It should be expected for 2020: even parent-teacher conferences are scheduled as a Zoom meeting this fall.
At first, I was somewhat disappointed about that. But after doing four of them this afternoon, I find only positive things happened:
- No weather exposure. It’s a cold and dreary day here in southern Vermont—but I didn’t have to deal with it!
- No running around. There are three minutes between conferences. All I had to do was find the next zoom meeting and enter in. I am usually scampering back and forth between classrooms, often rather lost and sometimes late to the next meeting.
- No lost time away from my office. Really, we live only a twelve-minute drive from the school. But add in the time to get the dogs in the car (because the dogs always “go for a ride” if I am leaving and the weather is not too hot)… add in a few minutes to park and walk into the school… add in the drive home… I gained back about an hour.
The best part of the conferences was being reminded of what my daughter (and many people in offices worldwide) are doing when they have to spend so much time in video learning. For my own work, I was on Zoom calls twice today. I appreciate being able to meet with people in Indonesia, Chile, Wisconsin and central Vermont—it’s a superb technology. But at the end of the day, I, too, am tired of staring at this computer screen!
Silver linings of compassion, time gained and keeping dry? That’s a good day!
