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Connect Canyons
Learning is about making connections, and we invite you to learn and connect with us. Connect Canyons is a show about what we teach in Canyons District, how we teach, and why. We get up close and personal with some of the people who make our schools great: students, teachers, principals, parents, and more. We meet national experts, too. And we spotlight the “connection makers” — personalities, programs and prospects — we find compelling and inspiring.
Connect Canyons
Ep 92: How to Get the Most Out of Parent-Teacher Conferences
It’s parent-teacher conference season in Canyons District. In the coming days, tens-of-thousands of meetings are planned throughout the District, a significant investment of time and energy on behalf of schools and families — all with the best interest of students in mind.
So, how can parents get the most out of this opportunity for facetime with faculty? What kinds of questions should they be asking? Are these meet-and-greets even still useful in today’s hyper-connected world where parents receive daily electronic homework reminders, tardy notices, and report card updates?
In the latest episode of Connect Canyons, we hear from Canyons Assistant Superintendent Dr. McKay Robinson who has seen the effectiveness of parent-teacher conferences as a teacher for more than a decade, an elementary principal, director of school performance, and now as Canyon’s Assistant Superintendent.
Welcome to Connect Canyons, a podcast sponsored by Canyons School District. This is a show about what we teach, how we teach and why we get up close and personal with some of the people who make our schools great Students, teachers, principals, parents and more. We meet national experts too. Learning is about making connections, so connect with us.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Connect Canyons. It feels just like yesterday that we were just starting school and it's already time to gear up for parent-teacher conferences. Parent-teacher conferences are one of the most useful tools that we have as parents to ensure our children are getting the most from their education. But as helpful as they are, they are downright stressful for everyone involved. Parents want to get the lowdown on how their children are doing and teachers want to make sure they are communicating everything the parent needs to know, but they have to do so in a 15-minute block. So we're going to an expert to find out what we need to know going into parent-teacher conferences. Mckay Robinson, who is our assistant superintendent, is joining us today to help guide us through the best way to approach parent-teacher conferences. Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much for having me. It's my absolute pleasure.
Speaker 2:Now McKay, just as a little background. Sometimes people don't know when you're assistant superintendent. What were you before?
Speaker 3:That's a really great question. Yeah, so I have a long history and a longstanding background, if you will, in education. I started off as a fourth grade teacher here in what was once Jordan School District and now Canyons, but I started at Sprucewood Elementary and then continued my teaching career for close to 12, 13 years and then I moved into administration, where I became an elementary school principal up at Lone Peak Elementary, and I was there for several years and then moved to Sandy Elementary School and was a principal there for a few years, and then I moved into the district office and became a director of school performance where I was able to oversee the elementary schools throughout our district, and then, just this last year, was made the assistant superintendent. And so here we are.
Speaker 2:And that's how you earned the expert title for parent-teacher conferences because you really have seen them from as a parent, as a teacher, as a principal. So why are parent-teacher conferences so important and why do we have them so early in the year? Because I really do feel like I just barely got done school shopping. I feel like I just barely got my kids into the routine of getting their butts to school Totally understand, Totally understand.
Speaker 3:But no, it truly is such a great opportunity for parents as well as for teachers, to discuss the child and to learn everything about them as well as share the progress that's being made. But ultimately they're there to facilitate communication between the parents and the teachers to discuss academic performance, possibly even behavior, social development and just overall progress in school, and so the dialogue just helps the parents to understand each and every one of those as well, as it gives the parent the opportunity to share what may be going on outside of school that might benefit the teacher as well. So it's just an opportunity to discuss that academic progress, behavioral concerns and on and on. So it's just a fun and exciting time.
Speaker 2:So I've always been one of those parents that just kind of shows up and after I leave I'm like, oh, I should have asked this, I should have asked that. Should I have asked this? What do you suggest are the things that you should be asking, as a parent, when you go to a parent-teacher?
Speaker 3:conference.
Speaker 3:Excellent question.
Speaker 3:I think ultimately, with it being so early in the year, if there hasn't been a lot of communication between the parent and the teacher up, best thing that I could ever recommend to a parent is to come with a list of questions, things that you truly want to know and understand, and we talked a little bit earlier about the academic progress that's being made or even behavioral or social development.
