Parent-Teacher Conference Tips for New Teachers

Ten parent-teacher conference tips for new teachers as they prepare for their first round of conferences.

Parent-teacher conferences are definitely one of those things that you get better at the more you do them.

Having a plan for your parent-teacher conferences is the best way to feel prepared and in control, as you begin inviting a hundred students’ parents into your classroom for a little catch-up and chat.

Today, we are sharing 10 parent-teacher conference tips for new teachers. We are assuming that you have not experienced a parent-teacher conference before, or that you have not had very successful parent-teacher conferences in the past.

Our goal with this post is to empower you to take charge of your parent-teacher conferences.  We hope this list will provide you with some ideas you may not have considered otherwise.

We previously wrote a blog post about our 4 Tips to Prepare Yourself for Tough Conferences. In that post, we specifically discussed being prepared for conferences you know will be some of the hardest ones on your schedule. 

In this post, we provide 10 general tips for preparing for and administering conferences, with the goal of helping newer teachers who are preparing for their first-ever round of conferences.

10 Parent-Teacher Conference Tips for New Teachers

#1 | Don’t plan too much.

One of the most common issues we typically see with new teachers is over-planning how much you will share during your conference time.

Due to the number of students most middle school teachers work with on a given day, parent-teacher conference time is often very limited. 

There have been times when working with middle schoolers that I have had just 4 minutes to talk to each parent, and there are other times that I have had as much as 10 minutes to speak with each parent. Make sure you know how much time you will have with each group, and then adapt the amount of information that you prepare for that amount of time. 

It is not appropriate or professional to keep parents with you longer than planned, as they will most likely have several other teachers with whom they need to meet. Helping everyone stay on schedule is important and considerate.

#2 | Contact Parents Ahead of Time with Issues

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten about parent-teacher conferences came from an administrator. He said that we should not bring up any new issues about students with parents at conferences. If an issue is important enough to bring up during conferences, it is important to contact the parent in advance or when the issue starts showing up in class.

If there is a new issue that has been occurring that you want to address with parents, contact them through an email or phone call in advance and let them know that this issue is something that you would want to talk about during conferences so that they can plan a little more time to meet with you. You may even decide you will not have enough time during conferences to deal with the issue, so you need to set up a separate time to meet with them instead. 

Remember that parent-teacher conferences are a time to check in with the parents, ensure that they have no questions, and give them an update on their student’s educational progress. It is not a time to voice all your grievances or list a bunch of issues that the parents should have been made aware of before now.

#3 | Have at least 1 good thing to say about every child

Next, you’ll want to have one good thing to say about every child. In fact, you may even want to have these written down in advance so that you are not caught unaware when a parent shows up.

For some parents, parent-teacher conferences are very stressful. It turns out that the students who are a pain in the booty in your class are probably also a pain in the booty in other classes. Therefore, parent-teacher conferences for that child’s parents may become a very long night. 

A kind word from you about their child could completely change the tone of the night for the parent and help to give you and the parents some common ground as you move further into your conversation. 

#4 | Have your seating charts available to help remember names/faces

This is what I wish somebody would have told me before I went through my first round of parent-teacher conferences.

Depending on how your district calendar is set up, parent-teacher conferences can actually fall very early in the school year. Since middle school students typically move from class to class, middle school teachers can have a hundred students or more on their roster.

In my experience, it’s not uncommon to have a hard time recalling who a student is based on first and last name alone. 

On more than one occasion, I have been in a situation where a parent has introduced themselves to me, and I can’t immediately recall who their child is. 

Why is this?

This may be because the child uses a different nickname in school. 

It may be because they have the same name as somebody else, for example, Ashley A or Ashley B, who are both in the same class. 

It may also be simply because you have so many students that when you don’t have them or see them in context, it’s tough for you to recall exactly who that person is.

Sometimes, the stress and anxiety associated with parent-teacher conferences causes you to draw a complete blank in the moment.

Sometimes, you have a pregnancy brain, and you’re just not as sharp as normal. 

There are many reasons that could cause this to happen. This is why having a seating chart with pictures in front of you is important. It will give you a reference point in case this ever happens to you.

#5 | Have Key Goals for Your Students

There are a lot of different things you can discuss at conferences, but the most important one is making sure that parents know your top goals for each student. 

As we said before, you might be limited in the amount of time that you have to talk to each parent, and having some key goals for each student ready to go is a great way to feel more prepared and stay on topic while the parent is meeting with you.

You can even take this one step further by talking to the student in advance about your goals for them and having a handout prepared to give to the parent for reference. 

You can use these reading growth charts and conference forms as a guide as you prepare to meet with parents.

#6 | Don’t Assume Parents Know Their Student’s Grades or How to Access Them

In an age of technology and readily available information, we often assume that parents know how to access their student’s grades and stay on top of them. Although this is true for some parents, it is not true for all. 

Although some parents check their student’s grades every day or every week, many, in fact, might never do so. 

Make sure you take the time at the beginning of the conference to show them the child’s current grade so that you are all starting from the same place. 

#7 | Avoid Teacher Lingo

Teachers use a lot of lingo with each other, and we also use a lot of acronyms on a regular basis. During parent-teacher conferences, try to avoid using teacher lingo and acronyms as much as possible. Instead, speak as if you are talking to somebody who does not understand the teacher’s language at all.

The goal of parent-teacher conferences is to make sure that the parents leave with a general understanding of how the student is doing in your class. If the parents don’t understand what you’re talking about, then your parent-teacher conference has not been successful.

#8 | Explain Standardized Test Results/Goals

Standardized test results can also be very confusing for parents. During parent-teacher conferences, take the time to explain how the test results are calculated, how to read them, and how the student measures up compared to other students at the same grade level in their school and across the nation.

If a parent seems particularly confused or particularly interested, also take the time to explain what the test looks like, how much time the students get to take it, and what, if any, issues their child may have had while taking the test that could better explain their results. 

#9 | Read the room

This is another one that I see a lot of teachers get wrong. 

Make sure that you are reading the room during your parent-teacher conferences. 

What we mean by this is that you’re gauging the parents’ interest in what you’re talking about against how much they need that information or don’t need that information. 

If you are providing a monologue about how you teach writing and you can see that the parent is starting to phase out, then it’s time to wrap up your info-sesh and get them out the door. The same goes for a parent who looks particularly exhausted. You may be the sixth conference that they’ve had tonight, and they are starting to run low on energy. 

Again, stick with your positives, tell them your goals for the student, and then read the room from there to decide how much more you need to share. 

#10 | Provide Solutions – Don’t assume parents know how to help their child

Remember, parents aren’t teachers. If a student needs additional help on a particular topic, take the time to offer solutions to the parent. 

You may even have opportunities available at the school that they don’t know about. For example, your school might offer tutoring sessions or teacher-led reviews that the parents are not even aware exist. 

Take the time to tell them about what opportunities are available, and always come to the parent with solutions if you bring up an area where a student might need more help or guidance to succeed.

Hopefully, these parent-teacher conference tips for new teachers will help you feel more in control. Just keep in mind that with a little empathy, the right resources, and a good plan, you can make your first round of parent-teacher conferences much more successful. 

We’re rooting for you!