Parent-Teacher

Conference:

Schedule:

10:15

10:16

10:17-10:20

10:20-10:27

10:28-10:30

10:30

10:30-

Meet Ms. Raven on the third floor


Walk to room 317 and talk about how Ms.
Raven is doing. Thank her for her time and
for meeting.


Tell Ms. Raven about the positive things Jay
has been doing in class. Show her work
samples of his shark writing.


Discuss behavior issues seen with Jay. Ask
Ms. Raven for her input and suggestions.
Teacher gives her suggestions and shows
Ms. Raven the resources. Discuss and make
a set of goals/ plan of action on how to help
Jay reach his potential.


Final comments and questions. Teacher
emphasizes how she sees potential in Jay
and wants what is best for him.


Walks Ms. Raven back to the lobby and
thanks her again for her time.


Meet with parent to receive feedback and
discuss the conference.

Conference Notes For Teacher:

Positives:

I just want to start off by telling you what a great job jay has been doing in reading lately.
He is on the second grade level and if he keeps working hard like he is in that I think that he
could keep getting even better! I would love to find some great books for him that will help
him enjoy reading. He seems to really love science, so maybe he will enjoy some science
fiction and non-fiction? Look at this story that he wrote the other day. I was so proud of it
and thought you would enjoy seeing it. You should be so proud of how he has done in that
area!

Behavior:

Although he has been doing great in reading I wanted to meet today to address Jays
behavior. He has been aggressive when working with groups and I am worried that it is
affecting his relationships with friends as well as his academics in other areas. Have you
noticed any of this aggressive behavior at home? (No.) I wanted to show you this picture
that he drew in one of his papers. Is there anything that may have sparked him to do this? I
try to be very proactive with monitoring bullying in my classroom and students have been
better lately with not provoking Jay. Is there anything that Jay has said to you that I should
be aware of that is taking place at school that might be sparking this aggression? Do you
know of any other things that could be instigating this behavior? I ask this because I see so
much potential in Jay. There are times when I really see him applying himself and working
hard. I want to see him do that in all areas of school!

Plan of Action:

I know that you know him best so I would love to hear from you first if you have any ideas
on how we can help Jay with his behavior. I have some suggestions, but do you have any
ideas or insights on how to help him? (Listen.) I think that sometimes his behavior
problems might be because he wants attention or to get something that he wants. It is easy
to focus on the negative behaviors, but I want to try reinforcing the positive behaviors and
drawing attention to the positive things that he does. I have come up with a silent system
for him to keep up with his positive behavior as well as any negative behaviors. (Teacher
shows Ms. Raven the resource.) I also think that it would be helpful for us to come up with
goals for Jay each day to help with his behavior. It can be things that he works on both
inside and outside of the classroom. (Teacher shows Ms. Raven the resource.) I think it
would be a great idea to even get Jay involved in this and have him set a goal for himself
each day. What do you think about that idea? Would you be willing to work with me in this?
(Sure.) All it would require of you is to sign each day and help Jay stay accountable by
asking him questions. I will work with him individually at school on his behavior and we
can find different ways to help him think about the actions that he is making. I have other
ideas for how to do that, but I dont want to overwhelm you with resources. I think that if
we have Jay thinking about the actions that he is making, then he will be more likely to
make better decisions. My hope in doing this is that Jay will be able to make smart

decisions about his behavior on his own and that by doing this he will improve in his other
academic areas. I cannot do this without your help! Do these sound like plausible steps of
action to take for Jay? What are some goals that we can set together on how we can both
work to help Jay get better both in the classroom and at home? My goal is to take time each
week to work individually with Jay and give him more precise, positive praise. (Teacher
encourages Ms. Raven to give a goal.) I know that we both just want to see Jay reach his full
potential and I hope that these steps will help. I cannot thank you enough for taking the
time out of your busy day to come and meet with me to talk about your son. I appreciate it
and I know that it will only help Jay more! He needs our support. What is the best way to
stay in communication with you about Jays behavior? (Emails, quick notes home,
signatures, phone calls?) I have enjoyed talking to you and hope that we can meet again
face to face soon.

Outline of Notes:

Positives
o Reading
o Science
o Show drawing

Behavior
o Any questions before we begin?
o Been aggressive when working with groups (biting, hitting, yelling)

Affecting friends and academics

o Have you noticed any of this aggressive behavior at home?

o Show picture that he drew

Is there anything that may have sparked him to do this?

o I monitor bullying students have been better

Is there anything that Jay has said to you that I should be aware of that is
taking place at school that might be sparking this aggression?

o Do you know of any other things that could be instigating this behavior?
o I SEE POTENTIAL IN JAY

Plan of Action
o I know that you know him best I have some suggestions, but do you have any
ideas or insights on how to help him?
o Behavior problems might be because of attention

Drawing attention to the positive

Silent jar (RESOURCE)

o Goals I have a goal, Jay has a goal, you have a goal. (RESOURCE)

Mom will sign each day and ask him questions

o Get Jay involved

Have him think about his actions (RESOURCE)

o MY GOALS: meet with him individually and precise praise.