Speaker 3:Whatever the case may be, come with a list of questions that you truly want to know as a parent and the parent can certainly ask more specific questions, something along the lines of you know, is my child performing at the level that they need to be at this particular time within the school year? Or how are they doing with their friends when they're out on the playground? How are they doing in science? How are they doing in math? You know, I see them doing really well reading at home, but are they truly reading at a level that is appropriate for this grade level? So there are a lot of questions that could certainly be asked and it really just comes down to what do you truly want to know about your child when they're in that school setting? And if you come with those questions. I can assure you the teacher is going to be able to answer those questions and provide you whatever information you're seeking.
Speaker 2:So say, you're in a situation where you find out that things aren't going hunky-dory, that there might be some hiccups and maybe your kid isn't performing at the academic level that they should be, or maybe socially things are going wrong. How do you set up follow-up, like what's the next step afterwards? So you've gone, you found out that, oh crap.
Speaker 3:Sure, sure.
Speaker 3:If you were to find something out that there was a concern or a worry in a particular area, you can certainly set up like an action plan with the teacher.
Speaker 3:Here are the things that we are going to be working on. The teacher will be working on those at the school and the parent can be working on those at home, and that action plan can be laid out of. Let's have another follow-up in a few weeks or let's talk next parent-teacher conference, whatever the case may be. And so it gives the opportunity for the parent, as well as the teacher, to track the progress that's being made and continue to communicate and inform one another of all the things that they are seeing, and it just gives them that opportunity to truly address any ongoing challenges that may be there. It's just, it truly becomes a partnership, to be honest with you, and it's something that a parent shouldn't be concerned or worried about or feel fearful about approaching or asking the teacher about, because the teacher wants nothing more than to provide the best learning environment for the student, and I'm pretty confident that that's what the parent wants as well. And so it becomes that partnership and a unified approach to provide the best both in and out of school.
Speaker 2:I'm doing a confessional here.
Speaker 3:Fair enough.
Speaker 2:I was excellent at parent-teacher conferences when my kids were in elementary school but as they got in the secondary level and with Skyward and all the things that we have, I'm giving the look of shame people. I'm not as good because I have so much data available to me and it's hard for me because I'm like I know my kid's doing fine. I see when the grades dip. I get a weekly report. I get an email with a weekly report. I look on Skyward on a regular basis. So for parents that are in the secondary level, explain to me Our time is valuable. Teacher time is valuable. Explain to me why my lazy butt should go.
Speaker 3:You know, that's another great question, and I would argue that an opportunity to sit down with our children's teachers is just a great opportunity all around, regardless of the age.
Speaker 3:Now, obviously, when we have our secondary aged students, sometimes they're a little embarrassed about mom or dad coming and showing up to talk with their teacher, or maybe there's something they don't necessarily want us to find out about them.
Speaker 3:But our teachers, regardless of the age, like I mentioned earlier, they just want what's best for the student, and so, although you have full access to the data that's readily available and how your child is performing, it may not be as clear to you as it is to the teacher or the person that's providing that data.
Speaker 3:And so, really going in with questions asking, you know being able to ask very specific or clear questions about what the data means and is my child performing at the level that they should, and it just provides that opportunity. So, yes, it can be cumbersome or it can be kind of difficult to schedule that time, but we also offer opportunities for parents to do that via Zoom as well, and so they don't have to necessarily take time off or to leave work for an extended period of time or even leave their family at home. Whatever. They can schedule a quick 15-minute appointment to do that via Zoom or other technological resources, and so it just provides that opportunity to discuss all the data that is readily available to you. But you may still have some questions about.
Speaker 2:Now, say you go to parent-teacher conference. You've talked to the teacher about a problem. You don't feel like your problem really has been addressed. What do you do next?
Speaker 3:Well, let's hope that we never have to get to that point, if you will.
