Thank you for visiting #ksedchat. We welcome all educators to our chat that runs Mondays at 8 p.m. Central. Though many of our educators have their homes in Kansas, all teachers are welcome to pop in and join in on the learning.
Katherine tuning in tonight from Wichita, KS. Did a ton of learning today in 3rd grade at Christ the King. I have only had one other job besides teaching. Even if snow would be fitting for fall in KS right now. #ksedchat
Thanks for joining @ksedchat tonight. INTRO 1. Introduce yourself 2. What and where do you teach? 3. One interesting fact about u 3. Emoji to depict October 🍂🍂
Amanda, ELA/FCS #usd303! Interesting fact is I’m not a fan of animals (any of them). I just don’t get the appeal. Emoji: 👸 (Instead of her normal ninja and firefighter, my D wants to be a princess this Halloween. 🤷🏻♀️ #ksedchat
Thanks for joining @ksedchat tonight. INTRO 1. Introduce yourself 2. What and where do you teach? 3. One interesting fact about u 3. Emoji to depict October 🍂🍂
Thanks for joining @ksedchat tonight. INTRO 1. Introduce yourself 2. What and where do you teach? 3. One interesting fact about u 3. Emoji to depict October 🍂🍂
A1: Have them about every time @ SJMS. The parents are receptive to the feedback, offer to help however they can, and we make sure the cadet knows we're here for him #ksedchat
Hi all! Nicole here, I teach 7/8 ELA in Gardner. Interesting fact: I LOVE pizza so much I could eat it for every meal for the rest of my life and die happy. My emoji for October is ❤️ because today is my and my boyfriend’s 2 year anniversary! #ksedchat
A1: The parents and teachers working with the student to come up with a way to work all together to help the student be the most successful that they can be in the classroom. #KSEDCHAT
A1: ideal conference would be super positive with us both laughing & telling stories about their kid like they’re OUR kid. I would gain major insights into what makes their kid tick #ksedchat
A1) A conversation full of the child’s strengths, joys, and possibilities sprinkled with only a few items to improve upon in order to reach their future possibilities! #KSEDCHAT
I like the idea of this, but we don’t have a good enough turnout to be able to do this (especially since we have 12 hours of conferences spread over 2 days). A lot of families use this time for vacation instead of conferencing. #ksedchat
A1 ptc conference parent/guardian, teacher, AND student conference all present seeking solutions for improvements and celebrating the successes #ksedchat
Parents feeling comfortable is huge!! I’m in the education business and I get sooo nervous and uncomfortable before conferences for my own kid. (She doesn’t exactly play school well). #ksedchat
I would like to think so. I think student led conferences are so valuable! Kids need to be able to brag on themselves and also humbly admit where they can improve. And Ps need to hear and see their kids take charge as well. #ksedchat
A1: A parent/teacher conferences should be MOSTLY filled with positive things and very few issues that can be addressed with positive outcomes. #KSEDCHAT
A1) The student is there, and we three parties discuss all the ways the student has shown great signs of developing their understanding. Grades are a fleeting afterthought. And I get beer and pizza afterwards. #ksedchat
A2: invite and empower. They need to be given opportunities to be engaged. And not just send treats for parties. They often don’t know how to help. It’s our job to provide opportunities. I want to do a parent camp like EdCamp #ksedchat
Don’t tell the parent something their kid is doing “wrong” unless you have a plan (or spend time developing a plan with all parties) on how to help with this issue. #ksedchat
A2: Don’t speak AT parents. Invite Ps to participate throughout the year, not just at conference time. Share a different narrative than what they have heard year after year! #Ksedchat
A1: Ideal parent teacher conference would be student led. It would be an open conversation and time to listen to parent's goals for their child. #ksedchat
A2: Having an open door policy that all are welcome in your school. Lots of opportunities, big and small, to participate and be a part of their child’s education. #ksedchat
I think parent camp would be amazing. Especially right NOW. They’ve got their feet wet and now have questions, and there is still plenty of time in the year to make a difference. #ksedchat
A2: invite and empower. They need to be given opportunities to be engaged. And not just send treats for parties. They often don’t know how to help. It’s our job to provide opportunities. I want to do a parent camp like EdCamp #ksedchat
A2: Definitely keeping those lines of communication open! Sending home positive notes; parents need a 3:1 ratio just like their child. Inviting them into the room to learn with their student (especially math). #KSEDCHAT
Yes. I try my best to be as friendly as possible at conferences. Parents may be nervous to come to conferences. I don’t want to speak edu jargon to them. I want to welcome them into the conference as an active participant and team member of their child’s education. #ksedchat
A2: You have to have CONSTANT communication! With apps like @BloomzApp, it is really easy to share all of the awesome that's going on in your classroom on a daily basis. If the first time parents hear from you is at PT conference time, that's a fail.
#KSEDCHAT
A2: make it easy to be involved. Give information often & through multiple media. Do check ins specific to their kid. I give incentives for kids when their parent responds to my emails #ksedchat
A2 I know at secondary levels it is more difficult to do, but just an inviting email outlining what the current unit is, sharing resources that Ss are provided, and encouraging them to ask some guided questions I have found to be helpful #KSEDCHAT
I stink at this at the HS level. I was much better at the elem. we even did “third grader for a day” and got so many of our parents in for the day learning right along side their kids! #ksedchat
A2: Asking parents good ?s and taking the time to listen can increase engagement. Ask: What are your hopes and dreams for ______?
