Are you super stressed by the thought of having to do virtual parent-teacher conferences? I know I am. We have switched from Zoom to Teams this year and since we have been teaching in the school, I don’t have much practice using it. I am worried about the tech. I am stressed about building connections virtually. I am concerned because we haven’t had face to face contact with parents like we usually have. I feel like we must be even more prepared for the meeting and to help cultivate the home-school relationship.
Since I don’t even have the choice to have an in-person conference, I am trying to make the best of it.
I have already had parents/adults inform me that they love the convenience of being able to do the meeting with you from home. It is helping them with childcare and they can do it while traveling for business.
The first step to success is being prepared for conferences. We really need to be since we won’t have the adult sitting next to us where we can just pass them a paper. We will have to send home any work we wish to discuss prior to the day of the conference.
Virtual conferences, and the preparation for them, will be similar to in person conferences. Check out this blog post that describes how I run conferences.
I am still scheduling virtual parent-teacher conferences on a site like Sign up Genius. I am allowing extra time for and in between conferences in case anyone has technical issues.
The second step to success is knowing what parents want to discuss in advance. I am also sending home a pre-conference questionnaire, so I know what parents want to discuss. If you don’t have one, you can send an email to parents asking what students seem to be successful with, what they are having trouble with and any specific questions or topics they would like to discuss. I feel that taking the time to do this helps me not only be prepared for the conference but helps me steer the conversation during the conference.
Before the conference date, gather the data for your class. I use reading assessments, writing samples, student work, student self-reflections, rubrics, formative and summative assessments, etc. For Fall conferences I like to make sure I have beginning of the year data so I can focus on growth.
The third step to success is effective communication. I like to begin the conference asking parents if they received the student’s report card and if they have any questions. Throughout the conference, ask questions so you are sure you and they understand what the other one is saying. I try to let parents/caregivers do the talking. Then, ask clarifying questions. When you share, ask questions, such as, “Do you notice the same thing at home?”
Take notes and send an email after the conference with notes. That way the child’s caregivers will know you really listened to them and have reminders on how to help their student.
Using these tips will help you with virtual conferences. I have recently made all my Parent-teacher conference forms digital on Google Slides. If you already own it, please head to Tpt and download again. You can find them in my blog shop and on Tpt.
