Group Parent Teacher Conferences

Is this a public or private school?

I REALLY would hate that too.
The school, is just making it easier for themselves.
But having group conferences, has no privacy.
But the school/Teacher says that the parents can schedule "individual" meetings if they want.
BUT yeah right, when?
The school/teacher will probably have excuses for that too and say they are too busy.

I would feel exactly as you do. To me, P-T conferences are a time for a 1:1 discussion of my child. Let the teacher and principal know that you are dissatisfied with this arrangement. I bet other parents are too and if you all complain, they'll knock off this nonsense.

I can see it being what Mynewnickname is suggesting they do where she lives. However, I would still contact administration like Chacha suggested, because they should have been forthcoming what the conference actually was. I have no doubt that there are many parents that would take extra steps to be at a conference that was child specific, that may not jump through so many hoops for a general information group conference like that. Particularly when they have older kids that have "been there done that" already.

Test scores can be emailed or sent home in a folder with the child, and the rest could be done as more of an open house type function, where parents who want to make time for it, do. And then have private conferences done later. But, they should be forthcoming about what they are doing. I would be ticked if my husband took a day of family leave for what you describe, but he would happily do so for a private conference that was child specific.

Do take a deep breath and first check whether this was really a parent-teacher conference or a "curriculum night" as others mention. If the school itself calls this a parent-teacher conference, then I think that title is misleading because the time offered zero chance for parents to interact in detail with the teacher about their child's specific issues. If other parents call it "the parent-teacher conference" but the school does not use that term -- there may be misunderstanding about the purpose of that time.

You do deserve a separate and private conference with just you and the teacher. There is just no way that any parent is going to be really forthcoming about issues in front of a group of other parents, and absolutely no teacher is going to be really frank with parents in a group setting. No teacher's going to say, "Little Jenny has some serious social issues and I would like to suggest you have her see the counselor right away" in front of a group - but that may be what some parent needs to hear.

So....find out if there are indeed individual conferences coming up and you just didn't realize it. If not - insist on one.

I would ask parents of kids in other classes to see if this was just your one teacher doing this or if this is the school policy. You might need to see the principal if it's policy, or even if it's just your teacher but she refuses to do any one on one conferences by request.

I would have been very upset with this. I've been to "curriculum night" and it's when ALL the parents sit in the classroom and the teacher addresses the WHOLE classroom about what will be covered, what is expected, etc. of the WHOLE class; no individual child is EVER discussed.

Parent/teacher conferences are with each individual set of parents - door closed!!! Whether my child is a perfect little angel or a little monster, I would NEVER discuss my child in front of any other parents. It's absolutely none of their business!!!

I would definitely set up an individual conference with the teacher to discuss my child and additionally inform her/him that I will not be participating in "group" conferences. I would also address the issue with the principal to see if this is even legal. I would bet you're not the only one that was uncomfortable with this!

Good luck!!

well, that sucks.
i'd be very unhappy about that too. ridiculous.
:P khairete
S.

Sounds like a terrible idea,

I agree that even though our child was an excellent student, we as parents still had some concerns and sometimes needed to share some personal things with the teacher to give her a heads up.

I would suggest that parents that want individual conferences be allowed to request them and the parents that do not mind the group conference let them have their meetings in groups.

I would not be pleased.

It seems rather early for parent teacher conferences. It is not too early, however, for curriculum night, which is where they meet with the parents of all the children to discuss how the class works, what the teacher's expectations are, and answer parents' questions. Could this have been the intention? If that's the case, it sounds rather nice to make it small group.

I'd be talking to the teacher, and ask specifically, "was this our PT conference or was this just to familiarize parents with the curriculum?"

And then, ask an immediate follow-up: When can I expect to sign up for a real one-on-one teacher conference? See what they have to say.

Personally, handing out test scores on an information night is puzzling to say the least. And if it's true that this was supposed to be an actual conference, this format does not protect the child's confidentiality NOR does it really facilitate what that first conference of the year should ideally be for: to give the parent information on the child's progress, true, but also, in my opinion (used to do these myself) to build a trust relationship with the family by getting to know them AND asking helpful (to me) questions about the child and their personality, finding out what they might be struggling with in the homework, etc.

Go get clarification first, then, if it is really a 'conference' in her eyes, ask for a private meeting for 20 minutes or so. If that's supposed to be a real conference, that's pretty lame.

I think there are actually regulations that prohibit a teacher from discussing one child's performance in front of others. I know there are regulations at the college level.

If you have questions about your own child, I think you should schedule an individual conference. This sounds like the teacher is taking the quick and easy route through conferences which can sometimes be a little uncomfortable.

You might even ask the principal if this is a normal procedure for the school. I bet they didn't know the teacher was doing this.

That is weird. You should definitely schedule an individual one.

Also, might want to give your feedback about "group conferences" to someone (teacher or school administration), since this might be a new concept that they are trying out.

We have 2 different things. Early in the year (2 weeks ago) we have a 'curriculum night' where parents meet with the teacher in groups to talk about expectations for the year, general info about tests and what they mean, etc.

Much later (mid-November) our school sets up individual conferences.

The concept is that this early in the year, the teacher is still getting to know your child, and so the 1st meeting is a general overview, not child-specific. The one-on-one conference is later, after the teacher gets a chance to know your child.

