Re:Port-All Cards; Re:Mark-able Progress...Making, Marking the Grade(s)

Intro-duction(s): Yes, plural...let me explain in 'plain English' (as opposed to what is sometimes presented these days on "student progress reports" which usually proceed the more formal, re-markable "Report Cards", which frequently need an accompanying 'legend' to explain, like we used to see on maps before Alexa told us where to go...). Plural because of the importance of making intro-ductions themselves, which hopefully occur early in the year, after the teacher and students have begun to familiarize themselves with each other. There's a lot here to report on so I'll divide it into a few parts, kinda' like the earlier easy-to-read and understand progress reports, report cards were ("tri-folds"😊-- that is, before lawyers, HR departments, and Ph.D.'s in curriculum got together and formed a loose alliance, eventuating in what parents and teachers are now trying to decipher😕 (which in turn has given the foregoing three groups a measure of job security, LOL)...And finally, hyphenated because of two reasons in and of themselves: 1) We these days tend to use the word "intro" just about as often as the longer version, exemplary of the types of truncations, abbreviations that crept into our daily discourse way before "Discourse" was a thing; and 2) to bring your attention to the word "duction" which is not a reference to getting you duct work cleaned nor buying yet another roll of...but instead to the oft overlooked, underappreciated version "the act of leading, bringing, or conducting..." (as in "Conducting a conference; do not disturb?"). Starting, leading a discussion about the student in question(?). Or simply introducing yourself as the teacher/parent on "Back to school night" which, in my experience and humble estimation, is a re-markable topic in and of itself. That is, even today, when I get asked "Where is there a good school around here?" I readily reply, "Drive by schools on back-to-school night and count the cars in the parking lot, as a reflection on parental involvement; even though teachers find some parents a bit of a nuisance at times, they collectively agree they can't do it alone...that parent:student and parnet:teacher ratios, relationships, parallel the importance of the oft cited student:teacher ratio as a mark of a good school, a child's eventual educational, even occupational attainment. So, there you have it: an Intro into this whole topic on what, how, and when students are evaluated; where, how, they are marked; and where, when, and how parents receive such marks of progress. Besides, reporting on student progress, at least in the form of a formal report card, can't meaningfully take place prior to parents and teachers meeting, introducing themselves, right? If you as a parent, prior to back-to-school night have already heard from "Junior's" teacher, that's probably, pretty...re-markable😟

Next: Getting Carded, Reported...