It’s that time of the year…..Fall Parent/Teacher Conference Week
Goal: Strengthen the home-school relationship! 

You and the parents are both there to help create the best possible outcomes for the student 🙂

While the format is different this year, our goal is still the same! We all want to understand each student’s unique needs, skills and personality to help that child learn and grow the best we can. 

It’s important that parents know that we see and notice small things in their children (even virtually) — every positive is worth noticing and celebrating! Sharing positives with parents makes a huge impact on building strong relationships.

**Allow some extra time for tech issues! 
This is the first time parents are doing conferences online, too! 
Give a little wiggle room to deal with technical difficulties, especially for parents who don’t regularly use Zoom  themselves.
***Don’t waste too much time trying to resolve technical issues. If you need to fall back on a regular PHONE CONFERENCE this time around, that’s okay! 

Try to gather information that will be helpful to you:

What concerns or issues do you think your child is experiencing with school?
What successes have you noticed your child has experienced this year?
What do you see as your child’s strengths and weaknesses?
Do you have any specificity questions or topics you’d like to discuss?
In what areas do you need support at home from me?

Virtual Conferences will be different — but the goal is to give parents important information about the whole student, gather feedback from parents & create solutions together! 

Feel free to invite an admin (just like in-person conferences) to be present for a potentially difficult virtual conference. Donna and I are here to support you!

*Do share AND ask about students’ social and emotional wellbeing
*Remind parents and caregivers of school expectations (how to be a great remote learner)
*Inquire how it’s going from their perspective
*Highlight student work by screen sharing on Zoom ! 
*Offer suggestions, but don’t forget to be equally understanding, patient and encouraging. We may not know all of the struggles that families have been going through (job loss, illness, working from home while trying to help their kids with school, etc). Now more than ever, teachers & families are working as a team.

*Just like you would follow up after a conference (regarding something that was discussed, or a suggestion), follow up with an email, a text or a phone call to the parent — revisiting something specific you discussed in the conference. It shows your commitment to that child’s growth and development! 

Let’s make sure we make the most of Conference Week to learn and share to best help our Kubbies!

Here’s our week at a glance:

Monday, November 9th

Tuesday, November 10th

Wednesday, November 11th
Happy Birthday Julie Fister 🙂

Thursday, November 12th

Friday, November 13th
Happy Birthday Stephanie Polakowski 🙂
NO SCHOOL – Full Day Parent/Teacher Conferences

(11/15) Happy Birthday Sandy Montes De Oca 🙂