Note: The Conference Sign Ups feature has been renamed “Appointment Sign Ups.” No other changes to the feature have been made.
(Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in February 2018 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy and comprehensiveness.)
It seems like we just welcomed in the New Year, but spring parent-teacher conferences will be here before we know it, and it can be a lot of work! Here are some web resources, best practices for teachers to consider, and how to leverage ParentSquare’s Conferences feature—including new use cases!
Before the Conference
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Whether your district is remote, hybrid, or on-site, help parents know what to expect at the conference. Provide guidance and set expectations — whether on paper or online. Let parents know what they should be prepared to discuss — any changes at home, should their student be present, and a reminder to be punctual. The most important part is how parents can be partners in their student’s learning.
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Include some online resources for parents, such as these: Tips for Successful Parent-Teacher Conferences at Your Child’s School and 20 Questions to Ask During a Parent-Teacher Conference.
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It is a good idea to have some work from each child displayed in the classroom if you’re face-to-face, or ready to screen-share with parents, if you’re meeting remotely.
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Have a list handy of educational apps and community resources for the family. This is especially useful right now during the pandemic, when many parents may be in need of additional help/support with vital social services like food distribution programs.
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Plan on talking only about 25% of the time. Leave the rest open for Q&A and exchange of thoughts and ideas. Rehearse beforehand if needed!
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Remember that you want to engage parents so they can support their child’s learning at home. Think about what they may need in order to accomplish that and what you ideally want parents to do at home. This is especially important if you are in a remote or hybrid learning scenario, as many students (and parents!) are experiencing pandemic burnout. This article offers wonderful tips to help parents combat COVID-19 burnout, if you’d like to pass it along.
At the Conference: Resources and Best Practice for Teachers
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Remember the parents want to leave this meeting feeling that you truly care for their child. Discuss the child’s social and emotional behavior along with their academic progress.
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Allow yourself a buffer between meetings so parents don’t feel rushed through the conference. Even five minutes between can make a difference if a conference is running long.
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Student-led conferences are a win-win for the teacher, student and the parent. In the student-led conference format, students and teachers prepare together, and then students lead the conference while teachers facilitate. Parents tend to become more reflective about their children’s progress and understand how to help at home through this modality. Students also better understand their strengths and challenges and the correlation between their effort, progress, and resulting work quality. Here are two great articles from Scholastic that outline student-led conferences and K-12 teacher quotes on successful parent-teacher conferences.
Scheduling Conferences: Save Time and Make it Easy For Families
In addition to all the planning for conferences, teachers are faced with the daunting task of scheduling time slots that work for each family. ParentSquare makes online conference sign-up easy to set-up, in less than five minutes…and the best part, no paper! Teachers also have the ability to indicate special conference slots for English learner families, so interpreter services can be provided. Additionally, teachers can also designate times for certain families if they wish.
ParentSquare Bonus: Safely Schedule On-Campus Pick-Ups/Drop-Offs
Did you know? Schools and districts use ParentSquare Conference sign-ups to safely schedule on-campus pick-ups and drop-offs. It is an easy way to book parents in for curbside-technology pick-ups, library book drop-offs, course material pick-ups, etc. This helps make sure you don’t have long waiting lines, so you can keep the number of people on-campus low. It also helps staff more easily manage distributions.
Districts and schools can use this incredible ParentSquare feature to better serve students during the pandemic and well-beyond. For more information or a demo, please contact our sales team today!
Want to learn more about how your district or school can leverage
ParentSquare’s Conference Sign Up feature?
