AP Corner

When I was in elementary school, I always dreaded parent-teacher conferences. I remember sitting at home, anxiously awaiting my parents return, expecting the worst (I daydreamed too much) but hoping for the best (I was excelling in something). In looking back, what surprises me the most is that I didn't know what my teachers might say about me and neither did my parents. I had no place in these conferences (despite the fact that they were about me) and my parents had no other contact with my teachers.

These days, we have so many different ways to build two-way communication with our students' families. From class dojo to in person check ins at dismissal, I have seen firsthand every teacher on our campus go the extra mile in building relationships with our parents. SLCs are one another opportunity to cross that bridge and turn all of our parents into our partners.

There are so many ways to make SLCs purposeful, both in communicating progress and challenges with parents, as well as creating an opportunity to build a positive relationship with parents. Some simple techniques can help create more of a two-way conversation. For instance, try starting your meeting by asking the parent and the child, "How do you think the year has been going so far?" This gives both a chance to share their perceptions and gives all of us insight to their thoughts.

For some more strategies on how to make SLCs an opportunity to build stronger parent relationships, check out the following article:

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/brian-smith/perfect-parent-partnerships/