I sat in on one of my first official parent conferences this week. I thoroughly enjoyed the dynamic between teacher and parent. It is so so crucial. Unfortunately, the conference I sat in on wasn't a well prepared conference. The teacher was late. The parent had been sitting in the office nearly ten to fifteen minutes before the teacher reached her. The progress report wasn't printed out so once the teacher had picked up the parent then the parent had to wait in the classroom while the progress report printed. As they sat down to discuss things they discussed her progress report as well as her behavior. This student is generically a good student but, on the last math test she failed it. The parent commended on of the teachers (this is a co-teaching classroom with two teachers) for texting her about her daughter's recent math grade because she had not been receiving any communication beforehand. The parent asked to see the test and the teacher stated that she could not find it. At this time, the parent looked at the other teacher rolled her eyes and said "See what I mean?" I could sense that this parent has been frustrated all year long with disconnected communication from the classroom to home. I watched as the other teacher tried make the parent feel assured that her daughter's grades would be monitored and they would stay in contact with her until the end of the year.
I learned MANY valuable things during this observation: Be prepared. Be punctual. Know your student's grades and where they are located. Have ideas for what the parent can do to help in preparation for the next test.
I don't ever want a parent to have to say to me to someone else "See what I mean?"
What are some experiences you have had during teacher/parent conferences? What are some useful tactics that made these conferences more successful?
No comments:
Post a Comment