I was talking to one of my peers today about how nervous I am to talk to parents about their own children. I constantly think about how they will view me due to my young age, how to establish a working relationship with my students' parents, and how I will handle a situation where parents are angry or feel that there is miscommunication.
My master teacher does a wonderful job not only of letting parents know how their children are developing as learners, but also as people. At their core, each parent wants to know that their child is happy and healthy, typically academics (should) come second. Communicating with parents about their child's growth as a human being is essential in fostering this working relationship.
I know that I will be extremely nervous when parent-teacher conferences roll around and I have my own class, but I cannot wait to have my own classroom full of learners and communicate with people in their lives to foster a consistently positive support system!
Tori,
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right about the importance of discussing the child as a child and not just a student. As a parent, I am way more concerned that my daughters are good people and know how to be a good friend than I am at their grades or how they did on their benchmarks. When I received my oldest daughter's report card in January, only one teacher left a comment, which I found disappointing. It sound like this will be no problem for you. One thing I would say is that don't wait until the conference to give parents feedback or establish a relationship. You should begin that Day 1 or earlier (I know some elementary teachers who send a letter of introduction home before school even starts!) There are teachers who get so busy that they often forget to communicate the good news to parents. The worst thing to happen if you want to establish a relationship with a parent is to only communicate with them when their child does something wrong. You could have a goal to send one positive email or make one phone call per day until you have made it through your roster. . .then begin again until the end of the school yea! If this becomes a habit, it will feel less like a chore!
jeff
I like that you teacher emphasizes how the children are growing as people and if they are happy. You'll be fine talking to parents because you truly do have their child's interest and well-being at heart. You can't fake that.
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