What I Learned About Parent Teacher Conferences This Year

Typically, I dread Parent Teacher Conferences. Not only are the days long, but I also feel a sense of anxiety related to the unknowns like how will parents react to what I share? “What I share….” Even though in the past I have endeavored to have the kids “participate,” I have come to learn there is a drastic difference between having them participate and empowering kids to lead the conference. Conferences are especially powerful when kids can articulate their learning goals, opportunities for growth, and fully take ownership of their explaining their learning.  

The pandemic forced many teachers into virtual Parent Teacher Conferences that looked a little different this year. The shifts I made to support virtual conferences, and a shift in my attitude or perspective, changed the tone of the conferences. Unknowingly, I made several improvements to the conference format, but there are still many more changes I can make to continue to make them more authentic and meaningful. 

 

My district/school had Parent Teacher Conferences this past week. What a great day!!! A long day, but I great day! I got to spend my day bragging on twenty-one amazing kids to their parents. What an honor and privilege to be their teacher!

 

Every single child has accomplished something that we can brag about to their parents. That shift from starting the conference with a positive, but ultimately still focusing on the deficits, to FULLY celebrating the child as a human being and mentioning an opportunity for growth, really made a difference. A subtle shift with a BIG impact. 

 

It also helped that the kids used the structured PowerPoint template I gave them to create their own slide deck for the conference. Since they created their own slide deck, which included work samples that they took pride in sharing, they were eager to take over the conference (instead of briefly participating while I talked).

 

This year, the pandemic gave me one other major talking point. Parents need to hear a counter-narrative to the message that has been repeated over and over again in the media—It breaks my teacher heart to hear the media talk about “learning loss.” What I have witnessed isn’t loss but growth, maturity, independence, resilience, technical savvy, ability to multitask... and so much more. We need to celebrate kids and all of their amazing accomplishments this past year, many of which don’t appear on a report card or standardized tests. 

 

I still have a long way to go. Moving towards a gradeless classroom that is more focused on learning—the process and not necessarily the products—will continue to move my conferences forward. The kids were definitely more invested in conferences this year, which was AWESOME! It might be helpful to give them more options to creatively share what they have accomplished. I also want to find ways to involve parents not only during Parent Teacher Conferences, but in our learning community throughout the year.