During the school year there will be instances that require individual, face-to-face meetings with parents or caregivers. In some schools and districts, regularly scheduled conferences take place to discuss student progress. These conferences are designed to give special attention to a parent regarding his or her child. They allow teachers to communicate what steps the teacher, parent and child can take to help the student achieve. Your preparation includes an informal agenda and samples of the student's work. If the conference is a follow-up from a previous meeting, provide a brief synopsis of the meeting as well as any notes pertaining to the discussion. Use the Contact Sheet to take notes of all parent meetings. Another type of parent conference is situational. The parent or teacher often asks for these because of a problem or situation that requires the knowledge and cooperation of both the school and the home. While you may feel apprehensive about telling parents anything negative about their child, you need to realize that conferences can provide solutions to problems and be helpful in enlisting home support. Again, carefully planning can result in productive meetings to benefit students. When you communicate with parents about your classroom procedures, your expectations for students, your goals for student learning and your desire to provide a quality education for your students, you have created the groundwork for successful parent conferences. Click here for tips for parent teacher conferences.