Online Parent Teacher Meetings
Here are some tips for parent teacher meetings which will most likely be online/over the phone this year. To date, no circular has been released regarding this.
Before:
📱 At BOM level, it should be decided the approach that will be taken to parent teacher meetings to ensure a consistent approach across the whole school. This will involve deciding on the platform to be used, how booking a time slot will work, guidance on adhering to a timetable and time limit will work etc. Ensure that you are happy with the GDPR policy of the platform that you are using. Guidelines should be issued to each teacher about the logistics and how to ensure the meetings are secure. Send information to parents about the platform that will be used well in advance and ask them to try it out in advance. Being punctual to online meetings will be crucial. Offer parents a traditional phone call if access to a device would be troublesome. Most video calling platforms have apps so would work on a smart phone for parents. Teachers should use a computer.
📱 As with any parent teacher meeting, there should be no surprises. If there are any pressing issues to be discussed, try to do this before the official online parent teacher meeting times.
📱 Zoom fatigue means that video calls can be even more draining than face to face interactions especially when doing multiple back to back calls. For this reason, you should try to ensure that you limit the number of video calls that you do in one day. Keep this in mind when you are scheduling your meetings. As a rule of thumb, I would allow 30 mins for a traditional 10 minute meeting and including getting logged on and off so I would still indicate to parents that it is only a 10/15 meeting. I would probably limit meetings to a maximum of 4 meetings per day after school.
📱 The main platforms that can be used for video conferencing are:
🗯 Zoom
🗯 Microsoft Teams
🗯 Google Meet
🗯 Cisco WebEx
🗯 Skype
If you used one during lockdown, try to stick with it so that teachers are comfortable with it. Zoom links can be sent to any email address. Ensure that if you are a G Suite or Office 365 school that your administrator allows users from outside the domain to join Teams or Google Meet calls.
📱 Take the necessary steps to secure your platform e.g. for Zoom ensure that you enable the Waiting Room. Each PTM should have a unique link for access. Do not use the same link and share it with all parents.
📱There are a number of ways that parents could book slots for PTMs online e.g. using
Sign Up Genius https://www.signupgenius.com/register or Google Forms and Google Calendar: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HwEnqyz6yyk
📱 It is best to confirm all appointments by email and include the link to the call even if it is weeks in advance. Invite SET teachers if necessary or allow them to set up their own meeting.
💡 Zoom is great for this as when you click My Meetings you will be able to see the list of times and dates of all scheduled meetings. Name each meeting perhaps with the child’s first name and class as otherwise you could end up with lots of meetings called Parent Teacher Meeting. Click Share Invitation and copy and paste the relevant information into an email to the parent.
💡 Google Calendar would allow you to quickly and easily schedule meetings. Open your calendar by pressing on the 9 dots in the top right. Choose Calendar. Double click on the date you want to add a meeting for. Fill in the time, put the parent email address in the Add People box and they will get an email with the details. In the Video Conferencing box click and choose Google Meet. This will create a link automatically and parents will receive it too after you click Save. Parents will get an email and can RSVP on it.
💡 The same can be done within the Office 365 Calendar.
📱 Usually you would try to co-ordinate with colleagues so that siblings would be seen on the same day etc. It might be best to space siblings out for video conferencing PTMs so that if a meeting overruns there is no knock on.
During:
📱 I would state at the start of each meeting that you are looking forward to speaking to the parents on the call but that you do not consent to the meeting being recorded.
📱 Ask parents to ensure that the child is not present i.e. cannot hear or see the teacher.
📱 You will need considerably longer than you think you will to get through the content, end one call and get onto the next. Give yourself plenty of time for this as some parents may be unfamiliar with the video calling tool that you are using.
📱 If a call is running over time, explain to the parents that you would prefer to give more time to discuss the issue further and say that you will be in touch again or will give them a phone call.
📱 If you think it is necessary, you can have a timer on screen to keep things on track. As there won’t be parents waiting outside the door as is usual on a parents evening, it may be harder to stay on track. www.classroomscreen.com could be used for this and you can use it to display information if necessary using the whiteboard function.
📱 If for some reason the call isn’t working out and you cannot connect, end the call and send an email to the parent to say you will contact them in the coming days to make an alternative arrangement.
