What could go right?

Parent teacher interviews tend to be a stressful time for teachers and parents. Both sides feel that they are being judged. One side for the quality of the teaching, one over the quality of their child rearing.

While preparing for my first interviews I was running through various scripts for ‘what could go wrong’, including such things as…

“My child says you treat him unfairly” or

“Why are the grades so low” or

(insert any other ‘blame the teacher’ comment here) haha.

After imagining several iterations of “what might go wrong’ role playing I realized that I had gotten caught in a negative mental spiral.

I decided instead to start inserting a ‘what could go right’ attitude instead.

I could meet some great new people.

I may hear some funny stories.

I might celebrate great class moments.

People want to be around these type people. Their positivity is infectious.

Once the initial risk mitigation is over, it is time to eliminate the fear, and transition to the ‘what could go right’ mindset. The future will likely be as you predict it either way.

• Now that’s a peak ethos.