How to Get the Most Out of a Parent-Teacher Meeting

Just a few days ago, we wrote an article on how to build a solid parent-teacher relationship. Naturally, knowing how to ace a parent-teacher meeting plays is a big part in building a good relationship with parents. This is why we believed it would be best to dive a little deeper and share more specific tips for getting the most out of a parent-teacher meeting. 

We know that positive communication between parents and teachers is an important predictor of the children’s academic performance. When both sides work together, they can easily identify potential problems, make up a strategy for tackling concerns, and motivate the student to reach their full potential. 

Yet, the collaboration between parents and teachers can take many forms, and not always both sides are equally satisfied. What should a teacher-parent meeting look like? More importantly, how long or how often should teachers communicate with parents? 

A recent study from the National Education Association (NEA) revealed that parents and teachers don’t feel the same way about the attended meetings. Most of them last only 14 minutes, which opens the question “Do parents really understand how their child is really doing in school?” Nigel M. Atwell tries to answer this exact question in his article “Report Card Time Has Come and Gone.”

Being aware that such discrepancies exist is probably the first and most important step in improving the relationship with parents. The second step is to continue to read our valuable tips on how to prepare for the parent-teacher meeting in order to get the most out of it and make parents feel involved. 

Parents-Teacher Meeting Tips

To get the most out of a parent-teacher meeting there are a few essentials to follow which make up the foundation of a good relationship between parents and teachers. Moreover, the following tips will save you time, improve your communication skills, and give you lots of valuable insights. 

Plan Ahead: Write Down Your Goals and Make an Outline to Achieve Them

Let’s start our list with an easy one – prepare! This is the golden rule for the success of any parent-teacher meeting. You can’t expect much to come out of a conversation if you don’t decide beforehand what is going to be talked about. More importantly, what are you trying to achieve?

These are some of the questions that will help you identify goals for the meeting, which in turn will guide you in making an outline of the meeting’s structure and key points that must be addressed. 

This is an equally important step regardless of whether the teacher or the parents requested the meeting. Of course, it’s easier to plan when you, as a teacher, schedule the meeting. But, if that’s not the case, you should ask the parents to give you a brief overview of their expectations, goals, and general motivations for scheduling a meeting with you. Also, make sure to prepare all of the student’s work and review their progress. 

Here are some questions you can answer to help you set up clear goals: 

• Is there a change in the student’s performance or behavior? 
• Is there anything unusual or concerning that you want to mention? 
• How would you describe the student’s attitude toward school?
• Is there room for improvement? How? 
• How can parents help? What insights can they give you? What actions can they take?
• What are the good things you have noticed? 
• What are the bad things you have noticed? 

When there are a lot of things to be addressed, make sure to prioritize!

Prepare the Parents With an Informative Email

Once you have the outline or the overall structure of how the meeting should go, share it with parents! Normally, you wouldn’t share every detail that has helped you decide on the key points you want to address but write a short email before the meeting informing parents of the goals and the main issues that are going to be discussed. 

Additionally, conclude the email with a polite request for parents to send you their thoughts, questions, or topics they would like to address. This is an amazing way for you to see the parents’ expectations and try to meet their needs. 

With this one little gesture, parents will feel more involved, understood, and free to express their own point of view.

Optimize The Time Frame

How long will the meeting last and will you have time to go over all of the previously identified points of interest? 

These two questions should help you develop a time frame for the different elements of the meeting. For instance, if the meeting is supposed to last 30 minutes, use 5 minutes for the introduction and exchanging pleasantries. The next 10 to 15 minutes talk about the main topic of interest, after which you’ll leave 10 minutes for question or discussion. 

The example above is just one way to organize a meeting and set a time frame for every element. Depending on your goals and the parent’s expectation, every meeting can have a different time structure. Just, keep in mind to think about these things before the meeting. 

Support Your Arguments with Evidence

Whether you’re bringing good or bad news make sure to support your conclusion with evidence, where the evidence is the student’s work. You can show the parents exams, homework, art, or any other written activity done by the student showing their progress or lack thereof. 

In the case of praise, parents will feel proud to see or hear about the good work that their child has been doing. In case of a complaint or an issue, the student’s work will keep parents from being in denial and blaming the teacher – something that’s not uncommon.

If the meeting is about something negative, be straightforward and careful with your words. 

