Parent-teacher conference can be a great tool for you, your child, and your child’s teacher. Taking time to consider what you’d like to discuss with the adult who spends many hours with your child can be helpful for everyone.
Here are eight ways you can make the most of parent-teacher conference.
1- Review your child’s recent work.
By looking through work from the couple weeks prior to the conference, hopefully you’ll have an idea of what the teacher might be planning to talk to you about.
2- Look for patterns in the areas your child needs to work on, as well as their success areas.
3- Make a note of anything you might have questions about
How can you supplement teach at home, do they need a reward system in place, etc.
4- Ask your child how things are going and if there’s anything they wish they could say to their teacher.
Hopefully we’re talking to our kids each day, but by letting them know you’re preparing to visit with their teacher, they may have extra things to say.
5- Go in with a team attitude!
This is the person spending hours with your child each day. You definitely want them on your side.
6- Be willing to work with the teacher.
It’s easy to get defensive or upset if things aren’t going as planned- this is your kid, after all! Most teachers truly do want what’s best for your child, so try to find a way to work with them.
7- Have a post-conference chat with your child, even if they were in the room during your meeting.
Talk to them about the things the teacher said- good and bad. See if you can find a way to address any trouble they’re having. It was at this point in the process I discovered my child can’t see the chalkboard! The teacher mentioned his copy work wasn’t as perfect as she would like and in talking to my child, his desk faces away from the board, and he’s at the back of the class. No wonder he’s having a hard time! And who knows? Maybe we need an eye exam. That hadn’t even crossed my mind before!
8- Consider a follow-up chat with a teacher.
Sometimes after I let things mull over for a few days, I think of ideas that could help or questions I may have. If you find yourself in this situation, see if the teacher is willing to spend a couple minutes with you to address those items. If you don’t really need another face-to-face meeting, you could write a note or make a quick call.
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What have you tried that has helped with your parent-teacher conferences? Share below!
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These are all great ideas! As a teacher, I know how important it is to have parents as part of the team. As a parent, I know how quickly a parent-teacher conference can go south (that happened once with one of our daughters and her teacher). I always want to have the student in the room, and I usually want the student to do most of the talking–I just ask leading questions. “Please explain to your parent(s) what we’re doing in class right now.” and “How do you think you could do better?” or “What do you think you’re doing really well at?” Kids know. They are usually harder on themselves than I would be.
Well, thanks! I love your ideas- I’ll have to remember those!
These are great ideas. I will do some of this things with my boys at their next conference.
That’s great! Thanks for stopping by!