4 Great Recommendations for Parent-Teacher Conferences

If you have not had your parent/teacher conferences already, you will be having them soon. Most schools tend to have them in October or November. It is an interesting time for a teacher, meeting with the parents of your students. There are usually a few eye-opening moments when talking to parents for the first time. A few minutes of their time will leave the teacher quickly realizing why their kid is the way they are, for better or worse.

Veteran teachers will often impart their wisdom around this time of year to the newer ones. The older educators will state for everyone to hear that these conferences are not what they used to be. Instead of parents asking advice from the teacher on how they can help their struggling child at home, parents now often enter the conference wondering what the teacher is doing wrong with their lovely child. This time of year is quite stressful for teachers who do not like confrontation. Below is a list of recommendations for the parents and the teacher, and hopefully you can gain some knowledge about the whole process of a successful conference.

1. Be on Time
I think I speak for all teachers when I say that completing a schedule for conferences is extremely difficult to do. A note is sent home with the child asking for a specific block of time that will best suit that parent. We try our best to coordinate this master schedule of 25 conferences that have to happen in a span of approximately eight hours. When a teacher sends home the note for the parent stating that the 15 minute conference will be held at this certain time, it is up to the parent and the educator to be on time.

What can possibly go wrong with this system? Once in awhile the parent shows up late, meaning that if the teacher does not plan well on the fly, all the rest of the conferences after will be late as well. More often than not, though, the schedule for the conferences is thrown off either because the teacher likes to talk or the parent loves to chat about their kid. Do everyone a favor and set a timer for 13 minutes as soon as the conference starts. This can be done as a parent or a teacher, and then once the timer sounds off, you will have two minutes to wrap it all up.

2. Dress Appropriately
Meeting with a parent or a teacher for the first time to discuss a student should be considered a professional meeting. If one of the parties is dressed like they just finished up working in the yard five minutes before, then obviously the other person will think that the meeting does not mean that much to them. This does not mean you have to wear a suit or unpack your prom dress from storage, but looking professional goes a long way.

3. Have Notes Handy
Conferences usually happen around this time of year because the first report card has basically just been sent home. As a parent, make a copy of the report card and bring it into the conference. Report cards are not only about grades, but often behavior as well. Behavior is just as important as grades. This is the moment to raise any concerns that you have to the teacher in person, not through 2am emails or postings on social media. Listen to what the educator has to say. Teachers do not enjoy telling parents that their child is misbehaving or struggling because they are goofing off in class, so when a teacher says this, take it to heart. Do not respond with excuses for your child’s behavior. There are too many excuses in this world already.

As a teacher, in front of you on your desk should be notes about the student you are meeting about. You should also have a copy of the report card as well. It can be frustrating for a parent to ask about a low grade and not having the teacher inform them on how it became so low. However, if the child is taking home everything that has been graded, the parent should already know. But there is a funny thing that happens to quizzes and tests when they have a D or an F on it. Somehow they magically disappear from the students’ bookbag on the way home and the parents never see it. It wouldn’t be a bad idea early on to make copies of these tests and quizzes for the parent/teacher conference. In addition, even if you dread confrontation, now is the time to make the parents aware of any issues you are having with their child. If you don’t, and the child’s behavior worsens, you only have yourself to blame for you did not bring it up during conference time.

4. Follow Through on What Was Discussed in the Conference
As a teacher with over a decade of experience, nothing can be quite as disheartening as discussing a plan with parents to help their own child, and then having the parents not follow through one bit. If a teacher asks a parent to help the student every night with their homework, and the parent never does, is it the child’s or the parent’s fault? With that same thing in mind, if a parent asks for extra math sheets to be sent home for practice, but the teacher does not send them, then it leaves the parent thinking that the educator does not have their child’s best interests in mind. Whether a parent or a teacher, it is important to stay true to your word, especially when a child’s future is at hand.

Written by Ryan Crawley

Contact us today to learn more about how our tutors can help your child!

Learn More!