Parent-teacher conferences are a great opportunity to get feedback about your students’ progress in school and how you can work together with parents to help them be successful. However, it can be difficult to know what to say during the conference. This article will give ideas on how you can create a positive environment in your conferences.
Any easy way to incorporate this is to highlight areas of improvement and positive attributes for each student. Check out my editable forms that make this easy! Solution focused language is a great way to keep the conversation focused on finding ways to help all students succeed.
Using “Glows and Grows” to Report Progress
Glow and grow sentence starters are statement stems that help you highlight the areas students are “glowing” (or excelling in) and need to “grow” (improve upon.) It is important to
Preparing for Conferences
This time of year can be daunting. The list of things to do to prepare feels like it will never end. Additionally, it is hard to look forward to the meetings when you only focus on areas of improvement. The last thing you want is for the parent on the other end of the table to feel like they’re being berated for not doing enough, or that their child is falling behind academically or socially. But it doesn’t have to be that way!
I like to use this form to fill out comprehensive reports for my students. This template is super cute and makes it easy to copy and paste information for students that have similar strengths and weaknesses. I also get file folders and label them with my students’ numbers. I place the Grows and Glows sheet at the beginning followed by work that affirms the scores I have given on report cards.
Looking for more teaching advice? Read this!
How Can Parents and Teachers Work Together?
It can be tough to know how to approach parent-teacher conferences. After all, you want to work together with the parents to help their child succeed. You also don’t want to come across as critical or negative. Luckily, solution focused language can be a great way to navigate these conversations. Solution focused language is all about finding ways forward, rather than dwelling on past problems. It’s about working together towards a common goal: in this case, helping the child succeed in school. This approach can often lead to more productive conversations and better results for everyone involved!
Including Supports for Students
The final thing you want to do in your report cards is to include supports for students to work on at home. In solution focused language, we would say that parent teacher conferences are an opportunity for the school to support the child. The conference is a time for parents and teachers to come together and discuss how best to support the child in their education. This may include discussing what resources are available to help the child succeed, or how the school can better meet the needs of the child.
These are a few of my favorite things to add for home-support:
•Read thirty minutes of a grade level book each night. Two times a week please read aloud. You can read to a family member, a pet, or a stuffed animal.
•Talk about what your child is reading and ask them to summarize what they read
•You could have your child start a journal to practice handwriting and spelling while recording about their day.
I hope this was helpful! What are your tips for writing positive parent teacher conference comments? Leave them below!
Leave a Reply