Last night was meet the teacher night at the high school.  It was a surreal experience.  A bunch of parents, with kids schedules in hand, navigating the hallways of the school, trying to find their child's class.   A lot of parents went to this high school so they knew exactly where they were going. I have never been past the cafeteria and the auditorium so I was lost.  Map in hand, I followed my son's schedule.  I was only late to one class - even though I was booking through the halls. 

This kind of high school is a new experience for me.  I went to boarding school.  We didn't have a big maze of hallways with a zillion kids racing through trying to get to the next class. We had a few classes in each building and 80 kids in my graduating class.  That was 25 years ago. A lot has changed in 25 years.  I was amazed to watch and learn about the technology that has taken over our classrooms.  Most of the instruction is done on a "smart" board - basically a giant computer screen at the front of the classroom. Kids are required to have a computer at home and an email address.  Some of the teachers have facebook pages where the assignments are posted, most of the homework is done on the computer. 

I liked most of my sons teachers.  All but one were fairly young - having been teaching 10 years at most.  They were all energetic - maybe that was just a show for the parents - but they seemed happy to be there.  Some of the classes made me wish I could go back to High School - there are some classes I would love to take. 

The turn out at Meet the Teacher wasn't good.  On average about 50% of the parents showed up for most of the classes.  In first period there were only 6 parents.  By ninth there were 15 out of 27.  I don't understand not wanting to go see where your kids are spending 7 hours of their day 5 day a week.  Did I feel like heading out last night after a long day? No, but that doesn't matter.  It's important that we support our kids - even in high school - and know what is going on in their life and in the classroom.  So I went back to High School last night and survived.  I am happy I know who my son is spending his days with.  I am glad it's not me going off to school.