Ideas and resources for parent conferences

These reviewed resources offer information so share with parents at conferences or suggested activities to share at conference time. Read "In the Classroom" ideas to display and other creative approaches for parent conferences. Parents will appreciate your sharing of educator-reviewed resources at conferences and on your TeachersFirst public page so you can work as a team in support of their child's learning.
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Ladder of Reading & Writing - Nancy Young
Grades
K to 12tag(s): literacy (96), professional development (286), reading strategies (67), science of reading (16), writing (283)
In the Classroom
Use these documents for professional use to help understand the components of literacy. In addition, these items also provide excellent information to use with parents when discussing their student's literacy journey. For example, use the first document with the literacy ladder to provide perspective during parent/teacher conferences on students' progress toward becoming effortless readers. Finally, share with peers during professional development activities to develop an awareness of structured reading components and assess your current teaching strategies. Use a collaborative tool like Notejoy, reviewed here, to share ideas and plan lessons. Consider sharing literacy terms and strategies with parents on an ongoing basis through your school website or classroom newsletter. Include ideas for parents to incorporate at home to support reading skills.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Kumospace - Yang Mou and Brett Martin
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): chat (39), communication (135), parent conferences (22), video (242)
In the Classroom
Use Kumospace to set up virtual meetings for many different educational uses. Set up virtual parent/teacher conferences with participants in any location, conduct monthly parent meetings to share the latest classroom news, discuss your current curriculum, and answer questions. Create a virtual "get-to-know-you" session at the beginning of the school year or semester that includes team-building activities. Build classroom community by creating virtual rooms for students to share common interests, as a virtual study hall, or for use when working on collaborative projects.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Free Avatar Creator - Adobe Express
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): creativity (93), emotions (45), faces (6), social and emotional learning (60)
In the Classroom
Include this site in many classroom activities in many different learning activities. For example, ask students to design an avatar for a character in a book they are reading and add text about their character. Create avatars for famous people in history to summarize their stories. Ask students to create avatars to use for reports and blog posts. For example, when using Edublogs, reviewed here, ask students to add their avatar image to their blog post as a replacement for a picture. Ask students to create avatars for parent/teacher conferences. When conferencing with the parent, share their student's avatar on the interactive whiteboard or within your remote conferencing app. Ask the student to include text that tells about their educational progress. Use avatars as part of social-emotional learning lessons to share their emotions using the characters and features found within the avatar templates.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Spaces - Gil Silberstein
Grades
K to 12tag(s): assessment (122), communication (135), DAT device agnostic tool (134), Formative Assessment (41), Learning Management Systems (25), portfolios (23), Teacher Utilities (123)
In the Classroom
Access the included guides to learn about the features of Spaces and to import your class. After creating a class, invite students to join by sharing the class code or link. Access is available on all devices and through apps available on Google Play and the Apple App Store. Introduce students to Spaces by asking them to upload a short video or photo introducing themselves to the class. Create and share student portfolios that demonstrate growth in reading, math, science, music, art, or other subjects. Share student work during parent/teacher conferences to show and highlight student progress.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Gatheround - Icebreaker
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): chat (39), communication (135), parent conferences (22), professional development (286), remote learning (48)
In the Classroom
Use Gatheround as a back-to-school activity when teaching remotely for small groups of students and you to get to know one another. Set up professional development sessions with peers that take advantage of the templates and cards found in the application. Use Gatheround to set up virtual parent/teacher conferences with participants located anywhere in the world. This tool is especially useful when multiple teachers are involved or when parents may not reside in the same location. Connect small groups in classrooms across the country for book clubs. Collaborate with experts such as authors and scientists with classrooms of children. Create connected learning experiences with other students, especially those in older grades. Connect world language classes to classes in other countries. Teachers can hold "office hours" for homework help and asking questions. Create a collaborative space for homework help before or after school or on snow days. Students can meet whenever help is needed, or teachers can create a session that can be accessed on any device easily by those who need it. Use Gatheround for group work - no more excuses about not meeting for cooperative learning projects! Buildings can collaborate and share professional development with others in their own district and beyond!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Reading Treks: Buffalo Dance The Journey of York - TeachersFirst
Grades
10 to 12tag(s): 1800s (61), commoncore (79), explorers (60), lewis and clark (14), poetry (182), westward expansion (36)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the many suggested classroom uses for this resource found on the Instructional Guide (PDF). As a class, discuss social justice situations within the school, the community, state, nation, and the world. To enhance learning and the discussions of online information, use Fiskkit, reviewed here, as a collaborative discussion tool. Fiskkit allows you to highlight and add comments to online articles. Have students share their written work, including poems, to Pathbrite, reviewed here. Pathbrite includes free resources for creating and sharing online portfolios that include images, written work, and video making it perfect to use for sharing student work during parent conferences and when submitting college applications.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Proficonf Video Conferencing - Proficonf Ltd.
