We are holding our conferences on Monday, November 25 and Tuesday, November 26 from 7:30 am - 6:30 pm each day. Teachers have sent out a link to have families sign up for a conference appointment. Please be sure to respond to your child’s teacher to sign up for a conference.
Educating a child requires a partnership between the school and the family. Thurgood Marshall teachers try to find many ways to communicate regularly with parents through emails, newsletters, blogs, and apps. Fall conferences are one of the few times that teachers can sit with parents and discuss their child’s learning. We value this time with you, as it allows us to share work samples and insights about your child’s learning—both academic and social! Conferences are more than the teacher sharing information with you. Our goal is to learn more about you, your family, and your hopes and dreams for your child’s education.
Here are some ways you might prepare to get the most out of your conference time:
Ask your child in advance if there is anything they would like you to discuss with the teacher. This may give you insight into things that are hard academically or with engagement. It may also give you information about what your child especially likes about school. It is also important to share what has been successful, so your child’s teacher knows to keep using those strategies/activities.
Make a few notes with your own questions or topics you want to be sure to address at the conference. You may want to email questions you have to your child’s teacher in advance of the conference. Teachers may also send you questions about your hopes for you child in advance of the conference, understanding that many of us prefer a little think time first.
Remember that our conferences are tightly scheduled. Plan to arrive a minute or two early and be prepared to finish at the end of your allotted time. If there is more that you hope to address and you run out of time, ask the teacher when you might be able to speak again.
Share any positive observations you have about what is going well for your child at school, things your child has been especially interested in, or things you appreciate about the teacher.
Remember that a focus of the conference is to share how your child is doing and areas of strength or concern. Be open to suggestions from the teacher and share your thoughts about how your child may best be helped. Teachers are happy to give you ways to support learning at home when they see you are open to this, so ask what you can do to support your child at home.
Take notes about what has been shared so you can refer back to them and share with your child, as appropriate.
If you and the teacher have decided to try something new with your child—a new plan for learning or to support behavior, for example—plan a time to check back in to see how things are working out.
Most importantly of all, remember that all our staff are here to support you and your child as best we can. We want to help you and work with you. Please let us know if there is something we can put in place to support your student.
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