I can understand your anger and frustration! If a teacher schedules a parent- teacher conference, I assume it is to discuss something relating to my child, and my child only, whether it is her behavior or performance. Just as it is upsetting when a doctor overbooks 2 people at the same time, I'd be upset because we wouldn't be getting the individualized attention we would be expecting. Some of us work very long hours and cannot take time off so asking us to take time off and essentially waste our time in a conference that does not allow us to discuss what we think is an issue would be
enough to discourage me from taking time off again, and would make me assume this is their new procedure. I do think that the teacher should inform parents beforehand of the reason and format of these conferences so that parents can decline and offer a personalized conference instead. Parents should have the option, so that is something I would bring up to the principal. They have yet to do this at my daughter's school as far as I know, but now that I know this happens, I will be sure to ask the teacher what type of conference it is beforehand to avoid disappointment.

I've never heard of group conferences before.
Schedule an individual conference.
In elementary school around here, Open House usually falls around the end of the first 10 weeks of school.
Then individual parent teacher conferences are scheduled in the next few weeks.

Our PT conferences are in Oct. they have them early in the year so parents can leap into action with regard to any issues.
That sounds like a K informational thing.
Follow up with an email thanking her for her time and information and ask if she has time for a private chat.
In K, if your child were having any issues, I think you'd have heard from her by now.
(But, no, it's not the norm here.)

Complain about it to the admin by letter. You should say exactly what you said here that you had to listen to parents argue with the teacher about their child's test scores.

I'd ask next time if it's a group conference and pass after making another appointment.

That was odd. I wonder if she was trying to save time or something. However, she may have made it worse because now she will have parents requesting an individual conference, so in the end she just made it harder on herself.

Email the teacher and ask for a private one to talk about just your child. No other parents.

I wouldn't like that either. Especially not knowing ahead of time. I can see where it would be a time saver for the teacher (and some parents probably wouldn't care one way or another) but I think they should have let you know ahead of time. I would approach it from that perspective.

I'm sorry that was your experience. I teach in Hillsborough county & have for 14 years at 3 different schools. I have never heard of this nor have I had a principal who encouraged it. I know parent contact is important and like you said, this may be the only time and format to see some of them. Personally, I feel that if that was the schools procedure, you should have been made aware up front and given the option to attend or not based on wanting to schedule an individual conference. Maybe approach it that way and you will have better results.
I am curious though and will be asking my principal about this procedure on Monday. I can't say he is for it since I co- teach with 27 first graders. We asked if we could split the conferences since 27 is so hard to see in one night and he said no. We both needed to be at every conference.
Would you mind sending me a private message to let me know what school your children attend? I'm curious to see what my principal knows about it.
Thanks!

That doesn't sound like a P-T conference. It sounds like a small-scale version of Open House night, where parents can go see their kid's work and get a general overview from the teacher about what they are doing in class.

At our school, Open House is unstructured and kind of a mess since everyone shows up at the same time so I can see why having scheduled groups would be helpful.

It is too early for one-on-one P-T conferences where I live. Those are not done until mid November.

When my daughter was in elementary school, they had what they called 'student led conferences'. It was basically the whole class- you go in and sit down by your kid, the teacher says a few general things, and then the kids have a stack of their stuff for you to look at. The teacher wanders around and you can ask general questions. Most of us hated it. Like you, I wanted to be able to ask my kid-specific questions. We were definitely told and encouraged to set up individual conferences if we wanted/needed. In a way I don't have a problem with this because they are very nice and willing to meet with parents. The aggravation was because this means doing twice what could have been done once. But we learned to appreciate hearing our daughter go over her work and be proud of her classroom, etc.

The bigger problem was that you had the other parents monopolozing your time with their specific concerns. The teacher should have stopped them to say that they could address that in an individual conference. That's what I would be most mad at, she let them take over your time.

But they should have also informed you of the format of conferences. Overall though, I wouldn't make a big stink about it. Ask if this is the new way it's set up. If it is, just be prepared to set up a separate 1:1 if you want it, and be prepared to confront parents who try to take the 3:1 over!

Given the time of year, I'd think of this more like a slightly more personal version of "back to school night" which is always a time for parents to get general information about the class and ask non-personal questions about the curriculum and expectations.

It's probably a bad move on the part of the school to CALL them parent teacher conferences because many parents probably expect a private time to talk with the teacher about their own child.

I'm sorry for your frustration. I think at this point, it's appropriate to request a private conference, but I'd probably wait until the end of the first marking period because that's when more schools do the more traditional child-specific meetings.

If you see teacher more often than other parents, you should not even need a conference. If your child is doing well, these conferences do not serve a purpose. Just schedule one with the teacher and bring your list of concerns about you kid.

Sounds normal to me. In our schools we have what are called Triad conferences. The idea is that the student shows the parents what he has been learning that term by showing his portfolio to his parents, and the student shows his parents around the classroom and tells his parents about the various work centers. The teacher comes to speak to the parents for a couple of minutes and it is done. There are usually three families in the room at a time. Parents who have behavioral, academic or social concerns will book a private meeting with the teacher at another time, but they still attend the Triad conference so their child has a chance to show off.. The beauty of the Triad conferences is that the children get to show off their achievements to their parents, and take ownership of the process and their portfolios. Both of my boys have been doing it this way since kindergarten. In my experience this system has really worked well. I have a child in grade six and a child in grade three and in all of these years I have only needed a private conference once.