Grades
K to 12tag(s): collaboration (83), parent conferences (22), parents (61)
In the Classroom
Use Proficonf to set up virtual parent/teacher conferences with participants located anywhere in the world. Online conferencing is especially useful when multiple teachers are involved or when parents may not reside in the same location. Share your screen as needed to provide information on assessments and student work. Extend classroom technology by sharing this tool with students to use when collaborating on group projects. This would be an excellent tool to use with classrooms in another area or global group projects. If using the chat feature, ask them to include their chat with the final project as part of their reflection on the learning process.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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PictureStem Project - Tamara Moore, Kristina Tank, and Elizabeth Gajdzik
Grades
K to 3tag(s): animal homes (57), animals (265), engineering (111), geometric shapes (133), main idea (8), measurement (129), numbers (119), patterns (61), phonics (46), preK (238), reading comprehension (127), STEM (225)
In the Classroom
Enjoy these free, high-quality STEM units to use in your elementary classroom. As you teach lessons found on this site, enhance learning using a portfolio-creation tool like Seesaw, reviewed here, to share student work and reflections. Upload images of student projects then use Seesaw to add video reflections, students' written responses, and more. Share Seesaw portfolios with parents during parent/teacher conferences to demonstrate student learning. If you are unable to use the complete units in your classroom, be sure to look through the many lessons to "mine" for shorter activities that work in your teaching situation.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Collabify - collabify.app
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): chat (39), collaboration (83), parent conferences (22), parents (61)
In the Classroom
Use Collabify to set up virtual parent/teacher conferences with participants located anywhere in the world. Collabify is especially useful when multiple teachers are involved or when parents may not reside in the same location. Share your screen as needed to provide information on assessments and student work.Have your students set up collaborative groups for projects, lab data, and more. Anything students can do on a single computer; they can do collaboratively on this tool, accessing their work from any online computer. Be sure to test out this tool before using with your class. It may be a good idea to set up the groups with the teacher as a "member" but have students work from home for group projects. Make sure you are protecting the safety of student work and identity and are within your school's Acceptable Use Policy.
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Microsoft Forms - Microsoft
Grades
K to 12tag(s): assessment (122), polls and surveys (44), spreadsheets (22)
In the Classroom
Discover the benefits of using Microsoft Forms in your classroom to create surveys for parents and students at the beginning of the year to learn about student interests, create parent volunteer lists, and much more. Create a sign in and sign out sheet for classroom library materials, including books and digital equipment. Use Microsoft Forms to set up and collaborate on lesson plans, include check boxes to standards, materials needed, and covered content. Microsoft Forms is perfect to use for assessment purposes - create online quizzes and exit tickets. Have students use Microsoft Forms to prepare and submit reading logs, brainstorm, and collaborate with fellow students, create "choose your own adventure" stories, or schedule reading and writing conference times. Use Microsoft Forms to set up and share rubrics for any project, have students complete the rubric and turn in with any completed assignment. The uses for Microsoft Forms are as unlimited as your imagination; this is a must-have tool for all classrooms!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Time Now - Shane Buck
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): calculators (38), calendars (38), moon (66), space (204), sun (59), time (90), time zones (7), weather (156)
In the Classroom
Bookmark (or save in your favorites) The Time Now on your classroom computers for students to use throughout the year. Find out the local time and temperature in countries as you study them and compare their local time to yours. Include time/date conversions for online conferences you will hold with parents who are deployed or traveling in different time zones. Share meeting dates/times for virtual sessions using the time conversions, so everyone is "on time." Find a partner classroom located in a different time zone - try finding one at Global Virtual Classroom, reviewed here, and use The Time Now to compare local times throughout the day. Then create a collaborative class book with your partner class to contrast and compare what is happening in one area of the world compared to your partner. Use a tool like Book Creator, reviewed here, to create collaborative books including images, videos, and audio recordings.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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kudoswall - Nikhil Vootkur and Jag Vootkur
Grades
K to 12tag(s): assessment (122), classroom management (137), portfolios (23)
In the Classroom
Record classroom activities and student learning with photos or written anecdotes. Show students how to create a portfolio, then document their learning and make comments in their portfolio. Share portfolios with parents, not just at conference time, but anytime the student portfolio is updated to keep parents in the loop.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Sticky Notes: Just Popped Up! - Ukiv
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): brainstorming (16), note taking (31), organizational skills (90)
In the Classroom
Make notes for conferences, lab materials, books needed, or even parent conferences on any web page. Add sticky notes to any webpage or PDF shared with students on your interactive whiteboard to remind them of the necessary information or as a list of important items to watch for when viewing a page. Create a list of vocabulary words from any website as you view it together. Share this extension for students to use on their device for note-taking.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Casa Notes - 4Teachers
Grades
K to 5tag(s): communication (135), field trips (9), homework (33), parents (61), Teacher Utilities (123)
In the Classroom
Use Casa Notes to communicate quickly and easily from your classroom to parents. Print up several thank-you notes in advance, then add names as needed. Use the homework template to fill in missed work for absentee students, or to send home as a weekly notice to parents. Share with students to create notes to thank classroom speakers and helpers.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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bulb - Bulb, Inc.
