Building Teacher - Parent Relationships

With August approaching quicker than most teachers would like, it’s time to start thinking about that back to school to-do list.  And although your list is probably a mile long, I’m urging you to double check if you’ve added ways to build teacher-parent relationships.  Building a positive teacher-parent relationship from the get go is HUGE and IMPORTANT!  It can make a real difference not only for the student, but for the teacher too.  Here are a few things that I’ve done in the past to help build these relationships from the very start of the school year. 

Early Conferences:  Key word here is EARLY!  I know that the start of the school year can be crazy, but taking time to set up individual teacher-parent conferences can go a LONG way in building that connection fast.  It’s a great opportunity to learn about your new students, discuss expectations and WELCOME parents as partners in their child’s education.  This could even be done in the few days leading up to the start of  the school year so that the first weeks aren’t as overwhelming.

Student Inventory:  Want to learn more about your students?  Send home a student inventory asking parents to fill out information about their child.  Ask about their child’s strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes and have them share their goals with you about what they hope their child achieves this year. 

In this Freebie is an example of an inventory I've used to help me get to better know my students.  Grab it HERE for FREE!

Parent Meet & Greet:  Host a parent meet and greet.  Set up an evening and invite parents to come and here all about you and your class.  Take this time to introduce yourself, share your classroom expectations, answer questions and again WELCOME families.  This is also a great opportunity for parents to build relationships with other parents in the class. 

Class Information: Parents like to know what’s going on and should be informed.  Prepare a packet that LISTS ALL important information about your class and be ready to share it on the very first day of school.  Think about including your daily schedule, homework policy, behavior policy, birthday information, contact information and anything else relevant that parents should know about your class.  I always like to have parents sign and return a sheet saying that they’ve received and read the information just to be sure it was given to all. 

Have you seen this class information flip book by Chalk and Apples?  I LOVE IT!  Not only does it do the job, but it's small!  She also suggests adding a magnet to the back so parents can put it on their fridge which I think is brilliant!  Go HERE to check it out.

Be Proactive: If you start to notice student behavior or academic problems be sure to communicate these concerns with parents early.  It’s better to inform them and have them go away, then not and watch them become BIG problems later on.

Daily Interactions:  Think about how you interact with parents on a daily basis.  Are you friendly when you see them at drop off and pick up?  If they drop by your class  to chat how do you respond?  Do you smile at them?  Your daily interactions with parents make a big impact so try to remember that kindness goes a long way.

Pinterest Pin Here

Communicate Often and in Various Forms: Send notes, make phone calls, write a weekly newsletter, update your website etc.  Use these various forms to communicate student accomplishments and progress, class happenings and things you are excited about.

So what do you think?  I know there are so many ideas and tips out there for how to build teacher-parent relationships and I'd love to hear what you do!   All I know is that  just like I reflect and plan my teaching, I need to take time to reflect and plan how to build teacher-parent relationships each year.  And, I think big part of that is to remember to NOT give up! 

Happy Friday all! Now I'm off to go walking to encourage this baby to stay head down.  Ha-Ha

XOXOXO

Student-led Conferences & A Freebie

As promised today I'm posting all about student-led conferences.  (Keep reading for your Freebie)  I was first introduced to student-led conferences when I was teaching kindergarten.  I remember having no clue as to what they really were and as I started to understand I began thinking " you want me to do this with kinders."   I was pretty hesitant about the idea and was panicking just thinking about how this style of conference would run in my classroom.  For this particular year we were told that we'd be doing student-led conferences as the first conference of the year, which made the idea even more scary!

I began searching the internet for all things titled "student-led conferences."  At the time I don't remember finding a lot of resources that were geared for the early primary grades so I picked out ideas I liked and starting tweaking them to fit my needs.  Basically I created goal sheets for my students and also outlined a classroom tour with activities for the students to complete in front of their parents.  Prior to the conference we discussed students' roles and practiced the conference layout.  Then it was time for the main event and overall, it went GREAT!  After this first student-led conference I was hooked!

Student-led Conferences are just that, they are run by the students!  They promote self reflection, organization, responsibility, and communication.  They encourage students to take ownership of their learning and allow parents to get an inside look at how their student is really doing.  No more reading straight from the report card and feeling as if your running out of time.  Parents become partners in the process and work with you and their student to meet student goals.  And it is a beautiful thing to see!

So as I was looking back in my plan book I know some schools are already beginning to think about their first conferences of the year and decided that I wanted to actually create a resource for student-led conferences.  This resource is completely editable and can be modified to be used anytime throughout the year.  It includes your basic conference letters and notes, as well as editable station signs and direction forms so that YOU can create your own activities tailored to your current class needs.  Here's a look at how I would set up student-led conferences in my class.

-1 Month prior to Student-led conferences:

1.Send home Family Letter/Sign Up Sheet

2.Introduce students to their “My Portfolio”  folder.  Explain that in the coming weeks they will begin to prepare for their student-led conferences.  During this month pencil in class time for students to fill out their “My Portfolio” pages.  

-3 Weeks Prior:

1.Finalize Conference Schedule & Send home note to Families

2.This week continue working on “My Portfolio” pages with class.

-2 Weeks Prior:

1.Identify the Station Activities that you want students to focus on and edit/prepare station signs and direction pages.  Stations look different for each classroom and generally reflect what your students are working on at this time.

2.By the end of the week have student portfolios completed.

-1 Week Prior:

1.Send home Family Conference Reminder Notes

2.Discuss, Model, and Practice the student-led conference.  Be sure to include station activities and have students talk through their portfolios. (Review week of if time)

CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO GRAB YOUR FREEBIE!

-Student-led Conference:

1.Set up Stations and Classroom for Student-led Conferences

2.Welcome, Sign In, and Introduce Overview of Events

3.Let students lead their conference while you circulate and occasionally “pop in.”

This is the actual conference schedule.  The conference block lasts for 45 minutes but there are 3 Families present at a time.  In the past I would hold 15 minute parent-teacher conferences so time wise it's the same.

Schedule:

45-Minute block of time/3 Families per Block: After welcome they choose order of stations.

Station 1:  5 Minute Welcome & Sign In (Greet & explain procedures)

Station 2: 5 Minute Reading Activity

Station 3: 5 Minute Math Activity

Station 4: 5 Minute ABC or Spelling Activity

Station 5: 5 Minute Science Activity

Station 6: 5 Minute Writing Activity

Station 7: 5 Minute Social Studies Activity

Station 8: 10 Minute “My Portfolio” discussion

Well, there you have it!  Sorry if this post was a little long just thought I'd give you a look at how I'd run things.  All materials you see are part of my student-led conference set.  You can check out this set by clicking on the image below.  Also if you do student-led conferences I'd love to hear what you do!  Leave a comment and let's chat :)

WW: Student-led Conferences

Hi Everyone!  It's....

It's also October and that means I've started to think about student-led conferences!  Here's a peek at what I'm working on as I re-vamp my student-led conference materials.  Be sure to check back tomorrow for an in depth post, my product debut, and a freebie!

Do you do student-led conferences?