School Conferences….a time to learn the good and the not so good about your child. I feel strongly that this brief meeting with your child’s teacher should be short, straight to the point and a collaboration of parent/s and teacher working together for the benefit of the child.
One way that we make these conferences efficient is to leave our student at home. In the past, some teachers have encouraged a “student lead conference” and actually involved the student in the meeting, but we have always chosen not to do that. Before the conference, I ask my son/daughter if they have any questions, concerns or anything that I need to talk to the teacher about. I can then come in with an agenda and/or questions.
We have found that leaving our child at home (or at least outside of the classroom) makes it easier for teachers to express concerns and talk candidly about the student, and we can ask our questions more freely too. After the fifteen minute conference, we have hopefully developed a game plan for helping our student reach his/her full potential. It works for us!!!