Time for Parent-Teacher Conferences

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Nov 1, 2002

November is often the time that many schools hold Parent-Teacher conferences. In our school, they were always held the week right before Thanksgiving.

This can be a stressful time for both teachers and parents. This article will offer some resources for both to help prepare for the conference and to make it a beneficial experience for all involved.

Tips for Teachers

By this time in the school year, you have most likely met all of the parents of the students in your class. You have probably laid the groundwork for a good relationship with those parents, and communicated your goals for the school year, your expectations, your approaches to discipline, homework, and many other school-related topics. Typically the purpose of the conference is to discuss student progress and needs, but any of your teaching philosophies may become a part of the discussion. To make the most of this chance to share information with parents some preparation is needed. I usually made up folders for each child with examples of work, along with specific examples of things I wanted to discuss with the parents - handwriting, subject area problems, behavior issues, etc. Keeping a separate folder for each child helped me to be organized.

I also kept a contact sheet for my own notes about each conference. The date of the conference, who attended, and what was discussed can quickly be noted between appointments. I was especially careful to highlight any things I had told parents I would do - and the time frame for those. Nothing worse than telling parents you will follow up on an issue, and then not doing it!

After all of the prep work is done - look forward to this chance to get to know the parents. Sit back, smile and enjoy sharing about the precious child you have in common!

Here are some really great resources for teachers to use in planning that all-important conference.

PARENT-TEACHER Conference tips!: This is a wonderful site for finding many things to help get ready for that conference. There are excellent links to checklists, conference ideas and even a great list of 27 Tips for Parent Communication. There are also some tips for parents at this site!

The Parent /Teacher Conference Form Generator is a great tool for printing out a form to use in your conference.

Ten things you should never do in a parent-teacher conference... is aimed at new teachers, but there are some great tips that anyone can use!