As a parent and as a teacher, I’ve been to a lot of November parent-teacher conferences. My children’s school in Rochester was small enough that they scheduled the entire team to meet with the parents of each student at the same time. During one meeting, a teacher very seriously noted that my child was losing his place when taking a test leading to missed questions. I didn’t know how to respond or help. Another teacher leaned in, “I found the best tool,” she said, holding up her pointer finger, “My finger. I point to help him when he needs. Do you want to borrow it?” Everyone laughed, and we had a productive conference.

Why do we do these conferences? Both parents and teachers spend a good portion of the day with a child but never at the same time. We need an opportunity to share our observations, concerns, hopes, and dreams for each child in all academic, social, and emotional areas. Face-to-face conversations get more done than those over the phone. Having a designated time for the conversation guarantees that every student, not just the most concerning, get this focus. We are allotted four minutes of time to accomplish this very weighty goal – kind of like speed-dating but about our kids. It’s not much time, but there are things we can do before, during, and after the conference to make the most of the opportunity.