Establishing an effective parent-teacher collaboration requires constant efforts and a planned approach. Throughout the academic year, schools keep requesting parent participation in many ways. But of all these parent teacher meetings are the most essential craft to a student’s fulfilling educational journey.
Despite knowing the advantages of stakeholder collaboration, many parents and teachers still find these meetings dreadful.
Ground-level challenges like poor footfall/not showing up in a virtual meeting, obvious one-sided discussions, and understanding issues are enough to TURN OFF!
In both an online and an in-person meeting, there are many factors that determine the success of a PTM.
How can a virtual parent teacher conference be productive for parents?
And what are the tips that teachers can use to improve the overall experience?
Let’s explore all this together and eliminate your fear of a PTM meeting for good!
What is a Parent Teacher Meeting?
Commonly known as a PTM, these periodic meets are planned to allow parents and teachers to interact with each other directly. The most common agenda of a PTM meeting is to discuss a student’s academic achievement, holistic development, behavioral issues, and any other concerns that need attention.
These meetings are supposed to be interactive. However, many stakeholders still feel uncomfortable with the very thought of a parent teacher meeting. In most cases, negative feelings are mostly due to anxiety related to the student’s progress reports (summative exams). There can also be some other overwhelming aspects (like parents’ communication abilities, time constraints on working days, etc.) that get carried over during these meetings.
Most of us already know about PTM in traditional schools. But what about online schools?
How are Parent Teacher Meetings Held in an Online School?
Periodically an online school conducts a virtual PTM. A schedule/meeting notice (date and time slot) is shared with the parents in advance. All parties join the virtual meeting from their respective locations. Upon sharing the intimation, the online school often takes note of the parent’s acknowledgment. In case of need, the meeting is also rescheduled to ensure the presence (maximum participation) of the parents.
In most cases, these meetings last somewhere between 10 to 30 minutes. The school maintains a detailed record of these discussions to gauge the effectiveness of past and current communication.
Like any other traditional school, the message of an online parent teacher meeting also needs to be loud and clear for the best results. Parents have a BIG ROLE TO PLAY while collaborating with their child’s teacher. So they must know what to ask teachers during a virtual PTM.