THANK YOU

Your goals?

o Further communication?

Email:

Initial Email

Hi Ms. Raven,

I hope that you are doing well! I have had the pleasure of being Jays second grade
teacher this year. Because the first term is coming to an end, I would love to have a face-to-
face meeting with you sometime in the next week to talk about Jays recent behavior. I have
some concerns that I think would be helpful to talk through and see how we can work
together to help Jay be the best student he can be! As his teacher, I see so much potential in
him but would love more insight from you since you know him best. Are you available to
meet anytime between 8 and 10 am on Thursday, May 5? If so, let me know the best time
for you and I will be happy to meet you then in the third floor lobby area of the Orlean
Bullard Beeson School of Education at Samford University. I hope that we can meet on
Thursday and work together to develop the best course of action to create an environment
that will help Jay succeed. Ill look forward to hearing from you!

Thanks,
Lindsey Harding

Follow-Up Email

Ms. Raven,

I wanted to thank you again for taking the time to meet with me to talk about Jay. I
appreciate your honesty and input and I think our plan of action will help Jay take steps in
the right direction! I plan on starting his behavior plan on Monday and will keep you
updated through notes home and emails. If you have time to talk through it with him and
sign it that would be great, but I know you have a lot on your plate right now. Again, thank
you for prioritizing your son in this. I look forward to tracking his progress with you. Please
let me know if there is anything that I can do for you or Jay in this season. Ill look forward
to staying in contact with you.

Have a great weekend,
Ms. Harding

Reflection:
Over the course of this semester I have learned that parent-teacher communication

and support is vital in order for each student to reach his or her highest potential. When
parents are on board with what is happening in the classroom, learning can extend beyond
just the classroom. This mock parent-conference, the video we watched earlier on in the
year, and listening to Dr. Chandlers lecture on communicating with parents really helped
me understand the practical implications that are needed to conduct a conference. I was
very nervous about meeting with Ms. Raven because I did not know what to expect, but I
think it was a very good learning experience and gave me confidence to go from here.
I came into the meeting prepared, but the unknown scared me. It was good practice
because when I have my own classroom I wont know everything that goes on at home that
could be affecting the student. As the teacher, it is easy to focus only on the behavior or
objective of the meeting and overlook other factors that may actually be sparking the poor
behavior. One of the things that I got positive feedback on was how I asked some questions
about Jays home life. I learned that Ms. Raven had just gotten a divorce and that she is
hardly ever home because she works at night when Jay gets home from school. I am not
usually one to ask personal questions to someone I dont know, but she appreciated it and I
saw how it gave me a better understanding of Jays behavior. Getting that particular
feedback really made me realize that a parent-teacher conference is more than just
addressing the students behavior. I think it is really a time for the teacher to investigate
and see what else is going on. On Jays records from the previous year he did not have the
same problems as he does in the second grade, so that should be a red flag to the teacher

that there might be another influence on Jays behavior other than school. Mrs. Osborne
said that she dropped a hint about Jays brother keeping him after school and that if I had
asked even more questions I would have come to find out that his brother abused him.
Once again, it just showed me how important asking parents questions is instead of just
telling them how you want to help their son or daughter.
Because there seemed to be a lot going on at home, Mrs. Osborne recommended that
I suggest to Ms. Raven having Jay see the school counselor. I hadnt thought about using
school-wide resources such as support staff, but I think that was a very helpful suggestion
that I will remember in the future. Sometimes students just need a way to talk about what
they are dealing with at home and the teacher might not always be the best person to do
that with. When talking to Ms. Raven she kept mentioning how his first grade teacher
would come to all of his baseball games and that it meant a lot to Jay. That showed me that
he is a relational kid and just needs support and attention in the season that he is in. I think
the resources and goals I gathered were appropriate and would help Jay after hearing what
Ms. Raven had to say. One of my biggest take-aways from everything that we learned about
parent-teacher conferences is to create a partnership with the parent and value them. I
tried my best to do this and I think that my conference went well because of it. I am
thankful for the wisdom we were given before hand to prepare us. It was hard not truly
knowing Jay and having to act, but this gave me confidence and I look forward to applying
this knowledge in a real-world context.

Feedback:

Resources: