Parents can learn much from teacher conferences

For some parents, parent-teacher conferences revive that long-ago first-day-of-school combination of curiosity and fear.

"It's a little unnerving sometimes to talk to teachers because they're giving an appraisal of how your child is doing and what they think of your child and sometimes that's a little scary," Scott City High School counselor LaDonna Pratt said.

A way to compensate for those nerves is to write out questions and concerns.

"A lot of times you know what you're going to do, you have a plan and then you walk in the door and it's gone," she said.

Those questions should be specific.

The first question should be open-ended and be an overview of the classroom situation. A good example is: How is my student doing?

Listen to the answer, but don't let the focus shift from the child.

"Keep an open-mind focus on what you can do together to make the child successful," Scott City Elementary school principal Courtney Kern said.

Parents should be forthright with the teachers and be prepared to hear what the teacher has to say, Central High School principal Mike Cowan said.

Focus on setting goals with teachers and make sure there are ways to measure if the goal is achieved, advised Beth Emmendorfer, director of special services for Jackson.

Take notes during the meeting to look back on later. Scott City Middle School teachers keep track of all the parents who attend parent teacher conferences. They fill out follow-up form stating who they talked to and what the conversation was about.

Be prepared to ask questions that may have come up in conversations with their child, Cowan said.

If something sounds out of the ordinary, ask and give the teacher a chance to respond.

Educators say all parents need to try and attend the conferences.

"Usually the ones that we would like to see aren't normally the ones that are represented at parent-teacher conferences," Paul Sharp, Scott City Middle School principal said.

Cowan disagrees.

"I think all parents need to be here, I think the kids who are achieving need to be affirmed by having their parents present that school is important and it's worth my time to confirm you are achieving," he said.

If they are unable to attend during the designated conference time, try and set up another time to meet with the teacher, suggests Debbie Followell, assistant principal at Central Middle School. Try a phone conference, she added.

After the conference is over, it is important to reassure the student that attending a parent-teacher conference is not a punishment. Share the positive things the teacher said about the child with the child and talk with them about areas to work on so improvements can be made, Emmendorfer said.

ameyer@semissourian.com

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