5 Things Teachers Wish Parents Knew...Are you ready for your parent--teacher conferences?

When parents and teachers work together, they can really lean a lot about their students. Parents can learn about things that influence their student’s behavior and academic performance while teachers can get invaluable insights into their student’s personalities from the people who know them best. Here are some things that will help parents and teachers to work as a team.

Let’s talk

Teachers love the opportunity to connect with parents. When you are able to talk about your students in a constructive and supportive manner, everyone benefits. Keeping each other up to date on new developments will help you both to adjust behavior and will help you to deal with situations better. Teachers appreciate your support more than anything. If you don’t have time for teacher/parent meetings, use email to keep in touch.

Get involved

Always show interest in what your student is doing at school. Even if you don’t understand trigonometry, showing interest and offering support is a great start. If your students need help you can’t give them, consider getting an in-home tutor. Discuss projects that your student is involved in and chat about social situations and sports. Showing an interest and staying involved helps your student to feel important.

Be organized

This is a great lesson for your students to learn and keeping your child organized will really help your teachers. Returning tests and notes sent home for signatures, making sure that your student has school supplies, ensuring that deadlines for assignments are met and checking that your students have sports uniforms will save your teachers a bunch of time and effort.

Get reading

Instilling a love of literature is an invaluable gift. Your student will have to read their way through school and college. When you instill a love of reading, you make that process easier for you and your teachers. When your students read, they learn all sorts of general knowledge facts, they learn good grammar and they learn to express themselves in writing; a fact that any teacher who has to grade papers will appreciate.

We’re on your side

Shifting the blame for poor academic performances to the teacher is every student’s natural reaction. While not all teachers are created equal, give yours the benefit of the doubt. Speak with her about your child’s academic performance and work together to find a solution. It’s best to speak with the teacher in question first. Only if you can’t find a solution to academic issues should you then meet with an administrator or with the principal.

A little appreciation goes a long way

Teachers work really hard and rarely get the appreciation they deserve. If your teacher is doing a good job, let her know. You will help to motivate her to keep giving 110%.