Tips for Parent-Teacher Conferences

ChatGPT responses - link

Scholastic article Ten Tips

Don't believe everything you hear in the teacher's lounge. Most parent-teacher conferences are cordial, productive, and informative. If meetings do happen to go awry, what matters is getting back on track. Use these ten tips to steer clear of common pitfalls.

1. Do some research first. Send home a Looking Forward to Our Conference Letter a couple of weeks before parent conferences, asking parents what their main concerns and questions are. Staple their responses directly to your conference notes and use them to guide your conference preparation.  from letter: The areas I/we are most interested in discussing include.... Also: do you have additional questions or comments?
2. Use your established assessment system. Review any checklists or notes you've been using for ongoing assessment. Decide whether to have the checklist with you at the conference or use it to create a conference note form. The checklist may be unnecessarily specific for the conference, or you may not want parents to see your raw notes. If either of these is the case, create a Parent Conference Form.
3. Organize your notes into simple categories on a Parent Conference Form. Include only the most vital and relevant standards in each curriculum area and the simplest and most useful of ratings categories — for example, Areas of Strength, Areas of Concern, and Goals. Using a grid or following a simple conference note form allows you to notice quickly whether your presentation will give the overall picture you want to convey. For example, will you sound more negative than you intend to? Do you need to find more to add to the strengths category?
4. Ask your students how they think they're doing. Although as the teacher you have a broad and sophisticated perspective on student progress, asking students in upper elementary and middle school to reflect on their own work can be very useful. They are very likely to provide additional insights into areas of growth or challenge, or draw your attention to something you've missed.
5. Be prepared with samples of student work. Parents should leave a conference with a clear idea and concrete examples of what's going well and what areas need work. While it's not a good idea to overwhelm parents with a whole semester's worth of written work, well-chosen samples in a portfolio will support and clarify your salient notes.
6. Always begin with what the child does well. Without exception, human beings are more receptive to constructive criticism — even bad news — when our hard work, honest attempts, and natural talents are noticed and remarked upon. Parents identify with their children and, in many cases, experienced similar academic or social circumstances themselves when they were young. It's vitally important to them that you see their children as individuals and that you like them. In some cases, you may have to search high and low for a success story. It's worth it if you want to be heard when you recommend an evaluation, a change in reading group, or a tutor.
7. Only say what you know. Don't feel you have to report on every area of the curriculum. Get an idea of what each family's priorities are (by sending home a notice before conference time), and discuss what seems most relevant. It's perfectly acceptable to say, "I need to do a little research on that, and I'll get back to you," if a parent asks you something you are not prepared to answer. This response, if stated confidently and unapologetically, is perfectly professional, and certainly is preferable to making something up on the spot. If a parent is disrespectful or unpleasant, don't feel you have to defend yourself. Maintain your composure by acknowledging the comment without engaging the parent unnecessarily. "Hmm. You find the homework is too easy. I'll make a note of that. Can you give me a brief example of what you mean?" Write the feedback on your notes, and then immediately regain control of the conference by returning to your agenda and your prepared materials.
8. Avoid jargon. Using overwrought professional vocabulary or this month's educational buzzword actually makes your dialogue with parents less substantial. Instead of using catchphrases or technical terms, describe what you mean or demonstrate it with examples or concrete materials. For instance, instead of using the term "miscue" when discussing a student's reading, try "When reading aloud, Irene frequently substitutes one work for another similar-looking word. For example, on this page, she read 'understandable' instead of 'unmanageable.'" Make your written reports concise and jargon-free as well.
9. Show that you know the child by having an anecdote ready to share. Parents deeply appreciate your knowledge of their child, above and beyond the child's academic abilities. A brief story about a comment made in a class meeting, a journal entry, or a social interaction can personalize a conference and make it more satisfying for parents.
10. Anticipate frequently asked questions. For new teachers, as well as teachers who are new to a school or to a grade level, it's helpful to consult more experienced teachers to find out what parents typically ask about. Frequently, parents at particular grade levels may be preoccupied with testing, progress in reading, the transition to middle school, and other matters. While you don't want these concerns to overwhelm your agenda, you should be prepared to respond to them.

