5 Tips for Parent Teacher Conferences

Are parent teacher conferences coming up? Do you feel well prepared or like you just simply can’t get it all done? At times parents can bring up unpredictable conversations, push back on what is shared, feel like you don’t understand their children, or just don’t show up. Parent teacher conferences don’t have to be stressful, these 5 tips will help you feel better prepared.

Set up a schedule

As you start to prepare for your conferences, make sure that you set up a schedule to ensure that you are able to have enough available slots to meet with all families. In my current district we use an online system to help set up and send out schedules. Signup Genius is a free platform that offers the options for parents to sign up for time slots and is easy to share. 

We also have adjusted our conferencing schedules to meet the needs of families. We have times available from 7:30 am – 7:00 pm to accommodate all different types of work hours. We have found it useful to offer conferences early, during the day, and in evening hours. Setting up a schedule is always the first step in starting to prepare for parent teacher conferences. 

Communicate & Build Relationships

This may be a no brainer, but relationships are critical in teaching, and that includes families! Parent teacher conferences shouldn’t be the first time you have made contact with a family. 

At times parents can be hard to get a hold of, but it’s important to make the effort to build that relationship with families. At the start of a student’s school year, make that positive connection. You can do this by sending an email, sending home a positive note, or making a positive phone call home. Doing these things a few times a year can go a long way with a family. By actively working on building a relationship, you can partner with families when you need to have a difficult conversation. 

As you fast approach parent teacher conferences, make sure you are reminding families in multiple ways about their upcoming conference. Sending out emails, fliers, or using an app to communicate (like Remind, ClassTag, or Class Dojo) will help increase your attendance at conferences. 

Getting prepared

Getting prepared for parent teacher conferences several weeks in advance will help ease your mind as your parents start to show up at your classroom door. As you are teaching, keep in mind which work samples, assessments, and data you’d like to show families. Set up folders for each student so you can easily file away the resources you’d like to use during your conferences. 

I’ve always found it helpful to organize your folders in the order of your conference schedule so they are readily available and help with the ease of transitions from conference to conference. 

Practice makes perfect

Whether you’re a brand new teacher or have been in education for quite some time, there will always be challenging conversations. Practicing ahead of time can make these conversations easier and even impactful. 

Try partnering with a coworker, instructional coach, or administrator to practice for your upcoming conferences. It’s helpful

• Avoid teacher talk: We can very easily slip into using educational language in natural conversations. It’s best to avoid using teacher talk or educational acronyms. Not every parent has a background or understanding of educational lingo. If you find yourself doing this during a conference – provide more detail on what you are sharing so that it’s clear and easy to understand. 

• Ask questions: Starting out a conference by asking specific questions about a parent’s child sets off the conference on the right foot. Asking open ended questions creates a space for them to share about their child and creates a partnership approach to their educational experience. Here are a few specific questions you can ask: 
  • What are the strengths of your child? If they have any, what are their weaknesses? 
  • How does your child learn best? 
  • What would you like your child to get out of this school year? 
• Provide examples: Make sure you get specific when you’re sharing about a student. This can be done through conversation or by providing concrete work examples. I think it’s great when parents can see their child’s progress through work samples. It’s also important to share a peer comparison so they can understand where their student is compared to a typical peer in the classroom. If you choose to do this, make sure you keep any identifiable information covered to remain confidential with student information.  
• Explain the data: If you are going to provide any types of assessment data make sure that you fully understand the assessments so that you are able to easily communicate this to families. 
• Stay solution focused: Inevitably there will be at least one student that struggles in a certain area. When you are sharing information with parents, make sure that you provide solutions. Instead of talking about what’s going wrong, share with the parents how you are already addressing the concerns. 

Student Led Conferences 

If you have the opportunity to create student led conferences, do it! There is so much power in having students participate in their own conferences. Every district is different so I know it may not be possible for everyone, but if you do have the opportunity make sure you jump on it. 

Giving students the confidence to lead the conference and take ownership of their own learning can be a powerful thing. If student led conferences are not viable, you can still create a format in which their voices are hear through : 

• Self Reflection
• Goal setting
• Leadership Notebooks

If you are interested in creating student led conferences, check out my student leader conference resource.