PTC: Stressful or Not?: Blog 13

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.