How to Run Smooth Parent/Teacher Conferences
When I first started teaching, Parent/Teacher Conferences made me cringe. I didn’t even know where to begin when it came to scheduling, prepping, or what data I should be sharing with families. I finally got a great system down and Parent/Teacher Conferences became a breeze. Of course it’s still exhausting talking nonstop for hours on end, but I can show you some tips and tricks that I use to make the prep part of conferences less exhausting! Everything that I use comes from my Parent/Teacher Conference Pack that can be found on my Teachers Pay Teachers store HERE.
Schedule & Conference Sign Up
Before prepping anything else for conferences, you’ll need to get families signed up. There are many ways you can do this. You can just assign each family a date and time but that could potentially cause more work for you since you might have to do some rescheduling based on family availability.
I’ve found two ways that are easy and painless:
Use a Google Form and allow families to indicate their top 3 conference time choices. Then I use the data to make a conference schedule that works for me. This Google Form FREEBIE is linked here for y’all.
Use a free sign up tool like Sign Up Genius. You can insert the times that you are available, and families can choose which time is best for them. This is super easy!
Conference Reminders for Families
Life gets super hectic, and sometimes families forget about their conference date. I like to send home a small conference reminder half-sheet in student Take Home Folders several days prior to their family’s conference. Then I send home another reminder the day before the conference by giving the child a sticker label (printed on AVERY 5160 Labels) that says their conference is tomorrow at ____. Families find these simple reminders very helpful!
Day of Conference: Signing In
I always have families sign in to our conference time so that I have proof of the date that we met for a conference. This also means I’ll have proof that we didn’t meet for a conference if they didn’t show up for it.
I tape a “conference in progress” sign on my door so that people know that I am busy. This is just a helpful reminder to others.
Conference Prep & Discussion Topics
There are several things I like to prep before conferences:
Student Self Evaluation
Student Performance with Glows & Grows
Recent Writing or Work Sample
Student Goals & What to Focus on at Home
These things are discussed in detail below.
I keep all of these papers paper-clipped together in one stack for each student, and I organize the stack in the order of my conference schedule. I do that so when a family walks in to have their conference, I pull the next paper-clipped bunch of papers off the top of my stack and can begin the conference right away.
Student Self Evaluation- About a week before conferences begin, I have each student do a quick self evaluation of themselves. The self evaluation helps show how they feel about different academic subjects, as well as listening and work habits. I talk about making honest answer choices on this self evaluation and students do a great job with it. This is a great tool to show families during conferences because it allows them to see how their student feels about their different habits and behaviors at school. This self evaluation page is included in my conference pack.
Student Performance with Glows & Grows- The bulk of the conference lays here. This sheet helps me lead the conference discussion. I use my conference overview sheet that includes a section for reading and math performance, as well as areas where the student is “glowing” or “growing.” I have included pre-written glows and grows so that I can check off which ones the student exhibits or is working on. I record any reading or math screener data in the reading/math performance sections so that I can discuss those details with families as well. This page requires prep but not too much since I’ve included pre-written options to save teachers time. Of course there is a section at the bottom for teachers to write additional comments.
Recent Writing or Work Sample- It’s always good to have a beginning of year and current writing sample on hand so that families can see how much growth (or how little growth if the student is struggling and needs additional help/testing) the student has made during their time in my classroom.
Student Goals & What to Focus on at Home- After discussing performance data and areas where students could potentially grow, I flip to the back of my conference overview sheet where I have written student goals, and what they can focus on at home to meet those goals. The goals I choose are usually based on district statistics (reading level, math performance level, etc.). After discussing where we want the student to progress by the end of the year, I always ask families if they have any questions.
Student Data Binders
If you are at a school that requires you to have Student Self Tracking Data Binders, then don’t forget to utilize that tool as well! I’ve worked in a school that had first graders self-track their own reading, writing, and math data each month and this came in handy during Parent Teacher Conferences because I hardly had to prep anything. I just pulled out the student’s data binder and walked through it with the family. I discussed “glows and grows” that I saw within the student, but other than that it was smooth and easy! If you’re interested in starting Student Data Tracking Binders, you can grab my pack for K-5 HERE.
Wishing you the best Parent/Teacher Conference season!