This article was adapted from Your Best Year Yet! A Guide to Purposeful Planning & Effective Classroom Organization by Shoshana Wolfe (© 2006, Scholastic).

2. ASCD link

Making the Most of Parent-Teacher Conferences

Parent-teacher conferences offer great opportunities to deepen your working relationship with parents. As you highlight their child's strengths, discuss academic or social concerns, and share information about child development, parents come to see you as an ally and themselves as true partners in their child's education. A little thinking and planning will help you make the most of these great opportunities.

Tips for Success

Make an outline and gather materials. A plan for how you'll divide up the time will help you stay on track. Here's a general outline for a 30-minute conference:

• 5 minutes: Opening conversation
• 10 minutes: Report on academic progress and concerns
• 10 minutes: Report on social progress and concerns
• 5 minutes: Summing up

However, you may need to put your plan aside if a parent raises an urgent issue that you weren't expecting. Remember that you can always schedule another conference!

In addition to writing an outline, you'll want to make notes for topics you want to cover and have at hand student work, assessment results, information on child development, and anything else you want to share with parents.

Offer conversation starters. Put parents (and yourself) at ease with a question or two: "What did Sam like about school last year?," "What does Tina like to do at home?," or "What are some things you'd like her to accomplish this year?"

Invite parents to share their thoughts. As experts on their children, parents can share valuable insights. And they'll appreciate your respectful recognition of their role in helping their children.

Highlight the positives. Recognize a child's strengths before discussing her struggles. You'll give parents some perspective while encouraging them to work productively with you.

Address just one or two concerns. Listing too many problems can make parents (and their children) feel defeated. Mention that you'd like to help the student with several things, but for now you'd like to concentrate on just one or two.

Let parents know if you need thinking time. It's perfectly OK to tell parents you want to think through what they've said, observe their children for a bit, consult others, or read up on an issue they've raised.

Be Prepared for Surprises

Parents sometimes surprise us with negative or personal questions or comments: "My son's teacher bullied him all last year." "My daughter's lazy. She never tries at anything." "My husband doesn't care about Mark. He never comes to these conferences." "My wife's divorcing me. Things are falling apart."

What can you do in such an instance?

• Steer the conversation back to positives: "I'm sorry things didn't go well for Adam last year. But because our time is limited, I'd like to focus on what we can accomplish this year if we work together."
• Focus on the child: "You seem to be going through some tough stuff right now. I wonder if that's taking Jasmine's attention away from school. What do you think we might do to help her concentrate?"
• Listen with empathy: "That must be hard" or "You've been through a lot" can help parents feel heard without injecting your own opinion or advice.
• Offer to get help: "You seem to be wondering what to do next. Our school counselor may have some ideas for you."

Follow Up and Follow Through

After each parent-teacher conference, send a note thanking parents for sharing time with you. If you offered to find resources, gather information, and so forth, make sure you do so—and share the results with parents.

Each parent-teacher conference can be a powerful occasion for meaningful communication with families. Thinking ahead and following some simple guidelines will help ensure that conferences are positive and productive for everyone. 

Misconceptions about learning

 A Quiz on Misconceptions About Learning – In this Education Week article, Sarah Sparks challenges us to distinguish between correct and erroneous beliefs about learning and the brain, including brain cell connections, detecting novelty, right-brain/left-brain dominance, developmental phases, expert vs. novice thinking, brain capacity usage, learning styles, testing, native language learning, and dyslexia. Be brave – test yourself!

Middle School Argument Curriculum

 

A Middle-School Curriculum on Argumentation

            In this article in Social Education, Chauncey Monte-Sano (University of Michigan) and Ryan Hughes (University of North Carolina/Greensboro) describe a three-year curriculum they developed – Read. Inquire. Write. – designed to develop the skills of argumentation. Their goal was to scaffold learning for English learners and students reading below grade level so that by eighth grade, students would understand how to construct and critique an argument and formulate a counterargument. Read. Write. Inquire. has five one-week investigations spread through each year, with students asked to respond to a realistic scenario in each module:

            • Sixth grade: Interpreting arguments – Students learn to write a claim, cite specific and relevant evidence, and explain their reasoning on why the evidence is reliable and supports their claim. In one of the modules, students view a PBS documentary on the water supply in Mexico City and are asked to grapple with the question: Why is access to water unequal in and around Mexico City? Sixth graders study causation and write a fully developed argument but don’t necessarily look at alternative perspectives.