Grades
2 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): multimedia (43), portfolios (23), writing (283)
In the Classroom
Use bulb for student portfolios in any subject. Set up an account with your teacher name, email, password, and some basic information. Once you and your students' accounts are set up, share how to get around bulb on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector to get students started. When you (or your students) create group pages, anyone you invite can publish to the group. However, students will also have their own account and can keep pages private. Science teachers could have students write up their lab reports in a portfolio, and history teachers could set up portfolios for student report writing. Have teens and older students upload work throughout the year to create their own "me-portfolios." Create portfolios (with permission) to share younger students' work with parents and students during conferences. Use this tool to show finished projects or to show changes in a project from start to finish. Make a work prototype site and upload examples of exemplary work to share with students to set expectations for completed products before beginning a project. Create a link to this tool on your class website for students to share projects and information. (Get parent permission before posting students' work!) Have students take ownership of their own portfolios to show progress and products across several years. Have older students build portfolios to share as part of career and college preparation. Art teachers will want to share this as a portfolio option for their students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Google Forms - Google
Grades
K to 12tag(s): polls and surveys (44), spreadsheets (22)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the flexibility of Google Forms to create surveys for parents and students at the beginning of the year to learn about student interests, create parent volunteer lists, and much more. Create sign in and sign out sheets for classroom library materials including books and digital equipment. Use Google Forms to set up and collaborate on lesson plans, include check boxes to standards, materials needed, and covered content. Google Forms is perfect to use for assessment purposes - create online quizzes and exit tickets. Have students use Google Forms to prepare and submit reading logs, brainstorm and collaborate with fellow students, create choose your own adventure stories, or schedule reading and writing conference times. Use Google Forms to set up and share rubrics for any project, have students complete the rubric and turn in with any completed assignment. The uses for Google Forms are as unlimited as your imagination; this is a must-have tool for all classrooms!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Mahara - New Zealand's Tertiary Education Commission
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): assessment (122), classroom management (137), portfolios (23)
In the Classroom
Record classroom activities and student learning with photos or videos. Show students how to create a portfolio, then document their learning and make comments in their portfolio. Share portfolios with parents, not just at conference time, but any time the student portfolio is updated to keep parents in the loop.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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ClassTag - Vlada Lotkina and Jason Olim
Grades
K to 12tag(s): chat (39), classroom management (137), communication (135), DAT device agnostic tool (134), parent conferences (22), parents (61), Teacher Utilities (123)
In the Classroom
Create a free account to use for all your classes, and even your extracurricular activities. Use this tool to send homework, project, and supply reminders. Remind parents of upcoming events, practices, or items students need to bring to class or practice. Remind parents of big tests, report cards, field trips, deadlines, back to school night, sneaker days, conferences, and more. Set up a faculty reminder group within your school for emergency closures and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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FreshGrade - Lane Merrifield and Steve Wandler
Grades
K to 12tag(s): assessment (122), classroom management (137), multimedia (43), portfolios (23), Teacher Utilities (123)
In the Classroom
Use FreshGrade to manage and organize any classroom. Maintain a classroom calendar so students can easily find due dates and deadlines for homework and projects. Share information with parents to keep them up to date. Even if your school or district already has a learning management system for tracking grades, use FreshGrade for the student portfolios and easy parent inclusion. Record classroom activities and student learning with photos or videos using your mobile device. Show students how to document their learning and make comments in their portfolio. Share portfolios with parents, not just at conference time, but any time the student portfolio is updated to keep parents in the loop. Share student accounts with other teachers they may have.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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LivingTree - livingtree.com
Grades
K to 12tag(s): classroom management (137), communication (135), DAT device agnostic tool (134), organizational skills (90)
In the Classroom
Use LivingTree to manage and organize any classroom. Maintain a classroom calendar, with automatic reminders, so students can easily find due dates and deadlines for homework and projects. Share information with parents to keep them up to date. Use the discussion feature as a resource for keeping students involved over long holidays or on a snow day.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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