Tech has allowed for Ts to create a window into their Ss classroom with apps like @seesaw@Flipgrid Ps hopefully feel engaged already. #ksedchat
A2) Parents LOVE a positive email or message home. I mean, they LOOOVE it. Keep that up and you'll have their ear if a problem arises. Doesn't always work, but what's the worst case scenario? That you've sent well-deserved messages home? Seems like no fail deal. #ksedchat
One of my fav ever conferences was when I had 3 questions “what i love about NAME, what their strengths are, and a goal i have for them. I filled out one half and the parents filled out half and then gave it to the kids. They LOVED IT. #ksedchat
In reply to
@BMcDubb1, @MrsJankord, @Seesaw, @Flipgrid
A3: we started a conf night for Ps to touch base with or one with concerns or new Ss in sept. Normal conf night in oct and a follow up in nov for anyone we need to talk to again or share progress love not having to cram them in and really share #ksedchat
A2: When I have a parent reach out to me about their child struggling with a topic. I email them the steps we went through in class. Newsletters go home weekly about what we are learning in class too. #KSEDCHAT
A3: I love SLC. The planning and practice that goes into SLC is so worth it to me! I always asked staff to run through the SLC so that each S had an additional practice round! #ksedchat
A3 I am going to try out student led conferences. Being a #firstyear teacher I have seen these be much more effective and relevant than the traditional conferences. #KSEDchat
A3: I am going to steal an idea from @iammrsnix and have students make a video sharing their progress. This might be a good thing to use @Flipgrid for. #KSEDCHAT
This is the question! Any HS conferences do an “invite” and set up a time with certain parents? The parents I’d love to see are the ones that aren’t coming/can’t come to our conferences. #ksedchat
A3) I think we are trying to go towards student led. We also invite post-secondary institutions to have tables at conferences. We want to link the role conferences play in identifying student growth to things beyond just the end of semester. What’s the ultimate goal? #ksedchat
A3: we try to combine as much stuff as possible, making it so parents don’t have to come up to school for a bunch of different things. I’m doing @Flipgrid student-led conference videos so even if a parent can’t come, they can still watch the video #ksedchat
I wish MS and HS did “advocacy” conferences where the parent just met with the homeroom teacher and got info about all their classes. That way a parent doesn’t have to meet with 6-7 teachers (times 2-3 if they have multiple kids) #Ksedchat
I wish MS and HS did “advocacy” conferences where the parent just met with the homeroom teacher and got info about all their classes. That way a parent doesn’t have to meet with 6-7 teachers (times 2-3 if they have multiple kids) #Ksedchat
A3: We make support services available on PT conference nights/day. Local community health center, mental health center, Communities in Schools are all included to make it quick and easy for parents to find services that they might need and not know how to reach. #ksedchat
A4 we share BOY test scores compared to grade level scores. Then we move to progress monitoring results to show growth in certain aspects. Ss will also be able to share what they feel has been their strength and weakness this past quarter, as well as their goals #KSEDCHAT
Grades are the main data we have. If we go to just seeing advisory kids I’m hoping to figure out how to show some of their career cruising and goals. #ksedchat
A4: Usually grades and behavior. I had them start a digital portfolio, and we showcased a few. Parents thought it was neat, but when you have parents crying about how these are the best grades they've ever seen, what more do you need? #ksedchat
A4) I do SBG, so my students keep track of their current assessed level of mastery for each Learning Target. My favorite is showing several assessments over the same LT, and the growth in understanding and the scores that changed with it. Still refining this system. #ksedchat
A4: We share MAP scores, grades, and talk about successes and struggles in the classroom. Still figuring out how to present the data, gotta meet with my mentor still. I want to have the kids write, "I wish mom and dad knew..." this week too. #KSEDCHAT
A5: easy to pull up current grades for kids on every assignment. Can use it to show student work. Use it to create student led conference videos. Share student photos. #ksedchat
It is still new for me, but I love that it shows student growth and compares scores to the national and district levels. It is also great to let us know where our Ss are at for state assessments. #KSEDCHAT
A reminder to my math teacher friends that there is a math ed chat tomorrow at 8pm central.
Hashtag: #ksmathed
Topic- Assessmemt in the Math Classroom
#ksedchat
A5 first use tech for emailing invites about how conferences are structured then inviting them to the multiple platforms and software @Google suite, @PearDeck, @Seesaw, @Flipgrid, @PowerSchoolApps, twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, whew did I get them all #KSEDCHAT
A5) I would assume that you could use Technology as a way to schedule time slots. Also showing the student's progress. I would love to see some of things teacher are using in their classroom. #KSEDCHAT
🍂🍂🍂You all are awesome! Thanks for sharing ideas on how to make parent/teacher conferences more meaningful and relevant. Thanks for all the work you do each day to know and love your students. 👻 🎃 #KSEDCHAT
