Sanely Surviving Parent Teacher
Conferences!
No one looks forward to parent-teacher
conferences because of the time it takes to prepare for conferences and the
time involved in conducting them.
Afterwards, you are too exhausted to enjoy a long week-end or too busy
honoring requests made during the conference to enjoy and rest. Try these ideas, that I have used and found
successful, to make conferences less stressful and your well earned time off
restful.
Of
course, these won’t solve all the problems you may encounter. We’ve all had
that “impossible-to-please” parent or the parent that is living in denial. My
best advice is to pray. I start off the year praying and continue throughout
the year. For me, praying before conferences is a necessity. I realize that I may not be changing a
parent’s response, but I am changing mine.
I am also setting the tone for a pleasant conference, which may change
some parents’ perspectives. Remember, they have only had their child’s version
until now. This is your opportunity to develop a working relationship with
parents. Who knows? It might change a
child’s negative behavior by showing them that parents working with teachers
forms a team to help them succeed.
students + parents +
teachers = success!
Being organized is a huge help. Preparing
in advance and doing everything you can to help conferences run smoothly will
help you have less to do afterwards.
During my first years, I found myself running around, jotting down
“to-do” notes of things that I needed to do after
conferences: follow-up with Meggie’s mom
on her progress in reading; add Kara’s mom to the class email; or call Tim’s
dad to see when he is available to discuss Tim’s recent behavior. I also spent my long week-end honoring each
request. I returned to class exhausted. You need a break, a well-deserved break
to recharge. You can put your mind at ease by organizing and documenting.
Like my Facebook page, Chocolate 4 Teachers!
Privacy Policy
This
blog does not share personal information with third parties nor do I store any
information about your visit to this blog other than to analyze and optimize
your content and reading experience through the use of cookies. You can turn
off the use of cookies at anytime by changing your specific browser settings. I
am not responsible for republished content from this blog on other blogs or
websites without my permission. This privacy policy is subject to change
without notice and was last updated on June 5, 2015. If you have any questions
feel free to contact me directly at kimberlyfrencken@gmail.com
No comments