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Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Conference Tips and Ideas!

Oh-My-Goodness!  Is it seriously ALREADY time for parent-teacher conferences???  The year is absolutely flying by!

We are gearing up to meet with ALL 19 of our families next week to share the great things their kiddos are accomplishing this year!  That's right, ALL of them!  How you say?  ALL...of them?   Keep reading! :)

We thought we would take a minute to give you a few tips that have worked out really well for us in getting EVERY SINGLE ONE of our families in for this important event!

The BEST thing we EVER did was to begin using this "You Pick 3" conference sign up sheet.  We don't have scheduled time off to hold our conferences, so we just choose 3 days that work out for us.  We include as many time slots as possible where we can be available to meet with families.  We always try to include some early morning times for our families that can't take off work or who are just coming in from the night shift.  We schedule slots during our specials classes (music, pe...) and then plenty of after school time slots as well.  We try to have at least 1 late night where we have conferences scheduled for 5:00 or later for our working parents who hit us on their way home.  (This year my own kiddos have football EVERY DANG night, so I couldn't schedule any that ran TOO late, but in years past I have scheduled them as late as 6:30.)

Now I know this might seem like a BIG time commitment from you...and it is!  BUT, and this is a BIG but, this is truly one of the BEST ways you could ever possibly spend your teacher time!  It always breaks my heart a teeny bit when the only time some parents hear from us is when something is WRONG!  Conferences give you the opportunity to REALLY connect with families and share some of the GREAT things happening with their kiddo.  Of course not ALL the news will be good news, but we can definitely take this opportunity to FIND the good and share!

And we promise it will SO be worth your time.  You will make some serious partners in educating your kiddos when you build these strong family ties!  And let's be honest, who doesn't LOVE to hear how awesome their kiddo is???

We have been able to get nearly 100% participation in our conferences for the last several years.

We LOVE the question and comment section too!  This encourages families to reflect on how their child is doing and what things THEY would like to discuss as well!  Everyone is VESTED!


And if you do have some families that DON'T sign up, we tweak the letter to say this:

Please find your scheduled conference time below.  I appreciate everyone returning the sign-up sheets so promptly.  I was able to give nearly everyone their first or second time preference.  If you are unable to attend at the scheduled time, please let me know as soon as possible to reschedule. 

If you do not see your name below, I did not receive a conference sign-up sheet.  Please rank your time preferences (1,2,3) from the remaining times below.  If you would prefer to have a phone conference, please make a note of that in the comment box below.  Thanks!!!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      See you in 2 weeks! - Cristy Fogle 10-10-13

Then it's time to get ready for all the parents heading your way!  To make it a bit easier, we start with the electronic form below.  We set up the basic format we want and then change a bit here and there to match each kiddo.  For example, each record says:  "Math:  Number Sets - counting sets to___" and we change this portion for each child.  Same goes for:  "Reading/Phonics:  Knows ___ upper and lowercase letters". We just add in how many they know.

The comment section is always very individualized, as is the goal section!


So we hope these tips help you get ALL of your families in to share your kiddo's great learning with them!

We will be more than happy to email out either of these forms if you would like to tweak them to fit your style!  Just leave us a comment with your email address and we'll shoot them out!

Happy Conferencing!

56 comments:

  1. I would love both of these forms. We had conferences last week, but I would love to have for use in the spring and next year. Thanks! higgystyx@yahoo.com

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    1. Dang...sorry we didn't post this soon enough. We actually have student-led conferences in the spring. Maybe I get organized enough to post about those before spring gets here! :)

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  2. I would love these forms! thank you so much! katienussbaum87@gmail.com

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  3. I would be very interested in receiving the conference forms, its great we can change things to meet our current needs, always looking for something different, thanks so much diane
    dianerice59@yahoo.com

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  4. I would like these forms. This is going to be my first year to do parent teacher conferences. I am trying to get ideas!
    THANKS!
    Marcy
    marcy_sundling@hotmail.com

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    Replies
    1. Good luck Marcy! They are nerve racking but also SO rewarding! Your parents are your best allies in teaching!

