to inform your student’s teacher. Teachers may even be able to offer resources and guidance to help your student manage life’s circumstances while they are at school. PREPARE QUESTIONS IN ADVANCE Every child is unique. Their individual academic journey will shape the nature of the questions that may be asked during a parent-teacher conference. Some examples include: ■Is my student being challenged appropriately? ■What can I do at home to extend learning and support my child’s education? ■Would you recommend additional support for my student at this time? This could include gifted, enrichment or intervention services, speech therapy, occupational therapy, tutoring, etc. ■What are my students’ strengths in the classroom, socially/academically? ■What should my student be focusing on to improve their school experience? Day-to-day chats with your student can give you some insights about what life is like in the classroom, but parent-teacher conferences are a bit like being a fly on the wall where you gain even more insight about your kiddo. Take the time to ask questions and learn more about your child. MAKE A PLAN If teachers are meeting with many parents on a given conference night, individual parent-teacher face-to-face time may be time restricted. Be sure to ask for the teacher’s preferred method of contact and reach out in the future, if necessary. Also inform the teacher of how they can best reach out to you, if need be. Note: If you change address or get a new phone number during the school year, update your students’ main office! Finally, if additional discussion time is being requested, throw out some dates and put it on the calendar! A parent-teacher conference has the potential to be stressful for the teacher, the parent, and maybe even the student too. But if everyone is prepared and does their part, it will run smoothly! Be informed, yet open, communicate strengths and concerns. Overall, create an optimistic environment where it is known that everyone is working together to guide the student to learn, grow, and flourish. At the end of the day and at the heart of it, everyone is truly on “Team Student”!
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