Conferences + Teachers = Anxiety. True for you?! While preparing and hosting Parent Teacher Conferences can be very stressful, there are a few things you can do to add ease to this time and help them run smoothly. Read for my tips below!
1. Create a Routine:
To start, decide the steps you will flow through for each conference. Keep your pattern the same each time so you can get into a rhythm and don’t even have to think about it! Below are the steps I use for my 2nd grade families:
- Greeting: “Hello Mr./Ms. thank you for coming!”
- Positive Statement: “I love having _____ in my class. They are _______.”
- Outline the Conversation: “I’m going to show you ______ self reflection and academic scores. Then we can discuss if you have any questions.”
- Icebreaker: Before diving into academics, I like to touch on things we have done in class and what their child has enjoyed. More to be explained below.
- Academic Reports: Have a clear and concise way to present this information. Highlight the main points and allow families to look at the rest on their own time.
- Glows/Goals for moving forward: I share a few positive things about the child and one area they can grow more in. Tie in what the family can do to help in that area.
- Open for Questions: Allow the family to ask about anything else they’d like.
- Closing: “Thank you so much for coming today!” (if they want to linger and talk I will add “I have to get ready for the next family. but am also available to talk via email/phone at _____ times.”
2. Stick to your Parent Teacher Conferences Schedule
While I love using the rhythm above, it can be hard to get to each step in each conference. Things happen. Families may arrive late or want to talk later than their scheduled conference time. It can be challenging to get back on track once these things occur, so stick to your schedule as much as you can.
Here are things I do to stay on track:
- Create a Parent Teacher Conferences Schedule: I use this for everything! It gets sent out the families before conference via email, it goes outside my door, and it goes on the conference table. This helps everyone stay aware of their time slot and be respectful of those in following time slots. Lucky for you, I have a FREE Conference Schedule Template in my store! Click here to get yours.
- Set Timers on Your Phone: After mapping out your schedule, create timers on your phone for the end of each conference. When this goes off, it reminds everyone to transition and makes it less awkward to end the meeting.
- Ask Admin to Announce Transitions: Ask your admin or support staff to take the place of your phone by announcing transition times over the intercom. This is something my new school does and I love it! At the end of each time frame they say “Families, thank you for coming tonight. Your conference time is now over. Your child’s teacher is also available via email if you need to speak with them further. Have a great night!”
3. Open Parent Teacher Conferences with an Ice Breaker
Conferences can be nerve-wracking not just for teachers, but for the families as well. We are speaking about their most prized possession-their child. They are hoping to hear good news and want to know what they can do to help.
Personally, I find it can be very soothing to offer an ice breaker before getting to the nitty gritty of academics of behavior. Ice breakers include showcasing a piece of student’s work, showing a video or photo from class, or sharing the student’s reflection on the previous quarter.
In most cases, I tend to pick the student self reflection. This can be very insightful for the family to see what their child enjoys most about school and what they feel are their areas of growth. You as the teacher can then validate or respond to the child’s thoughts by offering your own. These are interesting, valuable, and can offer a great segue into academic/behavioral concerns.
The template I use for this is listed in my Teachers Pay Teachers store here. In addition, it is editable so you can alter it to meet your needs.
4. Keep it all Organized
Another piece of advice in regards to conferences is to make your life easier with a Conference Folder for each student. I create folders by folding a large piece of construction paper. Inside the folder, keep any papers or examples of student work.
This makes life SO easy when it is that child’s conference. You just pull the folder and have everything within that you need to explain. For example, in my folders you would find: student reflection, STAR (academic report) Scores, Student Report Card, work at home suggestions, and a sample of student work.
Along with this, I have started adding a Conference Cover to the front of my folders. This pretty cover has the student’s name and the “at a glance” most important things the family needs to know. Included on my covers are STAR Scores, Glows, and Goals for the student.
Because of the short amount of time allowed for each conference, these to the point covers help me cover all the information necessary. If low on time, I will just explain a section of the Student Reflection and then go straight to explaining the Conference Cover. The family can look through the rest of the papers in the folder at a later time. Importantly, this helps families understand with clarity what their child is excelling at and where they need to grow.
Conference Covers are also available in my TPT Store linked here.
5. Lace Tough Topics in Grace
Lastly, I’d be remiss if I left off this important reminder. You may have to bring up challenging topics during your conferences. Hopefully you have been communicating with families prior to this moment about challenges and what they can help with so it won’t come as a total surprise. Regardless, negative conversations are not easy.
It’s best to be direct and support claims with data. We don’t want to sugar coat or make things seem better than they really are. However, we can soften these tough conversations with hope and grace. It might sound like this:
“Ama is really struggling with her math right now. As you can see, she is performing far under grade level in adding and subtracting fluently. But Ama is a hard worker. I know she can improve if she keeps putting in the work.”
or
“Peter is having a hard time regulating frustration. Eruptive moments are still happening around once per day. However, I have seen Peter grow a lot in this area this year. We will keep working one on one with him to help him gain ground.”
No matter the news, every family needs to know hope and change is possible. Even if you don’t know the answer yet or are skeptical you’ll find one. Let them know you won’t stop trying to help their child.
Want to See More?!
I recorded a YouTube video of a Parent Teacher Conference night for you to enjoy below!
Wishing you pleasant and nerve-free (as possible) Parent Teacher Conferences this year!
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I am going to be returning to teaching after ten years away from the profession. This post was so helpful and I will be using it in the future during conference time. Thank you for sharing!
Awh, welcome back to the classroom! That is wonderful to hear. So glad it was helpful!