5)      Bring paper and pencil with you to take notes. This will show the teacher you are serious about the meeting and will also allow you to remember what was said.

6)      Be positive during the conference. Remember you are both there to help your child succeed. Don’t react defensively if your teacher brings up a problem. You are there to work together to solve any problems.

7)      Work together to create a plan of action. Creating a specific plan will allow both you and the teacher to monitor progress throughout the school year.

8)      Discuss the social aspect of school as well as academic. Does your child get along with other students?

9)      Keep the conference positive. Although you need to know any problems your child may be having, you don’t want to the conference to become more about problems, it should be about solutions.

10)  Set up a way to continue communication. It could be via weekly phone calls or by email. Continued contact will help keep you apprised of any potential problems and will allow you to let the teacher know if there are any problems at home.