5 topics to add to parent/teacher events:
1. If a student is having difficulty with your class or with school in general, then consider having a discussion with the parents about their experiences, attitudes, and/or memories from their own school days. These experiences and/or feelings are often quite negative. If this is the case, then you, the teacher, may need to let the parents know that very often negative parental feelings about school or the subject get absorbed by their children without anyone realizing it is happening.
For young students, a parental attitude change can often be sufficient to make a positive change. Recommend frequent comments and/or conversations about how important school success is for their child, mentioning that they wish they had worked harder or gotten help, etc. They should frequently express a belief in their child's ability to learn and be successful. If the student is older, then a genuine face-to-face conversation with their child may be most effective: admit that they didn't realize they were having a negative effect, stress their belief in their child's abilities, offer to help turn things around by getting a tutor, or whatever they feel is appropriate for their child.
2. Remind parents to NEVER say "I wasn't good at _____ either." This statement has many negative consequences, not the least of which is an implied excuse to fail. Even if it is true, they shouldn't say it out loud. You might direct them to my article: "6 Words to NEVER Say To Your Child-What These Words Really Mean."
3. Let parents know that once a student is absent on a test day, it becomes very difficult for the student to ever really get caught up without the help of a tutor; and being absent on one test day tends to become a habit. Parents should keep test schedules for all their child's classes and let their child know that missing a test is not acceptable.
4. As children get older, they tend to lose the persistence they had in such abundance as a very young child learning to walk and talk. This loss of persistence seems to happen quickly with math, but often happens with all classes in high school. Encourage parents to reinforce persistence in their child when they see it. If they are no longer seeing any sign of persistence, then it might be time for another face-to-face discussion. Students often don't realize they have lost it because they don't remember having it. Stress its importance to all aspects of their life. Often times it is that lack of persistence that is the cause of school problems. Work at getting your child to "stick with it just a little longer." "Just give it one more try."
5. Let parents know that their child's brain is NOT capable of multi-tasking in spite of what the child says. The brain can only pay attention to one thing at a time. (This is true for everyone--even adults.) If a person is doing several things at one time, it is because the brain is changing focus over and over. This increases the likelihood of mistakes and it causes the tasks to take longer than if each task received full attention. Teens cannot listen to rock music, text someone, surf the Internet, and do their homework all at the same time. For success, homework needs to be done with full concentration. (Light instrumental music is OK, but good luck with that!)
Yes, I know you don't have time to discuss everything else plus these five topics. But do consider using them whenever the situations warrants. In reality, all of these are important, and they are all very common issues; so maybe quickly mentioning some or all in the beginning of the year rules/grades letter home might be beneficial
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