            • Seventh grade: Critiquing an argument – Students analyze another person’s argument and rebut it by questioning its claim, evidence, and reasoning. In one module, students read primary source documents on democracy in ancient Greece and are asked to critique an essay submitted to a fictional essay content on the strengths of Athenian democracy. They focus on the essential question, Was democracy in ancient Athens a good form of government? and write to the essay judges with their comments on the fictional essay.

            • Eighth grade: Developing counterarguments – Students write an argument and then formulate a counterargument that takes into account possible rebuttals and counterclaims vis-à-vis their claims, evidence, and reasoning. In one module, eighth graders study Reconstruction, focusing on the question, Did the promise of freedom come true for African Americans after the Civil War? Students write a letter to a museum suggesting how to tell the story of Reconstruction and respond to someone with a competing interpretation – triumph versus tragedy. 

            By implementing this curriculum and fostering a culture of inquiry across sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, conclude Monte-Sano and Hughes, “middle school teachers can prepare students to write complex arguments and critically engage with historical and social issues, enabling them to become informed and active participants in shaping the world around them.” 

 

“Read. Inquire. Write.: A Scaffolded Progression to Support Diverse Learners’ Social Studies Argument Writing in Middle School” by Chauncey Monte-Sano and Ryan Hughes in 

Social Education, September 2024 (Vol. 88, #4, pp. 234-240); the authors can be reached at cmontesa@umich.edu and rehughe2@uncg.edu. 

Request PD email from NCTE

 Example: “NCTE’s Annual Convention happens this November; it’s the premier professional learning opportunity available for ELA educators. You can learn more about it on this website: convention.ncte.org. Attending is a way for me to meet leading teacher voices, research scholars, and authors to continue my growth in service of students and literacy. This investment of my time and our funds has a ripple effect because I will bring back what I’ve learned and share it with others. Can we find funds to support this enriching experience for me?”

• Use NCTE’s 2024 Make the Case to Attend template 

• A best practice is to lift up the anticipated impact that attending will have on your practice and that of your colleagues (by presenting back to them key takeaways from the professional learning upon returning), and therefore, on student achievement. 

Building Thinking Classrooms

 

The Nuts and Bolts of Implementing “Thinking Classrooms” 

            In this Mind/Shift article, Kara Newhouse interviews Staci Durnin, a sixth-grade math teacher in Mineola, New York who read Peter Liljedahl’s book, Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics in the summer of 2023 and decided to try his approach after 29 years teaching with the conventional model. She loved the new approach and says that her students attained a much deeper understanding of mathematics than in previous years. Durnin reports that the transition involved a lot of work adapting lesson plans, but she got support from a 66,000-member Facebook group and it was all worth it. (Click the article link for an interview with Durnin and other teachers who implemented the approach during the 2023-24 school year.)

Newhouse’s article summarizes key elements of the “Thinking Classroom” approach. In 15 years of research, Liljedahl found that in the canonical I DO, YOU DO, WE DO math lesson, few students are thinking; rather, they’re mimicking the teacher. This is a problem, he says, because “if students are not thinking, they’re not learning.” Most of the so-called problem-solving in math classes, he believes, hasn’t been successful in getting students to think. “If we really want to have students learning through problem solving, then they have to get stuck, and they have to think, and they have to get unstuck.” 

Here’s how a Thinking Classroom lesson addresses this perennial problem of low intellectual engagement in math classes, often accompanied by I’m not a math person beliefs among many students:

-   The teacher gives a 3-5-minute introduction reviewing key background knowledge.

-   Students are randomly assigned to groups (two students per group in the primary grades, three in grade 3 and above).

-   Students see the random selection process in action, which makes them more likely to participate actively in their group and get to know all their classmates. 

-   All groups work on the same challenging problem standing up at erasable whiteboards.

