This week I was lucky enough to be given a day to schedule conferences for all my families. I know this isn’t a novel idea for a lot of you, but my district hasn’t ever provided a day for parent conferences in first grade.
I was so excited and slightly super nervous for 12 conferences in one long day! I have an amazing group of kids and parents this year so I knew it was going to go well.
Before the actual conference day, I had to go about scheduling all those conferences! I sent out an email to my parents explaining to them what the conferences were for and giving them a list of 15 minute time increments. I asked them to choose 3 times that worked best for them and that conferences would be scheduled on a first response basis. I was so pleased to have 12 out of 17 parents want to come in and chat.
{To download and edit the letter I emailed, click here}
After I got everyone all scheduled, I sent home a letter telling the parents when their time was. It also had a spot for them to say whether or not they were coming and then to sign it.{To download the confirmation letter, click here}
Once the conferences are underway, I use a Parent Teacher Conference Template to prepare and to take notes during the conference. You can get the template I use as a freebie by clicking the picture below.
I also like to give my parents a handout that I put together for practicing reading and math at home. It consists of a lot of tips that we as teachers know and use daily, but it really helps break things down for parents to understand how to really help their kids. Click the picture below to check it out!
My parent conferences ended up going extremely well! I had a couple parents that needed to reschedule and I ended up having a huge break in the middle of the day from about 9-2, but overall it was a great day. During my break I got some good lesson planning done, and let’s face it, some good chatting with the office staff. :)
I loved being able to have a day where I met with all my parents because there are some parents that I wouldn’t necessarily call in for a conference because their kid is well behaved and on level, so it was really nice to be able to just talk for a little bit and for me to let them know how awesome their kid is. I also have a few kids who go to child care after school or their grandparents pick them up, so it was really nice actually seeing those parents and building a connection with them.
If your school does not give you a day for parent conferences or if they do and you don’t use it, I highly suggest doing it! It was awesome. It was a lot of prep work beforehand, but once it was done I felt so good, and I’m sure the parents did as well.