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  5. These are awesome! I'd love to have these conferences!
    kderrick@lexington1.net

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  6. I would love to have the individualized conference form. Thank you so much!! hellonr14@aol.com

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  7. Yes, Please! kdhsmith@gmail.com

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  8. Could you send them my way? Thanks lshawver06@yahoo.com

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  9. I would love to have a copy of this! samorron@indaina.edu

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    Replies
    1. Ooops got carried away typing! samorron@indiana.edu

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  10. Hey everyone. We just emailed out the forms. Hope they come in handy!

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  11. I'd love to have a copy, too!
    mgnreynolds@yahoo.com

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  12. I'd love a copy, as well. Thanks for sharing!
    kwiley@bluevalleyk12.org

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  13. I'd love a copy, as well. Thanks for sharing!
    kwiley@bluevalleyk12.org

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  14. I would love these! aac9_13_1989@yahoo.com

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  15. I would love the second form oswalta@gmail.com

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  16. I would love a copy of these. lss46@mcsdk12.org. Thanks!

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  17. I would love a copy of these. Thank you. arogers@bemdiji.k12.mn.us

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  18. I would love a copy! Thank you!! mrozenboom@scchristian.pvt.k12.ia.us

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  19. I would love a copy! Thank you!! mrozenboom@scchristian.pvt.k12.ia.us

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  20. I would love a copy! Thank you!
    jacquelyn_whitman@wrsd.net

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  21. I'd love a copy! Thanks!
    dcabakios@gmail.com

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  22. I'd love a copy! Thanks!
    dcabakios@gmail.com

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  23. Hey everyone! We just sent these forms out. Hope you find them helpful!

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  24. Is it too late to get a copy of those great conference forms? I'd L.O.V.E. a copy. Thanks,
    lauralbc3@gmail.com

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  25. These conference forms look great! Can you send them to my email awaddington@sjsissaquah.org? Thanks!

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  26. I would love copies of all of them!!

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  27. I would love these forms for conferences that are coming up ... Thank you!!! mackenziepeters3@gmail.com

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  28. Hello, I came across your conference form and I love it. It would really provide me with more structure for conferences. If it is not too much to ask, I would love to have a copy. Thank you. Alicia atmalec@sbcglobal.net

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  29. Hey everyone. We just sent out the forms to the last folks that asked. Hope they are helpful!

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  30. I'd love to have a copy of this, please! It looks perfect for our conferences! Thank you!

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  31. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  32. I'd love a copy kerijohnsen@gmail.com. Thanks in advance.

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  33. Just came across these awesome forms! Can I get a copy? kellyallyn32@gmail.com
    Thanks!

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  34. Can I please have a copy?

    moorecaroline13@gmail.com

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  35. I'd love a copy please.....
    tjajkj@gmail.com
    Thank you :)

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  36. I would love to have both of these forms please. michellestroman@letu.edu. Thank you!

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  37. I would love a copy of these forms! Thanks!

    tahnee.simanca@gmail.com

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  38. I'd love a copy of these forms. Kelly.fainter@gmail.com Thanks!!!

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  39. Would love a copy of these forms...our conferences are next week. Thanks!

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  40. I would love a copy of these forms! Thanks for the great resource!

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  41. Oops...Forgot my email. mandag481@gmail.com

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  42. I would love a copy of the forms! Thank You! brico-arroyo1@saisd.net

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  43. I would love a copy of the forms! Thank you, mcs8809@hotmail.com

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  44. i would love to have a copy of these forms! our conferences are set for next week. would love to use them. thank you! trbekes@hotmail.com

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  45. Sent these out to all of you who have commented recently.

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  46. Sent these out to all of you who have commented recently.

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  47. I would love to have both versions of your conference form. Thank you very much!!
    adeal@lincoln.k12.nc.us

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  48. I would love to have both versions of your conference form. Thank you very much!!
    adeal@lincoln.k12.nc.us

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  49. I would love the sign up sheet! :)
    jenblack 2003 at yahoo dot com

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  50. I would love a copy! mtweneboah@gmail.com

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  51. I would love to have a copy of these. My email is tlhamby@bcbe.org. Thank you!

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  52. Hello. I'd love a copy of this sign up sheet. Please send to lavalos at yahoo dot com

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