Family-Student-Teach Conferences Hold Great Potential For Teaching Children Well

It's family-student-teacher conference week for fifth grade. With each conference, we'll listen to students' and parents' highlights, questions, and goals. If we listen well, we'll be able to synthesize those questions, goals, and highlights into a program update that better educates each and every child. The challenge here includes the following:

• Listen carefully
• Take questions and critique seriously and positively
• Respond realistically with respect to further questions and conversations about what suggested changes and revision will look like for a child and the class
• Keep a list of parent/student concerns, highlights, and questions in order to see trends and needed program updates across the board as well as changes and updates for individual children

To welcome families and students into the conversation, plans, prep, and efforts to teach well is to strengthen, personalize, and better the teaching/learning program. 

To be well prepared for these meetings is to invite optimal exchange. Our preparation for each meeting includes some or all of the materials and attitudes below:

• an open mind
• listening
• positivity
• student showcase portfolios
• student data/comment sheets
• conference sign-up card for dates and parent signatures
• a clock to keep track of time
• conference schedule posted outside of the classroom for parent, student, teacher reference

We have about twenty minutes per conference which means that this is about a 7 1/2 hour face-to-face time event--an event that requires substantial attention, preparation, and care, and an event that holds terrific promise for the teaching year ahead if we are open to that impact.