Tips and Tricks for Stress Free PT Meetings

It’s that time of year again! Last year I had my PT meetings in February and to be honest I wasn’t half as apprehensive as I normally am in November and I’ve realised it’s down to the hype. The staff are talking about the meetings, any teacher friends I have, teacher social media pages, in February last I had junior infants so everyone was done with their meetings so there was nothing to create that apprehension. With that in mind, I’ve put together a list of tips and tricks to get you through the meetings stress free.

1. Preparation: I’m hoping to have my meeting notes ready to go this week. I usually choose three objectives which I’d like the child to progress in for the rest of the year e.g. handwriting, phonic sounds and sight words, concentration and how I’m going to try and reinforce this. I have senior infants so I will also reassess their phonics and sight words this week to give the parent an idea of where they are. Test results in older classes would be nice to share also.

2. Procedure: The meetings usually run over a week, ours take place Tuesday 20th, Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd. They can take place after school or before school. Meetings are usually 10 minutes each. For children with learning support/ resource hours, the support teacher can sit in on the meeting with you.

3. Time Management: This is the thing I struggle with most through PT meetings. The 10 minutes fly once you begin and next thing you know you’re one minute, five minutes, fifteen minutes behind. I think at my latest I was half an hour behind!! I now put a clock beside me on the table to help me keep an eye on the time. It’s best to have a small discreet one that you can put beside you on the table as opposed to taking the huge one on the wall down. I also put a sign on the door to say ‘please knock at your allocated time’. When the parent that is currently in the meeting hears the knock it usually reminds them that their time is up. I also say once they come in ‘I won’t keep you long’, so they know from the onset that it’s going to be a short, to the point meeting. It’s important to try and stick to these times for yourself so that you’re not staying any longer that you should but also parents with siblings may be due in at another meeting with another teacher. If the ten minutes are almost gone and the parent is still in I just politely conclude what we will work on for the rest of the year and tell them if they’d like to discuss anything else at another time they are more than welcome to arrange an appointment with me.

4. The Actual Meeting:As you only have ten minutes it should just be a quick overview of how the child is getting on and areas that will need a bit more focus during the year. Now is not the time to be telling a parent their child might have SEN or discussing major behavioural difficulties that have not previously been addressed. There is one child in my class that I am concerned may have sensory needs. I am meeting with the child’s mother this week to discuss this as it will take a lot longer than ten minutes so it's something to be aware of.

5. The Difficult Parent: Just as you shouldn’t wait until PT meetings to address a concern, neither should a parent, however it happens. I had one two years ago (the year in which I was half an hour behind) where a parent came in and blasted me for the homework difficulties her child was having yet she didn’t want me to cut down her homework load or have it differentiated in any way. This was definitely not the time or place for such a meeting and it was unfair on the other parents who were left waiting half an hour for their slot. Once I realised we were over time I asked her nicely if she could make an appointment with the secretary for an additional meeting next week as of course she left with nothing resolved and nothing else discussed besides the child’s homework. It is important if you ever feel threatened or intimidated by a parent to ask to be excused and seek another member of staff to attend the meeting with you (preferably the principal or vice principal if they are available). It is also ok to ask them to be present at the meeting if you are particularly anxious about meeting with a difficult parent. Although sometimes you may feel yourself getting irritated, it is best to remain calm and allow them to speak, once they are finished if you are feeling uncomfortable please remember at this time to ask to be excused.

6.Take care of yourself: Remember to keep yourself hydrated the week of the meetings, take plenty of honey for your throat as you will be doing a lot of talking and get a good night’s sleep. I got and awful dose of laryngitis in the middle of my meetings one year which was really not ideal. I also try and have dinner prepped for the three days before hand so at least I can just take it easy when I get home. They can take a lot out of you and it is draining on your body mentally and physically so try and have something nice to look forward to each evening whether it is going for a run, the gym, having a nice dinner, a film or even a glass of wine. Good luck 😊
Sarah!

The best way out is always through

With the rise of perfect teacher instagrams, it’s very easy to feel like your classroom looks a state or you’re not organized enough or your resources aren’t up to scratch in comparison to everyone else’s. I took some time yesterday to go and speak to some of the other teacher’s after school, one-to-one and see if they were really ok behind their pinterest perfect classrooms. It’s very easy to think you are the only one having a tough year or a tough day and I found that three of the four teachers I spoke to had quite a tough day between challenging parents and tough students. I told each of them this story and now I will share it with all of you, the first time I told it was to a guy I taught with four years ago who failed his Dip and just felt like the worst teacher in the world. Needless to say he took my story with a pinch of salt and now four years later, he’s taught in America and Australia and he’s having the time of his life. Tough times don’t last forever, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Six years ago I got a temporary job with a fourth class, I was delighted as jobs were hard to secure at that time and anything at all was something to celebrate and I had just passed my Dip the previous year. Come September, I knew after my second day that this class was going to be tough, the kids didn’t get on with each other, constant yard problems, no discipline procedures in the school and they’d been like this since junior infants. I felt like I was losing my mind, my parents were so worried about me he wanted me to leave the school. I considered leaving teaching, thinking I just had an easy class in my first year and this was an insight into the real world of teaching. I felt I was the worst teacher in the world, embarrassed of what the other teachers thought and began looking at other ways I could use my degree besides teaching. Some days it was so bad I’d burst into tears as soon as I got into my car and twice I had to pull in because I couldn’t see whilst driving through tears. I tried everything with that class but nothing worked and up until the last day of the school year there were problems.

Needless to say I had too many bad memories to return to that school but kept in contact with the teachers. The class were given to a guy who had been in the school for many years, he was one of these teachers who the kids would call ‘the cross teacher’. Whilst meeting up with the staff Christmas of the following year he confided in me that if he were to get the class for a second year running he would leave. Turns out he was given that class for a second year as the principal felt he was the only one who could control them, and he left.

Meanwhile, I’d gotten a permanent job in another school and realized that the fault didn’t lie in the kids or in me, it lay with many problems in the school. No discipline code, lack of procedures and lack of support were to blame in allowing the problems within the class to continue each year without resolution. I haven’t felt like that since that year and I hope I never will, that’s not to say I’ve had easy classes since but I’m stronger now as a person and I’m confident in my capabilities as a teacher and I know as should you that I am a good teacher.