Parents Teacher Meeting:
A parent-teacher conference is a short meeting or conference between the parents and teachers of students to discuss children’s progress at school and find solutions to academic or behavioral problems.
During the academic year, most schools invite parents to come in for regular parent-teacher meeting. If you have received a note from school advising you that your child’s teacher wants to schedule a meeting with you, don’t worry. This is a standard part of the school’s efforts to build a strong partnership between parents and teachers. Whether your child is having a positive or negative experience in school, parent-teacher meeting will help you and your child’s teacher find ways to work together to ensure your child’s success.
BENEFITS OF PARENTS TEACHING MEETINGS
Parent-teacher meetings have many benefits, parents get the teachers opinion, it is a face to face conferences allowing for no miscommunication that might have happened otherwise. Whether your child is in Primary or Secondary School, the Parent Teacher Meeting is an important time to meet with your child’s teacher(s) in a one to one setting. Furthermore, it lets your child know that you care about their progress and their schools. In Primary school parents will usually only meet with the child’s class teacher. In Secondary school, however you will meet with all or most of their subject teachers (around six to eight individual teachers).
Parent teacher association works as a bridge between parents and teachers where through mutual cooperation both can decide what further steps should be taken so that a child can get most out of his/her studies.
Knowing that you have to go to your child’s school may make you feel nervous, intimidated, or frustrated as you consider the language and cultural differences that you face here in Society. You may wonder what to expect, and what is expected of you. That’s why The Classic School is here to help! you to answer most of your questions.
DURING THE CONFERENCE
Be on time
Get off to the right start: come to the conference on time. Remember that other parents may also have conferences scheduled for that day; if you arrive late, you have may missed your conference altogether. You should also plan on ending the conference at the scheduled time so that other parents can start their conference on time.
Be yourself
Relax and be yourself. Remember that you and the teacher both the want the same thing: the very best for your child.
Stay calm
Stay calm during the conference. Respectful communication will be the most effective way to work together with your child’s teacher. Getting angry or upset during the conference will make it very difficult to have a positive conversation.
Ask for explanations of anything you don’t understand
Listen carefully to what the teacher says. If you don’t understand something that the teacher talks about (such as an educational term or an explanation of a school policy), don’t be afraid to ask for clarification. It is important for you to understand what your child’s teacher is telling you.
Ask the most important questions early in the conference
Ask the most important questions first as you may run out of time, especially if other parents are waiting to have their conference after yours. You can always schedule another meeting with the teacher to cover any points you didn’t cover
Respectfully discuss differences of opinion
If you disagree with the teacher, respectfully explain why you disagree. If you don’t let the teacher know about your differences of opinion, the teacher may think that you agree and will move on to the next topic. Discussing your differences with the teacher may help both of you find a more effective way to help your child.
Create an action plan
Ask your child’s teacher for specific suggestions of ways that you can help your child at home with homework, reading, organization, routines, behavioral issues, etc. Make sure you understand the teacher’s suggestions, and ask for clarification if you don’t. This list of suggestions will become the action plan. Establish a way to keep track of the child’s progress, as well as the best way to stay in touch with your child’s teacher — through phone calls, emails, notes, or meetings. Review the action plan with the teacher as you end the conference to make sure that you both have the same expectations.
Thank the teacher for meeting with you
Thank the teacher for her time and support of your child, as well as for anything specific that she has done to help your child.
AFTER THE CONFERENCE
Talk with your child
Talk about the conference with your child. Emphasize the positive points, and be direct about problems that were discussed. If you and the teacher created an action plan, explain it to your child. Make sure that your child understands that you and the teacher created this plan to help him.
Start working on the action plan
Set the action plan in motion. To ensure that it is working, check your child’s behavior and schoolwork on a regular basis. Ask your child how he feels about school and his schoolwork.
Keep in touch with the teacher
Stay in touch with your child’s teachers. This will help you strengthen the parent-teacher partnership, and will be an important part of the child’s success in school. When a child sees that parents and teachers are working together, the child will understand that his/her education is a top priority at school and at home.
Ask for explanations of anything you don’t understand
Listen carefully to what the teacher says. If you don’t understand something that the teacher talks about (such as an educational term or an explanation of a school policy), don’t be afraid to ask for clarification. It is important for you to understand what your child’s teacher is telling you.
Ask the most important questions early in the conference
Ask the most important questions first as you may run out of time, especially if other parents are waiting to have their conference after yours. You can always schedule another meeting with the teacher to cover any points you didn’t cover
Respectfully discuss differences of opinion
If you disagree with the teacher, respectfully explain why you disagree. If you don’t let the teacher know about your differences of opinion, the teacher may think that you agree and will move on to the next topic. Discussing your differences with the teacher may help both of you find a more effective way to help your child.
Create an action plan
Ask your child’s teacher for specific suggestions of ways that you can help your child at home with homework, reading, organization, routines, behavioral issues, etc. Make sure you understand the teacher’s suggestions, and ask for clarification if you don’t. This list of suggestions will become the action plan. Establish a way to keep track of the child’s progress, as well as the best way to stay in touch with your child’s teacher — through phone calls, emails, notes, or meetings. Review the action plan with the teacher as you end the conference to make sure that you both have the same expectations.
Thank the teacher for meeting with you
Thank the teacher for her time and support of your child, as well as for anything specific that she has done to help your child.