Parent Conferences & Report Cards

• Schedule conferences for 20 minutes, with 10-15 minutes between (consider late arrivals and conferences that go over time, as well as a mental break for yourself). Respect the 20 minute time frame as parents might have needed to arrange plans with work, child care, etc. to attend during their designated time slot.

• Don’t make the conference too short or feel rushed. Give the parent the time to talk and ask questions.

• Outside your door, post the schedule, leave several chairs, handouts, student artwork or a snack for parents that are waiting.

• Send reminders about the conferences home one week before.

• Use the largest chairs you can find for the table at which you will sit to meet with parents and other service providers. Comfortable parents are happy parents.

• Greet parents in the hall to welcome them and see them out when they leave.

• Be aware of your body language. Connect with parents through smiling, open posture, and a sincere tone.

• Begin the conference with a positive comment or compliment about the student.

• Think about beginning the conference by asking them what they would like to talk about regarding the student. This way, when it is time to talk about what you want to discuss they are ready to listen, not thinking about what they would like to say.

• Prepare a conference sheet ahead of time with notes for discussion.

• Have visuals / samples to display of homework items such as the homework schedule, explanations about homework sent home previously in case they didn’t receive it, a sample of homework that will be coming home in the future, spelling lists, and any workbooks that the students may bring home.

• Try to show one sample of the student’s writing. This can often be amusing to read together and focus on the positive things the child did in the sample.

• Give tips or helpful handouts about helping with homework, reading with their child, etc. (no more than 1 or 2 handouts about this to take home with them).

• Remember the parents are the student’s first teacher. Hopefully they will be willing to work with the student. Do not be adversarial in any way. Build trust, hear what they have to say about what may be helpful when working with the student and instill confidence that the student will have a wonderful year. Always do your best to end on a positive note.

• For conferences that need to be scheduled outside of the dedicated conference day, consider scheduling them for a time that works best for you. If you can’t stay late, schedule a morning meeting. Also morning meetings have a definite ending time... when the students arrive. This can be something to consider when scheduling a conference with particular parents.

• When the report card window opens, make a plan / schedule to tackle report cards a little at a time. Do not wait until the last minute and try to do them in one sitting.

• Doing one subject at a time, as opposed to one student at a time is more efficient (ex. with grade book / observations nearby, open the math page and populate one sub-category at a time, for example: addition facts). Remember, you can add grades to the first student, then use the keyboard shortcut “Control D” to populate / fill the entire column. Then you can go through and adjust a few grades for individual students that differ from the “average grade” that you filled the entire column with.

• When adding comments, keep them brief. A sentence or two for the main subjects (reading, writing, math) and behavior / work habits is sufficient, or a few sentences at the most.

• When writing comments, have a positive part (ex. what the student is doing well and a goal that they will be working on with you).

• If possible, try writing comments in a word document to be kept each reporting period. You can print it to proof read and refer back to it so comments aren’t repeated from one report card to the next. You may find this easier than proof reading in the small portal window on the report card program.

• Print a copy of your report cards, use a grade book, a word document, or whatever works best for you to reference when completing the 2^nd and 3^rd report cards.

• Let students know that the report cards are going home “tonight”. Show them the envelope and explain, “it is to show how you are doing in school”. Tell them it is for them “to look at with their parents” so they do not take it out and look at it in school, on the bus, etc. Remind them to return the signed envelope.

• Do not be quick to give the higher grades. Remember, a grade of 4 means that the student is consistently working a year above grade level. It is easier to show growth and is less negative than giving lower grades the second report card because you were giving out higher grades more freely.

• Keep the rubric or criteria for grading nearby to help determine what grade you will give students.

• When a grade is on the lower side, be prepared with evidence or observation notes to back up the grade in case parents ask or confront you about it.

• Consult with grade level colleagues to ensure consistency (ex. you may all put N/A (Not Applicable) in a sub category that hasn’t been covered in class yet).

• Talk with your grade level or office staff about the process for sending home report cards. Ask the following: Where or who to get report card envelops from? When are they to be sent home? When do you give them to students to bring home?

Once the file appears on screen, click the word "Open" at the top of the screen to bring up both download and print options.