5:28
No I, I don’t believe that it’s anything that you’re doing to Katie. Sometimes these things just happen. And it’s not, I mean, it’s not your fault. So we’re just going to work together to try and help Katie as best as we can. And I’m glad that you’re taking the time to work with me on that. So maybe for Katie and, you know, trying to help her with the whole group discussion, um, I don’t I don’t want to cold call her and make—
Parent 5:56
Well of course not. No, no.
Teacher 5:58
So maybe choosing specifically like topics that I know that she’s interested in?
Parent 6:03
Yeah. I mean, there are challenges at work, and, um, yeah. I don’t know.
Teacher 6:11
Yeah, definitely sometimes we all get busy sometimes, and it’s not—I mean, these things I’m noticing with Katie are not definitely not your fault. So. And, you know, they’re things that maybe there’s something in the classroom that’s going on. She hasn’t mentioned anything to you about student bullying, the other students being mean to her, anything?
Parent 6:31
Oh, definitely not. I would definitely. Oh, sorry. I would definitely remember that, and I’ve heard nothing of that, of that nature.
Teacher 6:42
All right, well, we’ll just keep that in the back of our head. If you notice anything or hear anything, please let me know. Um, but thank you so much for meeting with me today. And I think we’ve come up with a couple of good suggestions on things that I can do in the classroom to maybe help Katie a little bit, so thanks (inaudible).
Parent 6:56
Thank you. Appreciate it.
Speaker 7:02
All right, end simulation.