Today I wanted to share a few ideas for a successful and easy parent-teacher conference.

Scheduling Conferences

First, I sent home a form and ask parents to choose their top 3 times. We have 15-20 minute time slots available. I assign the times on a first come first serve basis. As soon as I receive a form, I send a note home with that child’s name and the conference time. For anyone who doesn’t return a form, I assign them times based on the times that are open.

Here is what our form looks like. This is just to give you ideas and is not available to download!

3 Glows And A Grow

The first thing I do at the conference is asking the families if they have any questions. I like to give them the chance to lead the conference. This helps make sure they get any needs or concerns addressed. Then I use our 3 Glows And A Grow form to discuss each child.

I have to give a major shout-out to my friend Jenni Booth for sharing this awesome conference idea with me! 3 Glows And A Grow! Basically, you give the families 3 positive things about their child and then 1 thing that the child can work on or an area where they can grow! I made a form for each child and went over them with families during conferences.  THEY WERE A HUGE HIT!   The families loved them and I loved having a document to keep me focused.

You can download the FREE file here:

Sharing Data And Progress With ESGI

I also share data and growth using our ESGI reports. These reports are so easy with ESGI because they’re automatically generated and they’re so easy for families to understand! They’re also accurate because I will assess with ESGI just before conferences so we have to most update to information to share and discuss.

We use the Student Detail Report because all of the assessments are in one place. And they can see the growth line and the letter grade that would show up on the report card. With ESGI you can set up the grade scale to match your school/district grade scale!

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If you’re not using ESGI, you need to be! It’s my number one classroom must have and it makes conferences so easy! Use the code SMORGIE to get a 60 day free trial and save $50 off your subscription!