-   Each group has one marker, and when a student has an idea, another student in the group writes it on the whiteboard.

-   The teacher circulates observing students’ progress, asking questions, providing vocabulary, giving hints and prods, and differentiating appropriately.

-   Students are encouraged to look at the strategies used by other groups, sometimes taking a “gallery walk” around the classroom.

-   The class convenes to consolidate key learnings, with the teacher drawing attention to successful solutions and common errors on the boards, providing more-direct instruction, and giving the bigger picture. 

-   Meaning-making during group work is messy, says Liljedahl, but it’s pulled together and made neater in this whole-group discussion.

-   Students write key insights in notebooks for their “future forgetful selves.”

-   Students then get up and, in different groups, move around the room solving shorter problems that check for understanding at the “mild,” “medium,” or “spicy” level of difficulty.

-   Each day’s problem gets a little harder, moving in “thin slices” through the curriculum. 

Liljedahl has found that most students need several lessons of less serious math problems to warm up to the new format before launching into the regular curriculum. “What that does,” he says, “is it makes math fun, and it makes math feel achievable and enjoyable. And it can be very disarming for students.” 

Collaboration within groups is a key success factor in Thinking Classrooms, he says: “What we noticed was that real collaboration doesn’t actually begin until students care as much about their partners’ learning as their own learning. And when empathy is unlocked, so many things work better in a classroom.” 

 

“How to Get Kids Thinking Instead of Mimicking in Math Class” by Kara Newhouse in Mind/Shift, August 27, 2024; see Memo 1013 for examples of Thinking Classroom problems at the elementary, middle-school, and high-school level, and Memo 992 for a summary of the first three chapters of Liljedahl’s book.

Difficult Conversations: 5 Things I Learned

 Difficult Conversation

Notes from Administrator Academy "Difficult Conversations" How to discuss Crucial issues to improve relationships and performance".  I have the handout filed under "Management/Difficult Conversations"

1. Difficult Conversation - and conflict management - takes up 40-90% of managers' time

2. There are common, known causes for conflict (see p. 4) unclear expectations, ineffective or poor communication, lack of clear jurisdiction or boundaries, interpersonal style or attitutdes (race, religion, ethics), conflicts of of interest, organizational change 

3. Functional View of Organizational Conflict. (Bacal) is that conflict is normal and can be productive.  Managers must work to manage conflict positively in order to employees to increase their knowledge and skills.

4.  

5. 

Useful resources.

p7. Goleman 5 components of emotional intelligence

p. 11 Committed listening checklist

Evidence-Based Reading and Writing

 In the ACT, skills related to reading and identifying the main idea primarily align with the Reading section of the test. Here are some specific skills assessed in the Reading section that are closely related to reading comprehension and identifying the main idea:

1. Main Idea and Central Theme Identification:

   • Students are tested on their ability to determine the main idea or central theme of a passage. Questions often ask about the primary purpose of the passage, the author's main point, or the central message conveyed by the text.

2. Understanding Supporting Details:

   • Students must comprehend how supporting details within a passage contribute to the main idea or central theme. This involves identifying specific evidence, examples, or arguments presented in the text that support or develop the main idea.

3. Recognizing Author's Perspective or Argument:

   • Students are expected to discern the author's perspective or argument and understand how it shapes the overall meaning of the passage. This includes recognizing the author's stance on an issue, the tone or attitude conveyed, and any implicit assumptions or biases.

4. Summarizing and Synthesizing Information:

   • Students are assessed on their ability to summarize key points or main ideas presented in a passage. Questions may require students to provide a concise summary of the passage's content or to identify the main idea of specific paragraphs or sections within the passage.

5. Identifying Central Claims in Arguments:

   • In passages that present arguments or viewpoints, students must identify the central claims or arguments made by the author. This involves understanding the structure of the argument, the evidence presented to support it, and any counterarguments or alternative perspectives mentioned.

Overall, success in the Reading section of the ACT relies heavily on students' ability to comprehend and analyze written passages, identify main ideas, discern supporting details, and understand the overall purpose and structure of the text. These skills are crucial for effective reading comprehension and are essential for performing well on the ACT exam.