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Student-led conferences:
March
minutes for each conference, with a ten-minute cushion between any back-to-back conferences
to allow extra time for someone who may be late.
When I meet with each family, I will be sure to greet them while standing up with a warm
smile and a handshake. I realize that the family may feel nervous to meet me, and I will try to
set them at ease by telling them a little bit about myself as an educator to begin. I will ask what
they would like to be called to make sure I am not assuming that the parent has the same last
name as their child and to set a tone of respect. I will be sure to communicate my enthusiasm
for having their student in my classroom and ensure them that I already care about their student
and their family. When we sit down, I will face the family with open body language, keeping a
smile on my face and listening intently, nodding and keeping positive facial expressions
(Seplocha, 2004). I will use the word we instead of I to communicate that I want to work
together with the family to do what is best for their student. I will ensure that there are no
physical barriers between us, such as a desk, so that the conversation will feel natural and fluid.
I will make sure not to use educational jargon that families may not understand.
In this particular conference, I will ask parents to share their concerns about their
students. My purpose is to listen to their concerns and what they want for their students this
year so that we can work together to accomplish what they want for their student. I know that
most parents send their child to school wanting them to have a positive experience with a
teacher that cares about them and wants them to succeed. I will inquire about problems
students may have had in previous years of school and how they made progress with these
issues. I will carefully listen to these concerns and how they have felt about previous teachers
and their methods to try and pick up any clues that may help me to better communicate with the
family and cater to their needs. I will let parents know that my teaching philosophy when it
comes to each student does not revolve around grades or test scores, but rather ensuring that
each student enjoys coming to school and puts forth their best effort while making significant
progress in my classroom. It will be beneficial to be able to communicate my passion for my
students and their emotions because I know that my students families probably share that
passion. Since it is so early in the year, during this conference I will most likely not voice any
concerns about students unless a serious issue has already surfaced with the student. I may
say that I noticed a student could use more practice in one certain area, and let the parent know
that I am interested in working together to strengthen this area and coming up with a plan
together to work towards mastery. For example, if a student is struggling in reading, I may ask
the parent how we can collaborate at home and at school to make sure that child is just reading
for an hour a day.
I will make myself aware of the fact that all families come from different backgrounds. I
will gather information on my families in any way that I can before meeting with them. The home
visits should have been a great indicator to me of the culture of my students. If I have learned
from the home visit, from other staff, or from a student information card that my family is not
from the area where I teach, I will make sure to do some research on the culture of the area that
they are from (Davis & Yang, 2009). I will also be sure to do research about how schools may
be different where my child is from. Although I believe that previous teachers of the child can be
a good resource on how to work with this child, I will be careful with their opinions and will not
pass judgment on any child or their family based on other staff members opinions (Allen, 2007).
I will also consider that some families may be impoverished. I will use my school allotted funds
to purchase extra materials that students may not be able to bring to school. By doing this
before school begins, I will be able to quickly provide what a student may not have when they
come to school. I will also prepare book bags for those families that may not have books for
their child to read at home.
By meeting face to face with each of my students families twice in the first month of
school, it is my hope that we will create a level of respect and that they will begin to trust me
with their child. I do not believe this is possible through only letters or email, but is more likely to
happen more quickly through positive personal interactions and partnership (Lindle, 1989). My
goal for these conferences is to create a positive relationship with families that communicates
that I want to work together to do what is best for each families student. I hope to build that
relationship during this conference by showing parents that I care about what they want for their
child and will incorporate this into my learning plan. In this particular conference, my greatest
goal is to let the parent be the primary conversation leader. The driving purpose of the
conference will be for me to listen and gain understanding as to what the parent hopes for their
child to achieve during their year in my classroom. By asking parents what they want for their
children, I hope to begin a partnership and a collaborative relationship rather than a relationship
in which the parent does not feel comfortable communicating with me about their child (Davis &
Yang, 2005). At the end of our conference, I will share some upcoming dates and activities on
our calendar that parents could be involved in to promote partnership (Lindle, 1989).
After our conference, I will call, email or write a note to each family thanking them for
meeting with me and encouraging them to stay in touch with me throughout the year
(Robertson, n.d.). In this email, I will also remind them of the dates I shared with them at our
conference. I will keep each parent hopes and dreams form in a student specific file and add
examples of work that exemplifies progress toward the goals listed throughout the year (Davis &
Yang, 2005). Our next formal conference meeting will be a standard conference held at school
where we discuss the progress towards the goals we set for the student at the beginning of the
year. During this meeting, I will share proof from the aforementioned file that the student is
approaching the goal and we can all set new goals together. This concrete evidence will drive
conversation during the next conference (Allen, 2007). The examples of work will be different
types including projects, writing, math, and maybe even art. By the final conference, I want the
student to be able to show off work and progress in a conference that they lead.
References
Allen, J. (2007). Inviting dialogue at the conference table In Creating welcoming schools: A
practical guide to home-school partnerships with diverse families (pp. 82-92).
International Reading Association.
Davis, C., & Yang, A. (2005). Parents & teachers working together. Turners Falls, MA:
Northeast Foundation for Children.
Lindle, J. C. (1989). What do parents want from principals and teachers. Educational
Leadership, 47(2), 12-14.
Robertson, K. (n.d.). Tips for successful parent-teacher conferences with bilingual families.
Retrieved from http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/tips-successful-parentteacherconferences-bilingual-familIes.
Seplocha, H. (2004). Partnerships for learning: Conferencing with families. YC Young Children,
59(5), 12-15.
Sieff, K. (2011, October 9). Teachers increasingly use home visits to connect with students'
families. Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local
/education/teachers-increasingly-use-home-visits-to-connect-with-students-families/2011
/10/03/gIQAzwVKYL_story.html
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What are your hopes in dreams in regard to your childs social skills this year?
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