The Senior Leadership Team, SLT, (basically the administration) has been making a big deal about this Academic Review Day business.

Basically, no classes are being held today. Students are scheduled to a fifteen-minute appointment with their Personalized Learning Tutor, and that's the only time they have to be at school today. For the appointment, students are to arrive in full uniform with their parents/caregivers to discuss their grades, behavior, goals, and overall progress in school.

Almost every teacher has a Personalized Learning Tutor Group (PL Group), and they have to "interview" every student in their group. I temporarily had a PL Group when another teacher was out due to surgury. Now, thank God she's back, I won't have to meet with anyone. This will be an easy day!

I, along with two young girls who are brand new teacher's aids, are assigned to the waiting room for the math department. (Actually, it's just a regular classroom that they converted to a waiting area.) We are supposed to make sure parents complete the official parent survey, which was mailed to their home about a week ago. It's like a ten-page booklet! They were asked to fill it out and bring it in.

As parents arrive, they look timidly into the waiting area, like they aren't sure if they're in the right place or not. The two TA's just stand there, staring at the parents. The parents stand in the doorway, looking around. Finally, I speak up, "Hey, come on in. This is the waiting area. Do you have your survey?"

They look confused. "No."

Good thing I have extras. "Here just fill this out while you're waiting and your tutor will be in to collect you shortly."

Almost the entire day, the TA's are completely useless, standing there, smiling, while confused parents show up at the door of the waiting room. I keep giving the same introduction, trying to make them feel at ease. "Hey there! Come on in! This is the waiting area."

When they leave, I ask for them to return the pen/pencil that they borrowed, take their surveys, and thank them for coming. At one point, I say to the TA's, "I feel like a greeter at Walmart."

"What?" they ask.

I realize they probably don't know what Walmart is.

Most of the day, I just read my Obama book.

The appointments run behind, of course, and the waiting area gets more and more crowded. Some parents are getting irritated. Fifteen minutes is barely enough time for a parent-teacher conference, which is basically what this is.

Lunch break! The cafeteria provides free food for the teachers, yay! I sit with Josh and Mercedes, fellow science teachers. I haven't seen them all day. "What have you been up to?" they ask.

"I've been over in maths collecting surveys."

"Oh, Mr. Manir has been looking for you," they say.

"Really? What for?"

"I don't know," they laugh.

Whatever. I shrug. Josh and Mercedes have to leave to do more interviews, but I take my time eating. I'm not going to rush if I don't have to.

As I walk back to the maths waiting area, I pass through my classroom, which is where a couple of the PL Tutors are interviewing students. I see one of my Year 11 girls, Mobeen, slouched in her chair, chewing gum, her mother sitting beside her, while her tutor asks, "What's the problem in science class?"

"I don't have a problem in science class," she responds, rolling her eyes.

Bullshit! I think.

"Your science teacher has marked the box stating that she has a concern with your behavior and motivation."

"Everyone in my science class acts like that," was her defense.

True. That class is terrible. Hearing her say it like that, though, tells me that she knows they're being bad. She knows better; she can behave better.

Her tutor looks at her, not really knowing what to say. I'm out of the room before I can hear his next comment. I want to stop and have a chat with Mobeen and her mother and explain exactly how she's treated me, but I know I'm not allowed to interrupt the interview.

My Opinion of Academic Review Day

WASTE OF TIME! Many of the tutors don't even have the kids in class, so how do they even know what to discuss with the parent? We, the teachers, were given a spreadsheet on the computer where we could mark boxes for our concerns, but...that's not specific enough. Any student, like Mobeen, could just argue that it's not true, they aren't doing anything wrong. But if I confronted Mobeen with hard facts, specific examples of her behavior, she couldn't argue with it. And her mother would be apalled.

Overall, I'm pretty sure nothing is getting resolved today, because the kids aren't even meeting with their teachers. Imagine having parent-teacher conferences where the parents don't meet with their teachers! The entire day is a COMPLETE waste of time.

This education system is so stupid.

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