Life Events: The Parent Teacher Conference

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Back to School Featured Life Events Other Big Events The 80/20 Rule

Today was my parent teacher conference for Lucy. Lucy, our only child, is 7 ½ and in the second grade.

She is definitely not perfect but a good kid who tends to do well in school. Each parent has about 25 minutes with the teacher and I wanted to make sure I made the most of the time I was given.

I decided to try what I think may be the most important Buttoned Up principle to this task….focus on the important stuff…the classic 80/20 rule.

I put together a list of our (me and my husband, Adam’s) questions ahead of time that were most important to us to get answered.

Here is my list. It may help you in prepping for your next teacher conference:

1. Don’t’ forget to bring a pen and pad of paper to jot down notes and remember items
2. How is my child doing?
3. Is she working up to her ability and if not, why not and what is the action plan?
4. What is my child like in class?
5. What is my child like socially in school? Does she have friends, etc..?
6. What are Lucy’s strength and weaknesses? What can we do to work on some of her weaknesses?
7. What types of things will Lucy be doing over the next 3 to 6 months in key subjects like math, reading, social studies?
8. What are the expectations on homework?
9. Is there anything else you think we should know?

The conference went well and unlike my teacher chat last year, I felt like I got the most out of the time with the teacher and left with a small list of things we are both going to do together to help Lucy improve in some key areas.

Would love to hear if you have other key questions or advice on this subject. Lucy is only in second grade so I have a lot more of these to attend.

Posted by Alicia on Nov 18, 2009 print article e-mail to a friend

Sarahbeth

As an educator, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate parents that are both concerned and prepared. I don’t know if Lucy has an agenda, but if she doesn’t, you might want to look into getting one for her. Many schools have begun requiring them. (I wish mine did when I was younger. I might be more organized now if it was ingrained in me at a young age!) If Lucy’s school doesn’t, have her write the homework down each night and ask the teacher to sign off on it. It is a simple task that will pay off greatly in the long run.

Also, I don’t know what state you live in, but most states have their own education standards. You can find these on your state’s education website. In Georgia, where I teach, this is the basis for pretty much every lesson plan (and is in most states.) While the wording is usually pretty obnoxious, it will give you a very clear layout over what will be expected from your child from Kindergarten to 12th grade in everything from English and math to music and health.

If you want to look for ways to go above and beyond when it comes to your child’s education, a phenomenal resource is the website readwritethink.org. There’s a red tab at the top on the right side of the page labeled “Parent & Afterschool Resources.” It will give you activities to do with your child to help her with what is going on in the classroom. These activities are organized by grade level, making the site easy to navigate and easy to use.

I teach 9th grade English, so I’m not too familiar with Lucy’s current stage of development, but the things I mentioned are a good place to start. Ultimately, because you are so concerned about your child’s education and I’m sure you teach her a lot from home, I’m sure Lucy’s going to be just fine. I hope this helped!
http://www.getbuttonedup.com Alicia Rockmore

Thanks so much for these comments. Really appreciate it