It’s parent teacher conference season! What’s the best way to ensure that you get the most out of your limited time with your son’s teachers during the conference? Check out these links for some helpful tips and ideas:

“Acing Parent Teacher Conferences”, published last year in the Wall Street Journal;

A To-Do List for Parent Teacher Conferences from Education.com;

A guide to parent teacher conferences offered by the NYC Department of Education;

How to Handle Parent Teacher Conferences, a guide from LiveStrong.com;

A tip sheet for parents (and one for principals and teachers, too) from the Harvard Family Research Project.

As you prepare for the conference, it is important to remember that this process is not easy for the teachers either. It can be difficult to talk with a parent about his or her child’s weaknesses, and parents can be quite intimidating in this situation. If you are meeting with a teacher in whose class your son is having trouble, try to avoid being defensive. Suggest ways for the teacher to better reach your child, and share information about what has worked in the past.

Most importantly, make opportunities to connect with teachers outside of the conference period. Establishing regular communication with your son’s teachers makes it much easier to discuss any issues with them.