The Power of Parent Teacher Conferences - A Child's Best Chance for Success!


The Home School Connection



Like most elementary schools during the month of October, Mortensen Elementary School is having Parent/Teacher Conferences this week.  I always love this week because of the power of the establishment of the relationships between home and school that are developing for the benefit of our students.  Here are some thoughts on the importance of these crucial collaborative sessions between our teachers and the students' parents:

Parent/teacher conferences are one of the means for us to share our responsibilities so important to the learning process at our school. Research supports the importance of parents and schools  working together to encourage and foster student success. We are in hopes that our teachers and parents alike will use this conferencing time wisely through good planning and efficient conversation and goal setting.

Parent-teacher conferences provide a great opportunity for parents and teachers to develop a relationship and collaborate by revealing insights and information about an individual student that we will share with each other during the course of this year.  All students learn in different ways. They have their own individual personalities and their own listening and work habits. To help students learn new knowledge and skills, teachers must know as much as they can about each student. No one knows more about these things than a child's parent.   And, no one has more influence over our students than their parents.  Teachers need the help of our parents to be as successful as possible with all of our students; consequently, teachers are eager to engage in the parent/teacher conferences.



Here are a few tips for parents prior to conferences:

Prior
1. Ask your student if there is anything they would like you to discuss with their teacher.
2. Gain an understanding of what your child's daily schedule looks like.  When do they have certain classes, lunch, specials, etc.?
3. Bring with you any testing result data that you would like to discuss with your child's teacher.
4. Jot down everything that you want to talk about at the conference. Some ideas follow:


  • What skills and knowledge will my student be expected to master this year?
  • How do you inform students about the academic standards they're expected to meet?
  • What kind of projects and assignments have you planned that will help my student meet
  • higher academic standards?
  • What assessments will be used to evaluate my student’s progress?
  • What kinds of information do you use to evaluate students?
  • How are grades determined in your classroom?
  • What can I do at home to complement what is happening in the classroom?
  • How can I know on a daily basis what homework has been assigned?
  • How do you accommodate differences in learning?
  • What if my child is a slow learner and falls behind, or is a fast learner and is
  • unchallenged?
  • How does my student interact socially with other students?
  • Is my student’s behavior appropriate in and outside of the classroom?
  • How are students in your class prepared for further learning after they leave your class or elementary school?

Here are some suggestions for during the conference:

During
1.  Avoid lengthy discussions of topics that are not related to the purpose of the conference.
2.  Be open-minded to suggestions from the teacher.
3.  Maintain a positive attitude and work to develop a plan for improvement. Be sure to follow up with another appointment.
4.  Take notes about what has been discussed to share with your child.
5.  Do not stay beyond your allotted time.
6.  At the conclusion of the conference, review what has been said and the steps that are planned for
follow-up.

Suggestions for things to do or ask yourself after the conference:

After
1.  Review with your student what was discussed and work with them regarding what is expected.
2.  What did I learn that will help me support my student?
3.  Did the teacher learn more about my student from me?
4.  Did I learn more about the teacher?
5.  Did we all come away with specific, practical ways to help the student?
6.  What's next? What follow-up steps were suggested and agreed upon?


Here is a link to an article in EducationWorld with tips for teachers to ensure positive results from Parent Teacher Conferences:


All in all, parent/teacher conferences are wonderful opportunities to establish and enhance the relationships and connections necessary for optimum student learning success at Mortensen Elementary School. Our goal is to create and maintain this teamwork and solidarity on behalf of our students' well-being and success.

Best wishes to our teachers and parents as you all prepare for these powerful meetings!


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