10 Ways to Ace Your Parent-Teacher Conference

 Date of parent teacher conference

As a parent you are aware of the date on which the conference between you and the teacher is going to take place. Looking at the calendar, you need to ensure that you have sufficient time on either end of the parent-teacher conference that you intend to face. You should bring your child to the conference that is not jam-packed between work and lunch-time. This scenario will not help you to hold productive conversation between you and the teacher. Consider the calendar and look at your schedule and book an appointment with the teacher to make your parent teacher meeting as your first choice. 

Attending every parent teacher conference

You need to make it a point to attend every parent-teacher conference in spite that your child’s teacher assures you that everything is moving fine with your child. She might inform you that your child’s grade is A in all subjects and there are no behaviour issues for you to worry. However, without thinking about all these things, it is essential for you to attend the parent teacher meeting without fail. From this you can make the teacher understand that your child is an impressive student and you care more for his/her education as well.

Elimination of distractions

You can leave siblings at home and by turning off your cell phone, you can make sure to specially concentrate on your child’s teacher conference. It does not matter if you have a one on one interaction with the teacher or if your child is also involved, but you must provide your complete attention to the conference.

Concentrate on academic progress

It is extremely vital that during the parent-teacher conference, the discussion must centre on the academic growth of your child to discover if he/she is keeping up with the pace. Study the curriculum and find out if your child is working accordingly, prior to the conference. This will assist you in understanding the teacher’s comments concerning your child.

Be positive

Whether your child likes his/her teacher or not you should appreciate and offer a positive feedback to her. This will set a friendly and cordial platform for the parent-teacher conference.

Learn about the agenda

The main aim of the teacher for the conference is to inform you about the academic growth of your child in the class and how well he/she can perform in the next class. Hence, if behavioural issues do crop up, they can be discussed separately as they involve the teacher and the child.

Visit around the school

When you are taking your child for parent-teacher conference, you should encourage him/her to show the classroom or take you around the school if possible. He/she will be happy to show some special spaces, which is his/her favourite. The child might be free from the nervousness of being included in the conference.

Re-evaluate work samples

You can request the teacher to show a few examples of your child’s work. On the other hand, you can also share the work that he/she has done at home with the teacher. This will assist in focusing the parent-teacher conference on the child’s capacities.

Asking questions

Prior to attending any parent-teacher conference, you can prepare your questions and not be afraid of asking them. The questions that you need to ask must be as to how you can assist your child at home. Ask the teacher in the conference as what skills your child requires to work on most, and how you will be able to help him/her. Furthermore, your questions must include as to how you can make your child’s reading fluency reach its optimum level. Besides, you can find out about what maths fact games are essential and are good at home.

Keep in touch

As a parent you must know that there is a consistent change in the education field. Hence, it would be better to have knowledge about local and state educational modifications that may influence the school where your child studies. The common core standards and standardized tests may not be in the control of the teacher, but she might provide information about them. The earlier you learn about them, the more useful will the parent-teacher conference be. Since such a conference is a platform for a productive conversation, be prepared and attend having a positive attitude that will be beneficial for your child in the future.