Reflection for Parent-Teacher Conference

Reflection for the parent-teacher conference night:

            When looking back on this event, I think about what went well, what could have gone better, and what connections were made.  It was really great to meet some of my students' parents, and I was surprised about how many showed up--nine out of thirteen.  Ideally one would want to see all of the parents, but this was a nice starting point.  

            One thing that was really useful was our student folder system.  Though it was time consuming and stressful to put folders together for the students--and the system can surely be refined so that it is less stressful by not letting papers pile up--they were the highlighted center of the conversations I had with parents that night.

            The student folders contain all of the classwork for literacy, health, and social studies.  There is also a folder for weekly assessments.  These were all helpful because they provided artifacts that told the story of how a student was learning and initiated talking points for conversations with the student and the parents.

            For every conference, I made sure that the students were a part of the conversation.  I felt that it gave them more ownership into their learning.  It also gave them a chance to respond to any questions that the parents had. 

            Conferencing with the parents and students came second nature to me.  I warmly greeted them and praised the things that I appreciated about the students.  If there was something immediate that came to mind as far as any issues we've been having in class, I brought it up in a way that didn't belittle or criticize the student.  Rather, I posed it as an issue that we were working on…and for every student struggling with behavior I saw marked improvement.  Having the parents there helped with reinforcing to the student that s/he had people who wanted them to succeed.

            Another highlight to the conference was being able to connect with other members of the students' families.  There was one student with whom I made a connection earlier in the year because her sister was having a baby.  She was excited for me to finally meet her nephew who was a month old.

            There were also two brothers whom I met, though they were not related to anyone in our class.  One was a former student of Ms. Wise and was in 3rd grade now.  The other one was in kindergarten.  Their mother was having a personal conversation with Ms. Wise.  This showed me how sometimes parents seek teachers for support.

            As the boys were getting into different things in the class, I engaged them so that they were less likely to get in trouble.  I ended doing all sorts of lessons with them with playing games using words from our word wall, using the whiteboard for writing exercises, and even doing some drumming exercises on a drum I had brought in for my Native American studies.  It was really fun to have a whole classroom with lightly structured learning and students that wanted to learn…and the mom appreciated having quality time with Ms. Wise.

           

            As the evening came to a close, I realized that I had done half of the conferences on my own.  This was helpful to Ms. Wise as she was able to have long conferences with some students and parents that really needed longer sessions.  I really appreciated the trust and respect that Ms. Wise had given to me from early on that allowed me to grow in a way that I felt confident, competent, and knowledgeable enough to speak with the parents.

            In thinking what I'd like to do differently in the future, I found two things.  One is that I would like to reach out to parents that didn't respond to the parent teacher conference letter.  I'd like to see if there was a way that I could help them make it to the school or find a suitable alternative to talk about their child's performance.  Something else I'd do is to have some kind snacks and drinks to simply make the conference even more fun and enjoyable.