Use Parent-Teacher Conferences To Start Conversations

Oct. 25, 2012, 2:53 p.m.

Parent-teacher conferences are a great time for parents to connect with their children’s schools. For many this is the first – and only – time they will step foot in the school all year. Of course, the meetings are often brief and rushed; they are not long enough to cover the first eight weeks of the school year. So, instead of expecting parent-teacher conferences to provide a full rundown on your child, I suggest using them to connect, connect, connect.

Here are my tips for what I’d consider a successful parent-teacher conference experience:

1. Match a face with a name. You should know your child’s teachers and the subjects they teach. It’s helpful to have a copy of your child’s schedule posted someplace visible at home. If you are tech savvy you can take a picture of it, and keep it in your cell phone.

2. First visit the teachers of the classes that challenge your child the most. If there are performance issues, you want to establish a relationship so you and the teacher can work together to help your child. You should tell the teachers you will be contacting them the next day to set up another meeting to discuss your child’s progress in greater detail.

3. Give your child’s teachers a contact sheet with your information on it. Come prepared with a few of these. Make sure there at least two phone numbers where you can be reached, an email address and your name/child’s name.

4. Get contact information from your child’s teachers and find out which periods of the day they are free so you know both how and when to contact them if necessary.

5. Prepare two or three short questions in advance for the teacher. This could be something as simple as their homework policy to asking if they need a volunteer parent during the week.

6. Don’t leave the school without meeting the Parent Coordinator. Make sure you get the contact information for the PC in your child’s school, and locate their office. If your school does not have a PC then ask for the guidance counselor. You want to have another contact in the school, other than the teachers, just in case.

Taneesha Crawford is the parent coordinator at South Bronx Preparatory, a 6-12 grade city school.

since many of us more annoying parents who know better about the Bloomberg/DOE.. since we already know the deal, and KNOW that no investment has been made to have truly meaningful conferences (lasting more than a fraction of the time any other city in the civilized world would allow) by paying the schools and teachers for enough time.... since all this is true, we recommend that you simply go to say hello, ask if there is anything in particular the teacher may want you to know/help with, and then leave a snack for the teacher not to pass out during their marathon of similarly too-short segments with far too many parents.

Seriously, DONT expect to be able to have any serious discussion; hopefully, you have an email or a knowledge of how to actually have a conversation with your student's teacher(s)... the city this year sent out emails saying how very important it was for parents to be 'part of the school learning community', and stressed how much they valued attendance at these 'soundbites' that they called 'conferences'...but the DOE makes absolutely NO substantive efforts to make these conferences meaningful...

I say go if you can, expect to just say hello, maybe grab a single interesting tidbit if you can, and find another way to get real information at another time/place/medium...

Swayne Harris • October 25, 2012, 4:15 PM

To begin with....you must actually care about your child's education.After that,everything falls into place.If there is a language barrier or you simply can not reinforce the lesson at home,ASK for resources to help your child so that he/she does not fall behind.Also respect the teacher as he/she is trying their best to help YOUR child.

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2 Replies

Vicki Zunitch • October 28, 2012, 2:48 PM

Uh, no. I actually cared about my chld's education. It wasn't a question of reinforcing the lesson at home - the lesson hadn't been taught. When a teacher has 30 4-year-olds who need to sit at a desk all day and be taught how to read, you really think that all parents need to do is "reinforce"?

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Vicki Zunitch • October 31, 2012, 1:49 PM

Parents who actually care about their child's education will not tolerate a 5-minute conference. Try again with something less condescending and cavalier, Swayne.

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Patricia Willens • October 25, 2012, 5:18 PM

I have floor plans of my child's school printed out and a list of room assignments for the teachers. I'm told I will have three minutes for each meeting. My strategy? Pick the top three teachers I want to meet and leave the others to another time. Also, the PTA reps told us all to wear comfortable shoes!

Vicki Zunitch • October 28, 2012, 2:49 PM

Why don't parents and PTAs demand more than three minutes per meeting? Two days of conferences instead of one?

Benjamin Lewin • November 3, 2012, 3:56 AM

Schools are mandated to have two sessions of parent-teacher conferences, which can either be in the same day, or two different days. It totals to about six hours. That being said, in my 10 years of teaching, I have never heard of a teacher saying "no" to a parent who requested either an in-person or phone conference about their child's progress. I have, however, had many parents tell me that they are "too busy" to take five minutes of their time to learn more about how their child is doing. If there is not already open communication between teachers and parents, then all the parent-teacher conferences in the world will not help.

Angela Brown • October 25, 2012, 8:22 PM

It is called, "OPEN SCHOOL WEEK". When I was teaching, my classroom, prep and professional periods were for my students' parents during that week not just the two hours of afternoon and evening hours.

Ricky Chan • October 25, 2012, 8:30 PM

Just keep in mind that Parent Teacher Conferences are not the only opportunity to communicate with your teacher(s) during the school year. Prepare a list of topics/issues and mention them during your discussion. Let the teacher(s) know that these topics/issues are important and that you'd like to follow-up with them at a later time.

1 Reply

Vicki Zunitch • October 28, 2012, 2:45 PM

Mr. Chan, what are the other opportunities? If even half of the parents in a 30-student class tried your method, the teacher would spend the rest of the year getting to those appointments.

Vicki Zunitch • October 28, 2012, 2:43 PM

That is so far beyond bad it's instantly laughable. Why can they "afford" only 5 minutes when "parent engagement" is one of their top priorities?
Why am I the only one laughing?

Rachel Leinweber • October 30, 2012, 2:27 PM

Use Parent-Teacher Conferences To Start Conversations

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