Those Tricky Report Card Comments!
Posted by Sharon M. Tresino on 19 Jan 2010 | Posted in: Inspiration and Motivation, Planning and Curriculum, Teachers and Teaching
Recently I took my golden retriever, Max, to a new kennel while I was out of town. It advertised all the luxuries of home—soft bedding, TVs tuned to animal shows, playtime, and special treats for snacktime. Although it cost more than I wanted to spend, I decided Max deserved a little extra TLC since I was going to be enjoying a vacation. When I picked him up, the kennel staff presented me with a report card for Max. After oohing and aahing at the kennel’s creativity, I read over the report. Although it was obvious that all kennel guests get As, it varies as to whether it is an A, A+, or A–. To my horror, Max got an A–. The comments began by saying that Max is a friendly and social dog but then noted that he demands a lot of attention. (Well, of course he does! He’s the center of attention in my house, and I’m just fine with that!)
I left the kennel a bit upset, but it didn’t take long for me to think back to the report card comments I wrote for my students. I did the same thing that the kennel staff did—I began with positive comments followed by areas in which the students could improve. How could I possibly be upset with the kennel staff when they were following the same strategy that I used when teaching? Plus the comment about my attention-hungry pup would have been much harder to take had the kennel mentioned only that.
I know many of you have recently finished report cards or are in the midst of doing them. Best of luck as you work your magic with those comments! They really can be challenging to write. Max and I will be thinking of you!
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As both a parent and a teacher, I think about how comments on a report card can be read over, and over, and over. If there are issues that need to be addressed, I feel more comfortable talking with a parent on the phone or in person (which an email follow-up). Negative comments, (of comments that parents will perceive as negative), on a report card have the potential to lead to hard feelings. It’s a fine line, I know! My students are 10 years old…my report card comments won’t get admit, nor deny them admission to HArvard, but they can either inspire, or deflate my student’s feelings about school.
Report card comments are truly THE most difficult task for me as a teacher. To me, they are THE most important part of a report card though. In doing those comments I try to start positive, state the negatives as goals, add academic areas of strength as well as social skills. I feel we need to be as ‘gently’ honest as we can be. I have had many first grade teachers come back to me and thank me for being honest as now it is a log as to behavior and/or social problems and not a surprise to the parents. It is writing now and it cannot be denied by parents the following year.
In today’s society, children and adults are exposed to way too many judgements and criticisms (think about the reality tv programs out there, like, American Idol, America’s Got Talent, America’s Top Model, etc.) Our society has become a very critical place in which to live.
There’s nothing wrong with a little gentle criticism if the intent is to help improve the academics or behavior of the student being critiqued; however, I feel like we need to be careful not to become the next “Simon” in the educational environment. There are MANY things that should just be left unsaid. As an educator, I try to be mindful of whether or not my comments are really, truly necessary. I also need to keep in mind that many of these students will eventually become adults and go back and read their old report cards from their childhood (which is what this 40-something year old teacher did, recently).
This will be my first Parent/Teacher Conference and I am nervous!
I want to stress the positives and areas that they have grown. But I also want to politely stress the areas that need improvement as well as point out a couple of possible problem signs that I am seeing.
I know as a parent I want to know the pos/negs and I want the truth. I know my child isn’t perfect, but unfortunately in my class, I have one parent, that I know will not be pleased when I bring up the areas that need work. Hopefully when she sees her daughter’s work, she will see there are problems. Of course she will probably blame it on me.
Thanks,
I agonize over the reports as well. I read somewhere and have used it successfully in the conference that will undoubtedly follow, “Areas that Glow” and “Areas that Need to Grow.”
Reading this blog has let me know that I’m not alone with the difficulty of report-card comments! I always feel badly about having to report something negative, but I certainly try my best to add as many positive comments as possible.
It makes me feel better to know that I’m not alone. Thank you so much for this blog!
i too also start with lots of positives as i am writing about 3 to 4 year olds.i usually pose a negative by stating it as a goal for improvement and explain it in detail to the parents at the conference. works for me…
I also have a hard time being honest, but I try to “sandwich” my negative comment in the middle of 2 positive ones. This way, I hope the parents realize we ARE NOT PERFECT, and we all could use some improvement.
Oh, those comments. I try my best to make them as informative and positive as possible. I do feel that sometimes I have not been as “honest” as I should have been but the flip side of that is that when I see the kid six or seven years later, she/he is doing just fine.
Spirits are so easily crushed just by daily life and I don’t want to add to that burden. Good luck to all - may you be blessed with the wisdom of Solomon!