Act I: Talking To The
Teacher and The
Teacher Talking To Me
Hammett Bowen Elementary
Reflection
Please think of a conference or
meeting that you have participated in
that was a positive experience.
Think of one thing that made the
conference effective.
Introducing….
The Hammett
Bowen Players
First Steps
• If have a concern, contact the
teacher(s) via email or phone call.
• School policy is that all phone calls or
emails should be replied to within 24
hours. If received on a Friday then
response needs to be on Monday.
First Steps
•
Get as many details as possible from your
child prior to the conference.
–
–
–
–
–
Do you have anything you want me to bring up
to your teacher?
What do you like best/least about school.
Who are your friends?
What subject do you feel is your best?
What difficulty(ies) are you having?
Things parents should
consider prior to
conference.
1.
What is the purpose of this meeting?
2. What do I want the outcome of this
meeting to be?
3. What are my child’s strengths?
4. What is my child’s area of need?
Things parents should
consider prior to
conference.
1.
Things I feel the teacher needs to know about my child:
–
Personality traits
–
How he/she gets along with friends
–
How he/she gets along with our family
–
Effective discipline strategies I use at home
–
Extracurricular activities my child is involved in outside of school
–
Health of my child
–
How my child likes to be rewarded
Things parents should
consider prior to
conference.
1.
My perception of how my child is doing academically.
2.
How can I be involved in assisting in my child’s
academic progress?
3.
How do you measure my child’s progress?
4.
How can we work together to maintain success and
work on problem areas?
5.
How can I keep the teacher aware of what is going
on at home that may influence my child’s learning?
(i.e. phone calls, e-mail, notes to the teacher)
TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE
PARENT/TEACHER
CONFERENCES
1.
Schedule an appointment with the
teacher.
2. Sign in at reception desk.
3. Be on time and end on time. This is a
shared responsibility of the team.
TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE
PARENT/TEACHER
CONFERENCES
 Have a stated and agreed upon
purpose.
 Don’t focus on things that can’t be
changed.
 Take notes during the conference.
This will clarify what was discussed,
agreements made and tasks assigned.
TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE
PARENT/TEACHER
CONFERENCES
1.
Be aware of your child’s grade level standards.

2.
3.
4.
http://www.fldoe.org/bii/curriculum/sss/
Listen, Listen, Listen
Both parent and teacher should begin the
conference with genuine positive comments
about the child or teen and each other.
Avoid distractions such as bringing a baby or
young children to the conference or engaging
in lengthy discussions of issues that do not
relate to the agreed upon purpose of
the conference.
TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE
PARENT/TEACHER
CONFERENCES
1.
Go into the conference with an open mind and a
2.
belief that the other person has positive intent.
Provide each other with contact numbers, or email addresses as well as the best time to
contact each other.
3.
If something is not clear, ask for clarification.
TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE
PARENT/TEACHER
CONFERENCES
1.
Develop an action plan based on the
strengths of the child and the resources
available at home and at school.
2. Agree on the next steps that will be
taken by all involved including the
student
What do they
mean by…..
•
•
•
•
•
FCATFlorida Comprehensive Achievement Test
DIBELSOral Reading Fluency test
SATStudent Assistance Team
ESEExceptional Student Education
IEPIndividual Education Plan
What do they
mean by…..
Interventions in reading are:
•
ERI (Early Reading Intervention)
•
Sidewalks
•
Voyager Passport
•
REWARDS
•
Successmaker
•
Triumphs
•
In math:
•
Fast Math
•
Successmaker
Parent/Teacher Role-Play
Before the parent night training, select groups of teachers
and parents to role-play an effective parent/teacher
conference.
It is helpful to have the parents and teachers write their own
script. They tend to be harder on each other than you would.
Have them accentuate the negative but have some positive,
too.
Make sure that your players have a microphone so that
everyone can hear them.
Identify props that will be necessary and have them available
the night of the training.
“Tooty Ta” Lyrics
From Dr. Jean & Friends © Dr. Jean Feldman
A toot y ta a toot y ta
a toot y ta ta
(with both thumbs out and in front of you with
elbows slightly bent by sides and waving side to side)
A toot y ta a toot y ta
a toot y ta ta
Thumbs up
(put thumbs up)
A toot y ta a toot y ta a toot y ta ta
A toot y ta a toot y ta a toot y ta ta
Elbows back
(thumbs up with elbows next to sides)
Continue in like manner with feet apart…knees together…bottoms
up…tongue out…eyes shut…turn around (can be turning around once or
continuously)…sit down.
This song is available on Dr. Jean Feldman's
http://www.songsforteaching.com/store/dr-jean-and-friends-cd-pr-562.html