Wednesday, October 5, 2011

PARENT CONFERENCES


CHEERS AND GOALS

Oh, no!  It’s that time of year when you have your first parent conference.  Here are a few tips that might help you. 

Cheers and Goals
Give children a piece of paper.  Have them fold it in half and write “Cheers” on one side and “Goals” on the other side.  On the “Cheers” side encourage them to draw pictures of three things they have learned that make them feel proud.  (Older students could label these and younger students could dictate descriptions.)  On the “Goals” side children draw pictures of three things they are working on.  Again, they can write sentences or dictate goals to the teacher.  Having this and other samples of children’s work is a great way to start a conference.

Another strategy that I used as a teacher was the “Parent Conference Questionnaire.”  Ask parents to fill out a form similar to the one shown and bring it to the conference.  If they show up empty handed, simply smile and give them another one to fill out before you get started.  This will guide the conference starting with the positives and working through areas the child needs to work on.
*You can download a copy of the Parent Conference Questionnaire on my July, 2011, Parent Power Pak.