Its that time of year again! Time to meet with parents and talk about their child! Our school decided to split the two nights of conferences (last Thursday and this coming Tuesday). I have one night under my belt...and it went real well! Conferences use to be a very nervous night for me. I have become more and more relaxed! Now I run into the time management piece...I want to talk to long and go over the 15 minutes that is scheduled. I was wondering what others to do to keep on track when it comes to time? How do you start your conference? Would love to hear how others run their conference!
Hey Megan,
ReplyDeleteGot to love conferences! As a 7th grade teacher we are told to keep our conferences to five minutes. So it is even tougher yet. I always try to start off a conference with a positive comment. Especially if that particular student "struggles" in class. Honesty is always best. In my first couple years I tried to sugar coat things, now I'm being more honest. I think parents appreciate it too. Have fun!
We have 10 minute conferences for the second go-around of the year (15 minutes at the beginning of the year). I make sure to start with something positive, talk about any struggles, and then leave them with a couple of things they can do at home with their child. It usually goes really quick. A couple of times in past years I have asked parents if we could schedule another meeting after school sometime if we run out of time and still have things to discuss. That has seemed to go really well.
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