Parent-Teacher meetings are an essential aspect of schooling. The meeting presents an opportunity for parents and teachers to be involved in the studies. While meeting, the parents can check on the progress their children make.

The parents can also consult with the teachers on how they can contribute to improving the learning curve of their children. However, the parents can also discuss with the teacher the effectiveness of the teaching methods.

The parent-teacher meeting may increase the parent’s involvement in their children’s learning process. As a result, the session can produce a positive outcome for the student, teachers, and parents.

During the parent-teacher meeting, the teacher shares the following;

• Share the student’s academic achievement based on classroom observations, assignments, tests, and assessments.
• It is an opportunity for the teachers to know from the parents the strengths and weaknesses of the students.
• Discuss new methods to improve the learning- curve of the students.
• Discuss the circumstance that may interfere with the learning process of the students
• During the parent-teacher meeting, it is highly possible to have a frictional movement with the parents. As a teacher, you may have to handle the situation very delicately.

This article discusses some of the best practices for conducting parent-teacher meetings.

1. Use a Parent Meetings scheduling software

As a teacher, you can use parent meetings scheduling software like Picktime to organize parent-teacher meetings. You may wonder how to use class scheduling software to manage parent-teacher meetings.

It is highly likely that the students may not inform the parents of the meeting. The remainder would notify the parents of the meeting. The software has a feature that sends automated reminders via email and SMS.

The parents can also access their children’s progress as the software sends reminders about the class schedule. It is much easier for the teachers to track the students’ attendance- for instance, who attended and who did not.

Managing and organizing the class schedule are tedious tasks for teachers. The software makes the task a rather enjoyable process for the teachers. The teachers can discuss among themselves the class schedule and reach an amicable plan.

2. Engaging with the parents

The student often displays some superpower by ensuring their parents do not get informed of the meeting. The student may secretly delete the email from their parent’s phone. For instance, some students got into trouble or performed poorly in exams.

More often than not, the parents seem to have a busy schedule and may run late to attend the meeting. Sometimes, there will be some language barriers that prevent teachers from engaging with the parents in conversation.

Seeking assistance from bilingual students will help you to take to the parents whose native tongue is different.

As a teacher, you can attempt to overcome obstacles by discovering common ground and motivating them to attend the meeting actively. Sending the invitation to participate in the meeting will encourage the parents to attend the meeting.

When the parents attend the meeting, it will be best to encourage them to speak openly. That will be beneficial to understand the concerns of the parents. That will ease engaging with the parents and encourage parents to engage with other parents.

3. Be more welcoming

Being more welcoming will encourage the parents to attend parent-teacher meetings. For instance, when the parents come to participate in the meeting, you can introduce yourself by saying your name and the subject that you teach.

By doing so, you can establish the right tone for the meeting. It will be best to tell the parents how lucky you are to teach their child. A bright smile would ease the parents, and you can show them their designated seating area.

If the parents still feel tense, you can initiate a conversation by sharing positive notes about their child. For instance, you use one of their achievements in the classroom to start a conversation.

You May Also Like: Online Assessment E-Learning Tools & Their Merits

4. Make an agenda for the meeting

Before the parent-teacher meeting, you have to establish an agenda for the meeting. That may, for instance, give the parents an overview of the intent of the meeting. As a result, the parents can prioritize their schedule to participate in the meeting.

However, as a teacher, you can anticipate what questions to expect from the parents. That leaves you room to prepare better to address the parents’ concerns and vice versa.

5. Explain the roadmap for the student’s success 

The parents would not always like the list of issues of their children. That will make them weary of attending the parent-teacher meeting. Instead, you can go back and analyze the grades of the students.

That will help you to assess the strengths and shortcomings of the students. Based on that, you can develop a roadmap to help the student. When the parents attend the meeting, you can explain the parent roadmap.

That will reassure the parents that you, as the teacher, really care about their children’s future. For instance, if the students struggle in some areas, the plan should include a provision to notify them where they require assistance.

Furthermore, the plan will also help the parents to prioritize their schedule to help their child to complete the assignment. By doing so, they can be involved in their children’s learning process and produce better outcomes. 

6. Highlight the positives, then go on to the shortcomings 

While discussing the student’s academic progress, you can begin by stressing the student’s strengths. For instance, you can emphasize that point if a student has exceptional writing skills.

Then you move on to the shortcoming of the students. For instance, the student often goes off course from the original intent of the assignment. Or if you have caught the student using the mobile in the classroom during a lecture.

By doing so, you can give the student and the parents a positive experience. That would encourage the parents to attend the parent-teacher meeting in the future.

In conclusion, successful parent-teacher meetings are crucial for building strong relationships between parents and educators, and ultimately, ensuring student success. To conduct successful parent-teacher meetings, it is essential to prepare well in advance, provide a comfortable and welcoming environment, communicate effectively, listen actively, and set clear expectations. Teachers should come prepared with specific examples of their student’s progress and areas for improvement, and parents should be encouraged to share their concerns and goals for their child’s education. Effective communication and collaboration between teachers and parents are key to developing a shared understanding of a student’s strengths, weaknesses, and educational needs. By implementing these best practices, teachers can conduct meaningful and productive parent-teacher meetings that ultimately benefit students’ academic progress and social-emotional development.