As a rookie teacher I remember feeling both excitement and trepidation as I waited for parents to arrive. I would think to myself, what would the parents ask? Would I have all the answers to their questions?
It came as a surprise when parents had very little to ask. I would simply get a thank you or I would be filling the silence with some relevant information. After a while I realised that perhaps parents were not sure of what to ask – after all, the education system has changed over the years. With high school parent-teacher conferences fast approaching, I thought I would provide some guidance to help parents communicate with high school teachers:
1) How many assessments or evaluations have the students had to date? What has been included in the current mark?
This will give you an indication of what their current mark is comprised of and whether they have had some assessments that were formative that were not counted in their marks. You can also consider asking how many units and assignments they have left.
2) How often are they assessed? How much work should they be doing every night? Are there any major assignments that you should be aware of?
3) What strand are they having the most difficulty with? Is it Knowledge and Understanding, Application, Thinking and Inquiry or Communication? Does the teacher have any suggestions for improving in that strand?
4) When are extra help sessions available? If there isn’t a time when the student can come in, maybe there is peer tutoring or another teacher that can help?
5) How does your child behave and function in class?
You might want to also know where your child sits and whether the teacher changes the seating plan once in a while to manage classroom disruptions.
6) If your child is not doing well in the course, ask the teacher what options they have for next year.
Use this time to get some guidance as to what the student can do for post-secondary pathway planning. Remember the teacher sees them everyday. The guidance counsellor on the other hand, may not know who your child is at all.
Things you probably DON’T want to do at a teacher meeting:
1) Yell at your child in front of the teacher.
I once had a student in my grade 12 College Math class that was getting 80%. His dad started to yell at him and said that if he could be achieving 80% in this college level course, why could he not do it for a University level course. Let’s just say the student no longer tried in my class after that.
2) Interrogating and yelling at the teacher in front of your child.
Although this did not happen to me, some of my colleagues experienced this. Needless to say they were unhappy and defensive. If you are unhappy with the teacher, perhaps making a private meeting between you and an administrator would be better. By yelling at the teacher in front of your son or daughter will only cause more difficulty in the end for your child.
In the end remember it’s all about communication and forming relationships. If you can foster a good relationship between you, the teacher and your child, it can only benefit everyone in the long run.
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