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

Scheduling Conferences

First, I send 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. When 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 open times.

Here is what our form looks like. Click the images to use the template in Canva.

You can also use an online sign-up like Sign Up Genius!

Conference Forms

The first thing I do at the conference is ask the families if they have any questions or what they would like to discuss. 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 student information forms to guide our conversation.

The form includes student success, information about the student in class (social skills, personality, likes, etc), and concrete suggestions the families can do at home. These suggestions are specific to that student.

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 the most up-to-date 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!

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!