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Parent-teacher conferences, which typically occur twice each school year, give both parties the chance to sit down and formally discuss a child's academic and social progress, addressing both achievements and concerns in detail and setting forth an educational plan for the future.

While parents and teachers may see each other frequently and talk casually about a child on a regular basis, conferences are an in-depth look at the child's experience in school. Preparing for twenty or more parent-teacher conferences is a time-consuming and often stressful task for teachers. Knowing the essentials, however, can make preparation easier and make conferences go more smoothly.

Before conferences, create a simple worksheet that you can fill out for each student. The worksheet should have sections for academic strengths, social observations, areas for improvement, and next steps. Leave a space where you can take notes during each conference. Depending on the students' grade level, you can also use the worksheet to list the students' relevant test scores so you don't need to refer to your grade book during the meeting. The worksheet becomes your agenda for the conference; helps keep you focused on the points you need to communicate; and later, including the notes you take during the conference, becomes a handy reference for areas on which to follow up.

Nothing communicates better how a student is faring academically than samples of work. Work samples allow parents and teachers to celebrate a student's achievements as well as provide concrete evidence for areas of improvement. The work you share with parents should represent a variety of experiences---both rough and final drafts of writing; pop math quizzes as well as problems worked out together---in essence, the child's best, mediocre, and worst efforts.

Now that you've discussed the child and shown work samples, explain to the parents your plan for facilitating the child's further progress. Even the most gifted children should receive the teacher's attention in a way that lifts the ceiling off of their growth, and it is often their parents who especially want to know what you are going to do next to challenge their child. When preparing the conference worksheets, the "next steps" should lay out three or four concrete goals that you have for each child for the next term.

Never forget that you're talking about these parents' baby. This is the most important rule: always focus on the positive. Every child excels at something; begin there. If the child struggles academically across the board, be sure to mention what nice manners he has or how helpful he is in class. Even when discussing areas of improvement, frame the conversation so you're talking about building on what the child already knows. By staying positive, you are much more likely to earn the parents' trust, keep them from becoming defensive, and foster a parent-teacher partnership that will enhance the child's growth.

Create Conference Worksheets