The only thing I have a difficult time with in teaching is dealing with parents.

I'm gun shy.

I've kept up communication so well at times, that I fully expected to have peaceful parent/teacher conferences -- only to be blind-sided.  It's a virtual slap in the face, kick in the shins, black eye.  Sometimes I feel like the wind got knocked out of me when they socked me in the gut.

And it truly hurts to have that happen. I try very hard to work with my students on their individual learning styles and personalities.  At the same time, I hold the "expectations bar" high.  It takes a while for some students, but at my level (upper elementary) it's rare to have a student who doesn't rise up to reach that high level of expectation.  I keep parents "in the loop," and they have access to all the grades throughout the quarter.  For some, that simply is not enough.

This year, I seem to have supportive parents. Even though some of the students had a less-than-stellar report card, their parents did not come in to my room armed with ammunition to shoot me down.

It's a first.  Yes, it's the first year I haven't had aggressive parents storm into my room.

I do have three more P/T conferences after school today. If I post a blog entitled "I take it back" tomorrow, you'll know that this was not as peaceful as I had hoped.