Spring Conferences

As a teacher, alongside the obvious planning and teaching, you must keep open communication with your students’ families. This includes informing parents/guardians about their child’s academic progress and daily behavior at school. This regular contact, whether it be in person, through phone, e-mail or written documents, is key to a smooth school year.

In addition to these frequent updates, most schools require parent-teacher conferences a couple times a year. I recently completed spring conferences and I thought I’d share some of my observations of what it takes to achieve an effective conference with successful long-term outcomes.

Second grade happens to be a year of innocence, fun and pure curiosity. It’s nearly impossible not to see the amazing qualities of each child at this age. Yes, of course all students have their “moments” (some more than others) where teachers begin to think, “What should I honestly try next to get this child to be successful, behave, sit down or stop crying?” But in my experience, school days are full of positive outcomes, incredible accomplishments and new discoveries. This creates indescribable relationships between teachers and their students and students among their peers. Each year, classrooms literally become communities (especially in the primary grades).

The most important thing I’ve learned about having a successful conference is, bottom line, parents want to know you like their child. This seems obvious, but when teachers are trying to convey academic concerns (among other issues), the positive aspects of the child almost seem to go by the waist side. It’s extremely important to praise each child’s accomplishments and let them and their families know how proud of them you are. Once this is established, it’s unbelievable how much more willing the child and their family will be to put extra effort into what you request.

I always begin by telling my students’ parents their child’s outstanding qualities. Personally, I adore each and every one of my students, so I find this to be the easy part of conferences. It’s more difficult for me to explain issues that need to be addressed, especially if it’s how that child is doing academically. I want to be able to say each child is a pleasure to have in class and they are progressing at a steady rate with the rest of the class. As we all know, this isn’t always the case. I’ve found it’s best to start with the positive, address any issues or concerns and end on another positive note.

Another important aspect to consider is whether or not to have students sit in on the conference. I’ve heard and read many theories on this topic. Those who think it’s appropriate, generally feel it’s imperative. The general consensus is the teacher shouldn’t be saying anything the child shouldn’t be hearing. On the other hand, some disapprove, claiming conferences are held to privately discuss the status of students without feeling as though the child’s feelings will be hurt. At this point, I’ve reached a middle ground approach for my conferences. I literally let the parents decide. If they arrive without the child, it’s obvious to me they assume conferences are for parents and they may even want to convey information to me without their child hearing. Nothing is mentioned on the matter and our adult-only conference takes place. In other situations, parents arrive with their child at side, asking, “Can he/she come in, or should they wait outside?” I reply by telling them it’s their decision. These conferences take place however the parent feels more comfortable.

During conferences where the child is present, there are positive and negative aspects. The positives include being able to compliment the child in front of their parent(s) and being able to address any issues with the child witnessing the contact between teacher and parent. Students may even be asked to explain behavior and what they are going to do to fix the problem. These can be extremely effective moments. The negatives include the uncomfortable moments of conveying low academic levels when it is out of the control of the child (learning disabilities, English Language Learners etc.) and being able to openly discuss personal situations occurring in the child’s life. I’ve disregarded the negatives by having the child step out of the room for the first or last portion of the conference in order to discuss things privately with the parent(s) if it’s necessary.

Along with knowing you like their child, parents also want to know how their kid compares to the rest of the students in your particular class. Each conference period, I create a grid to visually show parents how their child stacks up against my other students in various academic levels and assessments. I order the scores from greatest to least and highlight each area where their particular child lies on the spectrum. It’s an extremely effective way to share academic levels while conveying where those scores lie within the rest of the class.

Lastly, it’s important to keep conferences within the allotted time. I tend to schedule my time slots with breathing room in between in case unexpected issues or topics of discussion arise. After all, these are some of the only times you get to sit down and have the undivided attention of your students’ only other advocates! Celebrate this opportunity and take advantage of the fact that you have support behind what you put your heart and soul into.