Parent-Teacher Conferences

So with the first term complete and report cards ready to go, it was time for parent-teacher conferences here at Bakhita.  Once again I went into to an unknown situation completely unprepared and unaware of what was going to happen or what was expected of me. As luck would have everything went really well.  I still fully anticipate that my lack of training and insufficient preparation will eventually blow up in my face, but until then I'll just keep going with what works.  I've never actually been to a parent-teacher meeting, but my guess is these were typically.  "She's doing a good job.  She could try harder on homework.  She should pay attention in class.  She needs to tell me if she can't understand a single word that I say."  I was put in the same room with Mr. Osman, the other Science teacher, just in case the parent couldn't speak English and I needed a translator...I did.  Those turned out to be the easiest meetings.  I just said something like "Check that she is doing her homework" and then Mr. Osman would translate sometimes taking a few more minutes than a single sentence translation should.  I think he was eleborating just a little.  Anyways, not very many parents actually showed up.  Mostly they were parents of the students doing really well.  One woman showed up for three students with different last names so I thought she might be a relative, which is common, but it turns out she was helping at the orphanage where they live.  I was a little nervous about meeting an upset parent going into a tyrade in Chichewa about how I was failing his daughter but it never happened.  My goal for the next parent meeting is to actually be able to put the student's names with the faces.  They all still sort of blur together.