Kaylee Jaymie Halstead

Parent Teacher Conference

Jay pov
I had been my his fair share of parent-teacher conferences. I wasn't new to this but with Kaylee? They always felt different. Brandon's was always a breeze. I was never reluctant to meet with Brandon's teachers but with Kaylee it was a constant reminder of where I was going wrong. A constant reminder of how different she was from the other kids. She wasn't a bad kid. She was smart, funny and had a heart of gold but she was also cheeky, hyperactive, and well a bit of a handful.

I had dropped Kaylee to Kelly's and we made our way to the school.
Jay: im dreading this
Hailey: well she's you're double
Jay: haha
We arrived at school and we walked through the school hallway passing groups of other parents waiting for their turn
Jay: she's not in trouble right?
Hailey: it's a parent-teacher conference not an interrogation.
Jay: You say that now but last time her art teacher told me she spent half the lesson drawing mustaches on the Mona Lisa
Hailey: creative
I rolled my eyes but i couldn't help but grin. Yeah that sounded like my kid. As we reached the designated meeting room I exhaled bracing myself. Time to hear what kind of chaos Kaylee had been up to this time.

Miss Walker – Homeroom
Miss Walker: Mr Halstead, Miss Upton
She gestured for us to sit across from her at the desk, a thick folder in front of her. We sat down
Jay: Let me guess, Kaylee's been a delight
Miss Walker let out a small chuckle.
Miss Walker : Kaylee is—well, she's a character that's for sure
Jay: urgh That bad?
Miss Walker : No, not at all. She's lively. She keeps the class entertained but she struggles to stay focused. She fidgets a lot, gets easily distracted and sometimes interrupts without realizing it.
Jay: Sounds about right
Miss Walker: She's got a great personality and she's well-liked by her classmates but I've noticed she zones out a lot. It's like one second, she's fully engaged and the next she's in her own little world
I exchanged a look with Hailey. They both knew what this was leading to
Hailey: We've spoken to Dr. Charles. He thinks ADHD is a strong possibility but he needs school feedback
Miss Walker: That would make sense. A lot of her struggles line up with that.
She flipped through the folder then slid a sheet of paper toward them.
Miss Walker: I've noted some patterns. Difficulty staying on task needing multiple reminders, struggling with transitions between activities...
Jay: Alright. Let's hear it

Mr French – English
Mr French: Kaylee is bright. She's got a natural way with words. Her ideas are creative and when she's engaged she produces some fantastic work.
Jay: That sounds promising
Mr French: It would be, if she ever actually finished an assignment
Jay: of course
Hailey: Is it just distractions or is she struggling with the work itself?
Mr French: A bit of both. She starts strong but her attention drifts. I'll find her doodling in the margins of her paper or suddenly asking a completely unrelated question in the middle of a task.
Jay: Like what?
I already knowing the answer was going to be ridiculous.
Mr French: Last week we were discussing essay structure. Kaylee raised her hand and asked, 'If you had to fight one historical figure in a boxing match, who would it be?'
Jay: Jesus Christ
Mr French: I don't think she's intentionally disruptive. She's just struggling to keep her thoughts on track
Jay: Yeah. We'll work on that.
Hailey: how's her reading? I know she's been struggling
Mr French: well she was performing at a 5th grade level. Throughout the year we've managed to get her to a 7th grade level
Hailey: but she's still behind
Mr French: and she probably always will be but it's taken a lot from Kaylee to even get to this stage. Her reading is a lot better but she's still struggling. Archie's gonna keep working with her. The fact she's gone up 2 grade levels is amazing

Mrs Boden – Maths
Jay: Donna nice to see you
Donna: hi Jay, Hailey
Hailey: how much trouble is she?
Donna: She's cheeky.
Jay: Oh no
Donna: Don't get me wrong, kaylees got potential. When she applies herself, she picks things up quickly. But she rushes through problems, makes careless mistakes and gets frustrated when she doesn't understand something immediately
Hailey: That sounds like Kaylee
Donna: I've noticed she gets overwhelmed when faced with multi-step problems and when that happens, she either shuts down or gets creative
Jay: Creative how?
Donna: She wrote 'math is a social construct' instead of answering a question last week
Jay: Of course she did
Donna: She needs more support in structuring her work and possibly a quieter workspace as she gets very distracted by her peers. Archie tries to keep her on track but theres only so much that he can do
Jay: got it