The time of the year approaches when everything in my room is exactly where it should be. All my student’s desks should be cleaned. Student work is neatly hung all over my walls. No papers linger in my hand in basket. Everything is ready… everything is clean… I walk in wearing my best looking suit and prepare myself for the road ahead. Parent teacher conferences. Do they have to be so stressful?
Every year as conferences approach, there seems to be stress in the air. Teachers are at the top of their game. They are more organized than usual. They are working on report cards, and pulling out their hair. They are administering assessments and correcting like crazy. But does it always have to be this way? What can I do to be more relaxed when this time comes?
Teachervision has an extensive list of tips to help prepare you for parent teacher conferences. Not only does it offer tips to prepare you before conferences, it offers tips to help you through your conferences and then to follow up after your conferences are finished. One tip I found especially useful was keeping a note card on each student with topics you want to discuss, this way I won’t forget to mention anything, whether it is good or not so good.
I have found no matter how prepared you are and how much you have communicated with a parent, you still can have a not so friendly conference. I remember my very first conference I had a parent begin firing accusations of me not doing my job correctly even before the previous parents were out my door. Since it was my first year teaching and only my fourth conference, I was totally caught off guard. I wish I would have come across Handle with Care before now. The article offers more tips for conferences, but focuses on handling difficult situations. First, before the conference, document, document, document. It is important to document any difficulties you are having in the classroom. Some of the tips they offer for during the conference include, taking notes, having support present, and allowing for anger. After the conference, don’t forget to follow up, and continue to communicate with the parent.
Finally, Education World offers tips and strategies for both teachers and administrators to help get the most out of conferences. Sometimes I think teachers get so wrapped up in just making it through their conferences, they forget the real reason they are there meeting with the parents, to keep them involved in their child’s education. For the administrator, prepare the teachers, let the parents know what the goals are from the conference and make it easy for every parent to attend. For the teacher, notify parents of the conferences, plan for a successful conference, and allow for parents to get the most from their child’s conference.
Hopefully these sites will help prepare some of you for successful conferences. Maybe you don’t need any help. But it never hurts to be extra prepared, especially for those unexpected conferences that catch you off guard.
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Jenna,
ReplyDeleteI know most of the teachers in my building are just like you when it comes to PTC's - strung as tight as a piano string. Working in alternative education I unfortunately do not get very many parents who come in for conferences (some don't care, some don't have vehicles and some kids live with foster parents). I too discovered Teachervision and think it gives some good tips to be ready for PTC's but the best way to get ready is to not procrastinate. Get organized early and have a plan a month before they begin, doing a little bit every day in order to avoid stress at the end (then you can worry about grading and report cards). I find the teachers who are most stressed are the ones who aren't very well organized.
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To a point, I don't know that the anxiety for PTCs will ever completely disappear. This is my 21st year, and there is always some anxiety. The biggest part of that anxiety is the unknown. As a teacher of primarily semester classes, every time we have PTC I am meeting some parents for the first time. Not knowing what to expect from them gives me anxiety. I don't think I have ever had a bad conference, so I always wonder when it will be my turn. I believe part of the reason I have good conferences is preparation. Since I use weighting when I grade, I can use my categories to define what students are doing well and what they are struggling with. We have been told by administration that if we anticipate a bad conference to let the teachers around us (and the administrators) know so they can be prepared to intervene.
ReplyDeleteThe bottom line for me is that I believe my grading process is fair and representative of what students are learning. I also give my students ample opportunity to get help and provide assistance for the tests. I don't leave much room to take the blame myself for student's grades.
The scariest thing in the world. A parent-teacher-conference. Ugh, something sometimes so vile it can rip us up! As you have so nicely described. I have spoken with so many parents in such a short time and received such a large spectrum of responses it is frightening. I am a little naive about the fact that many people just are not open to as much as you would like to think. There was a horrible conference with another teacher at my school about 2 weeks ago where the parents went AWOL on her and it was sad to see such close-mindedness about their child's behavior and progress in the class. Then I had a PTC where the parents just wanted to come in and be involved. I thought it was great, the student is awesome and never does anything wrong, so there wasn't much to talk about and it was a great experience. It is sad that some parents really believe teachers are their enemies and have it out for their children. I don't think that would be quite right for us to do in education, or else why would we be teaching?
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