Parent/Teacher Conferences

I posted this last year, however, with conferences this week – I feel it’s worth revisiting.

The role of the parent/teacher conference is to provide the opportunity to foster the “team approach” and provide direct face-to-face time to discuss the whole child.  This provides parents and staff the opportunity to look at the strengths of the individual child and the individual areas for growth.   It is a time to revel in the student’s successes and determine ways to best support the individual child in their areas of weaknesses in the academic, social and behavioral arenas.

A few tips:

• Prior to the parent/teacher conference, talk to your child to know your student’s teachers, classes and their perspective of the course(s).  This allows the education discussion to begin at home and fosters the family and school partnership.
• To best utilize your time, prepare your prioritized questions for discussion.
• Arrive on time or a a few minutes early.
• Take notes to allow you to review the conference with your child.
• Do not stay beyond your alloted time.  Future conference opportunities can be discussed to continue important discussions.

From all sides, communication is the key to continued success and less stress.  The more we can effectively communicate with each other, the greater the odds of helping the individual child maximize their entire Saline Area Schools educational experience.