Three things that you need to know when talking to parents.
First you need to know how to talk to them in a polite and respectful matter and take their feelings into account. THese are their children and they are the most important thing in their world. THey do not want to be talked down but instead want to be approached with respect when something is not going well. You also need to keep in mind about the history and background of the student. Everyone comes from a different type of family background and those neeeds need to be kept in mind. Lastly you need to have some of the child's work to show the parents how they are doing. You cannot just say that they are not doping well in MAth becasue they dont know their fractions but you need to have proof and show them which part they are struggling with.
After watching the video, "Home-School Communication: The Parent Teacher Conference" you need to make sure that you try to get inormation out of the parent on how the child is doing at home. you need to make sure that the paretns are trying to work on any of their skills that need help at home. You also need to tell teh parent the differnet things that you as a teacher and as a class are trying to do to make sure that their child succeeds. The parent is giving yuo insight in what they are doing at home and you as a teacher need to give the same respect and show them what you are trying to do in the calssroom as well. A parent teacher conference is more than just talking about what the child is struggling with. It is also a chacne to telll them some of their strengths. No paretn wants to here for a half hour about all teh bad things. you need to try to bring in as many good poiunts and strengths as you can. Telll them that although they may be struggling at Math, their Social Studies skills ahve gone through the roof. Or that they are really becoming more social or something. Try your best to bring in some strong points of the student and to let the parents know that you see their strengths just as they do.
