Rethinking the Parent-Teacher-Conference

My thoughts:

As a middle school teacher, I teach around 140 students.  Three times a year in the academic calendar, there are evenings set aside for Parent-Teacher-Conferences (this is not to say that a parent can not come in during the regular school day and set up a meeting for a teacher's planning period or for after school.)  If I am there for two hours, and every slot is filled with 15 minute conferences to talk about a certain student's grades, behavior, study or organization skills, I would meet about 8 students' academic situations. That means two hours of my time would yield face-to-face contact with less than 5% of my students.



Over the past several years as an 8th grade history teacher, I have noticed few parents sign up to talk to me, and I think to myself, "this is antiquated and a waste of resources." If a parent has a concern, teachers and parents email each other. If I'm going to be at school for the evening, missing out on family time I want more "bang for my buck." As my own children have gone to school, I have realized that what I want more than anything is to be connected with their days at school.  I want to know what they are learning, to experience the classroom culture and content.  I imagine that is what most parents want -- to feel connected.  It is what we teachers should also want from parents.

Parent Education Involvement
I've also noticed Back to School nights in September at my middle school are well attended, and I think the way we schedule it helps promote participation. Parents visit all their child's teachers, get a feel for their child's day and get a 5-7 minute spiel about the classroom expectations. As a parent I attend about 30 minute group sessions in my children's elementary classroom; I hear what they will learn this year, what is expected, what to expect. These evenings are jammed packed with parents at the elementary school.  And so I've concluded that the traditional Parent Teacher Conference is not working. For some reason, schools send the message parents only need to come in if there is a problem to discuss, when we can always email each other.



 I think we should use this time to share the culture of the school and build partnerships with parents, even if there are no specific concerns.  So I've been saying for years, we need to do this differently! It would be so much better for teachers to conduct sessions and have parents shuffle through.  If the parent has a particular concern, we can solve that over email or a phone call. For the parents whose kids are doing fine, they can feel connected to the classroom and come in to the school and get a feel for their son or daughter's daily life at school.



Furthermore, for the parents who might not feel comfortable meeting one-on-one with a teacher (or one-on-five if they are meeting with several teachers), a group session might be more enticing, less intimidating. When I've shared my ideas, I've been met with smiles, but not much interest in change.

ALWAYS at the last Parent Teacher Conference night of the year (after the 3rd 9 weeks report card), attendance is next to none, but of course, we teachers still come to school and sit in our rooms alone, doing other things, or chit chat with our colleagues. I wanted to change that.



Giving it a try:
In March, I attended an amazing conference through Buck Institute on Project Based Learning. Over the course of the three day conference, each teacher created a PBL experience for his/her students. In looking at what topics lay ahead for the school year, what might excite the students and me, and how I could connect World History to current events, I chose a controversial topic -- the Crusades and the three monotheistic religions of Islam, Judaism and Christianity legacy of bitterness. All of these topics are standards addressed in my curriculum, but I want to be careful, not to have the academic pursuit taken out of context, so I wanted to include the parents on the discussions.

So my desire to connect with parents face-to-face about a topic, engaging these parents whose students are already doing well along with my thoughts about Parent Teacher Conference antiquated format challenged me to give these "sessions" approach a try.  I reached out to the PTA and my school administration and there were no funds to entice parents with food, but I got permission to have two sessions. The Instructional Technology Resource Teacher helped me prepare a power point and we just bit the bullet ourselves and provided Starbucks & cookies for the parents,  water and snacks for the kids. We saw over 30 people.

 Kids got the chance to explain to their parents what they were learning.
 One parent came with a concern about religion in the project, and when she met with me face-to-face and heard the presentation, she realized some of the details of the project were lost in translation. Her daughter has As, but it is still worth her time to visit school.


Teachers and schools have to figure out a way to engage these stakeholders, welcoming them into conversation as well as inside the building. As a parent, I know I want to be connected, but I won't make the time to come to school in the evenings to do what can be done by email, checking grades online or a phone call.   The connections and culture of the classrooms can not be conveyed via email, so inviting parents into the conversations is crucial to building rapport and relationships for both teachers and parents. Let's rethink how and when we can connect to create valuable learning for students.

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