Parent-Teacher Conferences are an opportunity for teachers and families to connect. During conferences, teachers engage with the parents of our 21st Century Learners. However, the “traditional” conference is becoming outdated. Isn’t it time we give parent-teacher conferences a 21st Century makeover?
Group Conference Harvard Family Research Project highlights this successful method:
Teachers and parents meet as a group three times per year. Each parent receives a folder with his or her child’s data and learns how to interpret individual benchmark assessment data and quarterly assessments, understand the child’s standing in relation to the entire class, and set academic goals to be attained by their child. Parents also participate in one individual parent–teacher meeting to review performance data.
Student Showcase
Reed Gillespie, a principal, explains the advantages of a Student Showcase on his blog Mr. Gillespie’s Office:
– An annual event where families, community members and others are invited
– An experience that highlights student work, creativity, discovery, ingenuity, research, innovation, 21st– century skills, and more
– A forum that engages students, families and community
– A means of communicating all the wonderful work our students/children and teachers do
– Opportunities for students to present their work, interact with the public and gain valuable experiences that extend beyond the classroom
– A way for students to connect with members of the community, potentially leading to jobs or other opportunities
Grade-Level Dialogues
This unique approach is outlined on TeachingForChange.org:
Grade level dialogues are structured conversations between parents and teachers regarding students’ academic success. In this format, teachers across a grade level host a communal meeting to exchange information with parents and find ways to support each other. Teachers share what the children are learning, how they are learning the content, and what strategies parents can use at home to encourage their child’s academic success.
Student-Led Conference This was shared by Alain Jehlen at NEA.org:
Ask students to write a letter inviting their parents to the conference. Students prepare folders of work, comments, etc. for each of their core classes, with documentation from band, special education, standardized testing, their grade and attendance report, etc. They are taught how to share this information with parents and how to seek teacher help during the conference if needed.
Off-Campus Conference
What about those parents who never show up? Maybe they can’t take time off work, or they don’t have transportation. Offer to meet them at a convenient location like the public library, a restaurant, or their place of employment. There’s even the good ol’ phone conference, or its more modern cousin, the video conference.
Communication with the parents of students is one of the most important, if not THE most important components of student success. However, in between grading, paperwork, planning, copying, instructing, meetings, and tackling academic and behavior difficulties of students, I find it difficult to even squeeze in a restroom break! So where on Earth am I supposed to find the time to contact parents?
Communication with parents does not have to be formal or time consuming. It can be meaningful without you spending an entire plan period composing a perfectly-worded email or having a lengthy phone conversation.
Keep it brief. In many instances, parents are inundated with communication from teachers, school, and the school district. In my experience, for general school and classroom information, parents appreciate succinct messages from teachers. Get to the point and do it quickly. KISS (keep it simple stupid).
Printable, easy-to-fill-out forms are one of my favorite ways to communicate with parents when a phone call or email isn’t necessary. When a student has a minor behavior issue, consider using a form like this Behavior Alert from Floating Down the River. My favorite part of parent communication is when I can send a positive note home about a student. This editable positive note home from Classroom Freebies is easy to fill out. A Note From My Teacher from The Brown Bag Teacher can be used to communicate student accomplishments or struggles.
If you must contact parents by email or phone, keep the conversation focused on the area in which the student has the greatest need for improvement. Discussing multiple areas of need in one conversation can overwhelm parents and the teacher. Some questions to use when deciding what to say to parents: In what area do I want the student to improve? What am I doing in class to help the student improve? What are some resources I can share with parents to help the student at home? If you have additional concerns, you can save them for another conversation. Update parents as needed with concise messages.
Preparing templates for written notes or emails can speed up the process. Throughout the months of September and January I send home detailed, positive messages to the parents of each of my students. These are composed using a template of my own creation. I spend less than 10 minutes per student composing meaningful letters to parents. If this sounds like too much work, choose students worthy of praise.
Effective and efficient parent communication can be a powerful tool in achieving student success. How do you communicate efficiently with parents?
Author: Erin Randolph has taught elementary school for ten years. She lives in Olathe, KS with her husband, four-year-old son, and two-year-old daughter.
At the end of the video below, there is information regarding our “Promise to Drive Focused” giveaway. Educators who promise to drive without distractions will be entered to win a new car! Click here to enter/learn more.
Teaching can be an enormously challenging job. As a result, it’s not uncommon for teachers to sometimes wonder if the impact they make is worth the challenges they face. We thought it would be helpful to create a space where educators could come together to discuss these challenges.
And that’s exactly what we did. Thanks to help from SoulPancake, we brought 5 teachers together to discuss the challenges they face. There were a few laughs, a few tears, and some pretty incredible surprises.
Edutopia contributor Matt Davis has collected and shares some of the best resources for parents, teachers and students to prepare for the first face-to-face meeting of the school year.
We’ve all been there; that awkward moment when parents and teachers meet for the first time to discuss the progress of their children. How can you prepare, what should you say and what’s the best course of action if there’s a problem?
From ideas for highlighting student progress, to questions every parent should ask, these are some of our favorite articles and resources that cover parent-teacher conferencing. Enjoy the rest of the school year!