Speaker 3:I'm very hopeful that all of our teachers will be readily available and be able to answer every question, but there is the possibility of running out of time even, and so you can always request a follow-up meeting as a parent, and that can be done, you know, at the very end of that meeting, or you could make a phone call, you could send an email, but just set something up in the very near future to where the teacher could dedicate a little bit more time to discuss your specific questions or concerns. You can also clarify any concerns that you have through an email. Oftentimes it's a lot easier for us to remove some of the emotion, if you will, or the concern that we have in that particular moment, or we might just have a moment where our mind's just not quite in the right place, and so being able to sit down and write those concerns or those worries down on a piece of paper or in an email allows for you to get those thoughts out, and then the teacher can clearly address those other additional concerns that are there. There may be a concern or a worry about a particular behavior or lack of academic growth that may require some additional support or resources, and you can always ask for those as well or discuss the process that would need to be taken in order to receive those types of resources. So I mean, you did mention a little bit earlier about how great our district is in providing many different resources for our students and family members, and so that's just another thing that you can always ask for.
Speaker 3:And you know, I'm not I'm unsure about how to address this at home. Do you have any other thoughts or ideas? And teachers are very well versed, but they're also cautious to not express how they feel as we should be as parents either. You know, but when that partnership's established, there's a great back and forth and it just allows for everyone to move forward and truly help our students. So, and then, if it gets to a point where we're unable to still we're still unable to address any concerns or questions that the parent may have you can always request to speak with the principal or assistant principal at the building as well and, like I mentioned before, we hope that we never have to get to that point. But that's also another resource that's always there and available. But the whole purpose of these is to open up that line of communication between parents and teachers, and so we should be good and hopefully all of our concerns are addressed.
Speaker 2:I think often you don't realize how many things can be helped through the school district too. Things can be helped through the school district too. I've mentioned this many times through the podcast that I didn't know how many things could be helped through a school counselor, even working at the school district until my son was struggling a little bit and I kept thinking, well, his grades aren't really dipping.
Speaker 2:There was something that had happened and I knew he was having anxiety issues and I had mentioned to her at work and somebody was like, well, talk to his counselor. I was like, well, why would I do that, you bet. And it was like there is just so many opportunities and I assume, since I'm not great at the secondary conferences, that that's another place that they can inform parents of the different things that are available.
Speaker 3:And, like I mentioned, if you have any questions or concerns about any of that, feel free. Please ask your teachers and they'll provide you. Every school is unique, right, and they have different counselors, they have different support personnel, whatever, and it really just comes down to what's at the school and what's available. But even if it's not at the school, we have resources that we're able to send to the school when needed. So don't hesitate to ask. I mean, that's the best thing that you can do. So come on out, sit down with the teacher and ask away.
Speaker 2:And can you share any of your stories from having done parent-teacher conferences like some of the best results that you had?
Speaker 3:You know, without getting too, too personal, and quite honestly, it'd probably lead to me getting pretty emotional if I were to share some of the success stories only because they're very dear to my heart. And the reality of it is is, anytime a student is able to come in and you can sense that they're nervous or they're worried or they're scared, or even the parent might be the one that's nervous or worried, and if they are able to stand up at the end of that 15 minutes and walk out celebrating their child or the child celebrating their own success, I think that's a huge win, and I've seen that happen throughout my entire career. And even when there are deficiencies or areas of concern or worry, there's always something to celebrate. And that's what I love about parent-teacher conferences the opportunity to truly recognize the growth, the success and just the overall pleasure that we have as educators to work with children every day. And so, rather than going into a very specific story, I would just say that that opportunity to celebrate our students is what makes parent-teacher conferences so special.
Speaker 2:Any other pitch that you would like to make to parents as they go into this parent-teacher conference week.
Speaker 3:No, I've said it kind of throughout our conversation, but it really just comes down to a great partnership and relationship and I would just encourage all of our parents to come on out and have a great time and bring any questions or concerns that you may have and can assure you our teachers are going to do everything they can to provide the best education for your child.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for joining us today and thank you for listening. If you have anything that you'd like us to discuss in future podcasts, please contact us at communications at canyonsdistrictorg.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to this episode of Connect Canyons. Connect with us on Twitter, facebook or Instagram at Canyons District or on our website, canyonsdistrictorg. No-transcript. No-transcript. Connect with us on Twitter, facebook or Instagram at Canyons District, or on our website, canyonsdistrictorg.
