Make parent conferences more manageable

 It’s that time of the year when things are getting CRAZY!  We have a ton of district assessments for the next two weeks because our trimester is ending and you know what that means…REPORT CARDS and PARENT CONFERENCES.  Oh my!  I use to really dread conference time.  It wasn’t that I didn’t have friendly parents, but it felt like a a lot of pressure and sometimes I feel that I’m not good enough or have no clue what I’m doing.  Can you relate?  In my head, I’m wondering what the friendly faces sitting across the table from me are thinking. I found that it’s best to be as prepared as possible.  Since I’ve implemented this system, the anxiety on both sides has come down quite a bit.

 This year, I’ve got some techie parents so I’m using Sign Up Genius to have them choose a conference time.  I’ve used this for class donations, family readers, and parent volunteers.  I love this free site because there’s no stress trying to switch times around because 3 people signed up for the same time.  There are so many great features, you’ve got to play around with it, you’ll fall in love, pinky promise!

 If you don’t have a community where parents have access to technology, send home a note.  Here’s an example of what I’ve used in the past.  I send home the top copy and parents circle 3 times that work best for them.  Once I get all of them back, I try and schedule them.  Sometimes, it’s tough!  Once I’ve pulled out all of my hair, I send the final copy home in an e mail, a note home, and I tape a copy on our door.

 This form has by far changed my attitude toward conferences.  I’m a bit of an anxious person.  I was that kid who needed to know what I was wearing the next day, what are plans were going to be, etc. etc.  So…if you’re like me, conferences and the unknown can be scary.  This has relieved a lot of pressure for me and for parents.  I have an idea of what parents would like to go over and it gives parents a voice and the feeling that we’re partners {because we are}.  I go over these to help me prepare for each conference.
 I promise, this will set the tone of your conference and make it more manageable!!!

 I use these notes as a friendly reminder for parents.  There are four to a page to save you some precious copy paper!

 Remember when I said that I loved data, well I do!  I love analyzing data and sharing results.  Parents especially like this because bottom line, they want to know where there students are at.  I included a blank form that you can edit by adding text boxes.