New Teacher Survival Guide Video: The Parent-Teacher Conference: This Teaching Channel video offers preparation ideas, a first-hand look at conducting a conference, and some great tips and strategies from parent-relationship expert Diane Feinstein. There are plenty of interesting tidbits packed into this ten-minute video, making it a perfect resource for educators of any experience level. Teaching Channel’s blog post, Beyond Parent-Teacher Conferences: Building Connections That Last, by Lily Jones, also provides useful advice for using conferences to springboard into continued dialogues with parents.
Inviting Students to Lead Conferences
Student-led conferences empower learners to take ownership of their accomplishments and their classroom goals. Yet, for many teachers, it can be a challenge figuring out how to best facilitate them. In 2015, Edutopia examined how one school in Chicago uses student-led conferences to create opportunities for reflection, engagement, and agency.
You’ll find some wonderful resources in that collection. Here are a few more ideas, guides, and tips for letting students take the lead during parent-teacher conferences:
Eduardo Niebla’s passion for teaching high school science is getting a boost with a $2,500 Academic Award from California Casualty. Eduardo was shocked when he was announced as the winner during a recent staff meeting.
“It was such a surprise because I have never won anything before,” he said. “I thought I was in trouble when they called my name.”
The anxiety turned out to be a blessing for Mr. Niebla, who will be able to purchase much needed equipment for his chemistry and forensic science classes; technology that will enhance the high-level learning he provides for the students at Calexico High School in Calexico, California.
“Budgets are always tight,” Mr. Niebla said, “This will help ensure that our students have the supplies and materials they need to succeed.”
The Academic Award was created to ease the economic impact felt by educators who often spend their own money to outfit their classrooms with essential supplies and materials. This is the 11th Academic Award from California Casualty since the program began in 2012.
“This award is a reflection of the proud 65 year relationship we have with educators,” said Sr. VP Mike McCormick. “We are committed to serving them and helping them make a difference for children.”
“I am very glad to have the support of a company like California Casualty who believes in investing in education and the future. I see the results when students get into universities and colleges, and when they come back to show me their diplomas and tell me they decided to go into the science field because of what they learned here,’” he said. Mr. Niebla is proud that Calexico High School has such a high level of students who are accepted into University of California and California State University colleges.
Mr. Niebla said that he developed his love of learning from his parents, who were both chemists. After working as a chemist himself, he decided he wanted to teach others instead. He has taught for 18 years, the past 12 at Calexico High School. He and his wife have a daughter who works as a graphic designer and a son who is a sophomore at Calexico High School.
Entries for the next California Casualty $2,500 Academic Award are now being taken at www.calcasacademicaward.com. The entry deadline is December 4, 2016, with a winner announced after the New Year.
Let’s face it; noise is part of the classroom. Whether it’s kids working on a project or coming in from recess, excited students can sometimes raise a ruckus. If you’ve tried the three fingers “stop, look and listen” trick and are at your wits end trying to quell the noise, thanks to Edutopia here are some other techniques you can employ to hush the bedlam and return to a learning environment. We’ve broken them down by age groups.
Kindergarten and early elementary
Flick the light switch
Capture attention with a wind chime or rain stick
Pop pretend marshmallows into the mouth until they are full
Fill a spray bottle with water infused with essential oils and call it a “quiet spray”
Blow magical “hush-bubbles”
Late elementary and middle school
Employ the “silent 20” – each time students return to seats and are quiet within 20 seconds following an activity, a token is advanced on a game board. When the final square is reached (in about a month) the class gets a popcorn party
Engage students at the door before they enter the classroom to reinforce that learning is about to begin
Utilize minimally invasive hand gestures and other non-confrontational techniques as shown in the Teach Like a Champion video
Incorporate a content “word of the week” (such as integer, Freud, renaissance) to signal that it is time for silence
High school students
Write a note that reads: “If you wish to continue talking during my lesson, I will have to take time from you at the break. By the time I’ve written the title on the board you need to be sitting in silence; anyone still talking will be kept behind for five minutes.”
Play soothing classical music on low volume when students enter to create a professional tone.
Some instructors find that call and response sayings are useful, such as:
Holy…..macaroni
1,2,3, eyes on me…..1,2, eyes on you
I’m incredible…..like the Hulk (everyone gives a grrrrr and flexes their muscles)
Ayyyy…..macarena
I get knocked down…..but I get up again
For those who like high tech options, there are:
“Too Noisy,” an app that shows a colorful graph with a digital noise meter to alert you and your students when the class has exceeded acceptable noise levels
Traffic Light, that allows you to show when the levels are too loud and the remedy
ClassDojo, which rewards students for successes and keeps parents apprised on how their students are doing
We know we’ve barely scratched the surface of great classroom/teacher ideas and we’d love to hear about some that you use.
Here are two more resources from California Casualty that can help educators:
Let us help make setting up your classroom a little easier on your wallet with a $2,500 Academic Award at www.calcasacademicaward.com.
By 
This award is a reflection of the proud 65 year relationship we have with educators,” said Sr. VP Mike McCormick. “We are committed to serving them and helping them make a difference for children.”