Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for March 10, 2009 S.O.B. II

The jury is still out on the "Sweet Ol' Boss"...

I had the opportunity to talk to someone who listened to the WKRO program yesterday...who actually taped part of the program. That person was unable to confirm or deny the "bashing" part. Hence, the jury is still out...

Some good news!

Thanks to the aforementioned "source", CAT Tracks is able to provide its loyal readers (especially CSD #1 teachers) with the list of questions which Cairo Superintendent of Schools Leotis D. Swopes gave to his parent listeners to ask of their child's teachers at the next Parent-Teacher Conference (dubbed "Dream Conference") to be held on March 19th.

Superintendent Swopes prefaced his remarks by stating that his intent was "not to put teachers on the spot." Rather, the questions that he encouraged parents to ask were designed to find out "Who is that teacher sitting behind that desk?"

Superintendent Swopes asked parents to do two things:

1. Tell the teacher in no uncertain terms the dreams you have for your child...your future-focus image for your child.

2. Then, ask three to five questions (no more than five) to find out who that teacher is behind the desk. Superintendent Swopes acknowledged that parents might not know what to ask and so he said "Well, I'm glad you asked" and proceeded to provide five examples (careful, one of them is a two-parter!):
   • What makes you most happy about teaching?

   • (Following is the "two-parter":)

     a. How do you feel when a student fails?
     b. What would you do if a student failed?

   • If your teacher could be anyone other than him- or herself, who would they like to be? (CAT Editor's Note: I have to admit, I'm torn and glad I've got another week to decide. Brad Pitt or Bill Gates?)

   • How can my child improve his/her grades?

   • What dreams do you have for my child?

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