Be Clear About Your Requirements

Before the meeting is over it would be good to briefly summarize everything that was said and to explicitly repeat your demands – if there are any.

Don’t be afraid to be straightforward as most parents would love to know exactly what’s expected from them in the same way that you want to know what their expectations of you are. 

Having said that, be mindful of the way you communicate these expectations. Instead of being authoritarian and saying “You should practice algebra with your child at least two or three times a week,” say “I’m confident that we can make progress and overcome these difficulties with two or three hours of practice at home.” 

By using “we”, you’re showing the parents that you see them as part of your team and by working together you can benefit the student.

Q&A and Feedback Time

We’ve already mentioned a Q&A session when we gave an example of how to organize a specific time frame for each element of the meeting. This is because we believe that leaving time for a discussion and feedback is essential for a successful session. 

It’s natural to want to use every minute of the meeting for the topic you’ve prepared, but keep in mind that raising even one issue will bring new questions and reactions from the parents that shouldn’t be ignored.

In fact, it’s better to talk only about one issue and spend more time on Q&A, than going over a lot of topics, and leave the parents feeling like they’re being lectured. 

Be Warm and Welcoming

The last four tips concern your communication techniques that really make a difference. The first one is your attitude and body language. 

Even if your current mood has nothing to do with the meeting itself, a valuable skill to have is leaving everything at the door and entering the room with enthusiasm and a smile. 

Looking parents in the eye, facing your body toward them, keeping your hands open, and nodding while they speak are some of the basic rules when it comes to nonverbal communication. 

To sum it up, be warm and welcoming not only with your words, but with your whole body. Parents will be able to tell if you have a negative attitude even if you don’t say anything. 

Listen Actively

The second communication skill is the art of active listening. It’s a skill that can be acquired and developed with practice. As the name suggests, it’s the act of really listening to what the speaker is trying to say, rather than just hearing the words and responding in default. 

At first it might be difficult differentiating between active and passive listening, but just being aware and completely dedicated to the speaker will help you develop these skills gradually. 

With time, you’ll be able to pick up body language signs, tone of voice, and other keywords in the speaker’s speech, that will help you truly understand them. 

Active listening is a conscious decision to understand the speaker. It entails a positive reinforcement to encourage the speaker to express themselves by nodding your head and saying “mhmm, mhm,” being non-judgemental, patient (not interrupting with already formed responses in your head), present, and remaining neutral. 

Identify the Expectations

Sometimes the parents will say one thing but expect another. Although it’s not in your job description deciphering the parents’ messages, it would be beneficial if you can somehow identify their expectations. 

For instance, when the parents say something along the lines of “But, my child is smart and they do so much more”, respond by saying “You want your child to receive more challenging assignments, am I correct?”

By rephrasing their words and asking for their confirmation on specific actions, you’ll get so much more from the parent-teacher meeting. 

Follow the Three P’s: Politeness, Positivity, Professionalism

Finally, our last piece of advice is to remind you of the three P’s of any successful parent-teacher meeting. The three P’s include politeness, positivity, and professionalism. In one way or another, they’re reflected in all of our tips above. However,  it’s good to separate them as basic rules you need to always keep in mind. 

Being polite means respecting other people. You can respect the parents’ time by being punctual and prepared. You can respect the parents’ feelings by being careful with the way you express yourself, and so on. 

Being positive means leaving your problems at the door and keeping a smile even when it’s difficult to do so. It also means being aware of the words’ connotation and using warm, positive, and encouraging language.

Finally, being professional means letting go of your impulses and behave in a formal manner. It’s an embodiment of the conduct and qualities that characterize or mark educators.

Before You Go

We understand that a face-to-face parent-teacher meeting might feel more personal and effective, but ever since the pandemic has forced us to adapt, online meetings have become the golden standard. This might even be beneficial as it saves time and allows teachers to organize more frequent or longer meetings. However, regardless of the form in which the meeting takes place, keep our useful tips in mind and you’ll build a great relationship with them. 

We’ve also linked to some of the other guides at the beginning of the article, but if you liked this article, then please visit our blog and subscribe to our newsletter! We’ll keep writing engaging content to help teachers and homeschooling parents do their job flawlessly. 
Finally, to help you even further, let us remind you to visit our main website and browse through our growing library of worksheets and other teaching resources. We would love to make high-quality education easily accessible to all children everywhere around the world!