3.20.2014

Parent Teacher Conference


What do you do for Parent Teacher Conference?

I print out a progress report for the quarter and highlight any low grades and absences. At the bottom, I write negative behaviors and positive behaviors, making sure I never have more negatives than positives.

I should have written recommendations at the bottom but I just said it out loud instead.

I also make a sign up sheet and ask parents how I can contact them, telling them I prefer email.

Out of 53 students, I had 7 parents show up and I've never had more than 10 show up. And usually it's the parents of kids that have good grades. Imagine that.

Does your school require you to do certain things?

8 comments:

  1. I print out the class progress report with summary totals for each grading category and then I do blank half sheets that I fill in with those numbers once a parent comes (otherwise I end up with over 100 spare progress reports). I also pull up the progress report with every assignment on it and show the parent that and include info from that in the notes section (its all online too so our parents could also see it there).

    And I always get way more good grades than bad.

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    Replies
    1. I hand those extra grade sheets out and give a double homework grade for having them signed and returned. The students whose parents came to conferences get the credit automatically!

      I had 8 good parents and 6 parents from former students last conferences we had.

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  2. I recently wrote about the same thing. Progress reports, not necessarily for P/T Conferences, but as a communication tool that complements the electronic grade book. You may want to consider having students reflect on their own behaviors and sharing that as well. If you think this posthas value, feel free to tailor it to meet your needs.

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  3. I do the grade sheets too. I also take advantage of the fact that our program lets us add to the grade sheet and I usually add:
    *Is behavior a concern: YES NO
    *Does student attend Tutoring: YES NO
    *Is student frequently off task: YES NO
    *Does student ask questions (in class or outside of class): YES NO
    *Has student sought extra assistance: YES NO
    *Has student taken any reassessments: YES NO

    Number of Late Assignments which need to be completed 1 2 3 4 5 6+

    I also add important dates such as date of next assessment, last day to turn in late work/reassess previous quizzes/tests, when the marking period ends,

    This makes it easier for me to remember to discuss these things at conferences.

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  4. In the fall we schedule conferences so each core teacher meets with her 1st hr students and gives a report from the other core teachers. They fill out a google doc with any comments they want shared. They also share any important announcements they want shared with the parents.

    In the winter we have walk in conferences so parents meet with whichever teachers they need to. We have Powerschool so I just project Quick lookup on my SMARTboard and then click on any grades the parents want more info about.

    We strongly encourage the students to come to attend the conference.

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  5. We have a sign in sheet that is provided by the school which we have to turn in at the end of conferences. I have, in the past, printed out progress reports from my gradebook, and given them to parents. I distribute the remaining reports to the students the following day. These days, I usually just have a laptop open where I can show the progress reports. If a parent wants a copy, I provide them with information about how they can access this information regularly on line. I try to have information available about test dates (Regents exams), test preparation and study options, etc.

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  6. Thanks for the comments everybody! How do we get more parents do attend?

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