📱 Be mindful that work samples you might usually show during a PTM could potentially be
photographed by parents on a call so be sure that you are happy to show what you are showing.
📱 If you are running your PTMs from your classroom or home, you can change your background for privacy.
💡Zoom-click the arrow next to Start Video and click Virtual Background or click Settings and set your Virtual Background.
💡MS Teams-click the three dots at the bottom of the screen and choose “Blur Background” or “Start Camera with Background Blurred”.
💡Google Meet- Click More...Click “Turn on Background Blur”
After:
📱 Ensure that you have fully ended any call that you are on.
📱 Follow up with parents as necessary.
Before:
📱 At BOM level, it should be decided the approach that will be taken to parent teacher meetings to ensure a consistent approach across the whole school. This will involve deciding on the platform to be used, how booking a time slot will work, guidance on adhering to a timetable and time limit will work etc. Ensure that you are happy with the GDPR policy of the platform that you are using. Guidelines should be issued to each teacher about the logistics and how to ensure the meetings are secure. Send information to parents about the platform that will be used well in advance and ask them to try it out in advance. Being punctual to online meetings will be crucial. Offer parents a traditional phone call if access to a device would be troublesome. Most video calling platforms have apps so would work on a smart phone for parents. Teachers should use a computer.
📱 As with any parent teacher meeting, there should be no surprises. If there are any pressing issues to be discussed, try to do this before the official online parent teacher meeting times.
📱 Zoom fatigue means that video calls can be even more draining than face to face interactions especially when doing multiple back to back calls. For this reason, you should try to ensure that you limit the number of video calls that you do in one day. Keep this in mind when you are scheduling your meetings. As a rule of thumb, I would allow 30 mins for a traditional 10 minute meeting and including getting logged on and off so I would still indicate to parents that it is only a 10/15 meeting. I would probably limit meetings to a maximum of 4 meetings per day after school.
📱 The main platforms that can be used for video conferencing are:
🗯 Zoom
🗯 Microsoft Teams
🗯 Google Meet
🗯 Cisco WebEx
🗯 Skype
If you used one during lockdown, try to stick with it so that teachers are comfortable with it. Zoom links can be sent to any email address. Ensure that if you are a G Suite or Office 365 school that your administrator allows users from outside the domain to join Teams or Google Meet calls.
📱 Take the necessary steps to secure your platform e.g. for Zoom ensure that you enable the Waiting Room. Each PTM should have a unique link for access. Do not use the same link and share it with all parents.
📱There are a number of ways that parents could book slots for PTMs online e.g. using
Sign Up Genius https://www.signupgenius.com/register or Google Forms and Google Calendar: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HwEnqyz6yyk
📱 It is best to confirm all appointments by email and include the link to the call even if it is weeks in advance. Invite SET teachers if necessary or allow them to set up their own meeting.
💡 Zoom is great for this as when you click My Meetings you will be able to see the list of times and dates of all scheduled meetings. Name each meeting perhaps with the child’s first name and class as otherwise you could end up with lots of meetings called Parent Teacher Meeting. Click Share Invitation and copy and paste the relevant information into an email to the parent.
💡 Google Calendar would allow you to quickly and easily schedule meetings. Open your calendar by pressing on the 9 dots in the top right. Choose Calendar. Double click on the date you want to add a meeting for. Fill in the time, put the parent email address in the Add People box and they will get an email with the details. In the Video Conferencing box click and choose Google Meet. This will create a link automatically and parents will receive it too after you click Save. Parents will get an email and can RSVP on it.
💡 The same can be done within the Office 365 Calendar.
📱 Usually you would try to co-ordinate with colleagues so that siblings would be seen on the same day etc. It might be best to space siblings out for video conferencing PTMs so that if a meeting overruns there is no knock on.
During:
📱 I would state at the start of each meeting that you are looking forward to speaking to the parents on the call but that you do not consent to the meeting being recorded.
📱 Ask parents to ensure that the child is not present i.e. cannot hear or see the teacher.
📱 You will need considerably longer than you think you will to get through the content, end one call and get onto the next. Give yourself plenty of time for this as some parents may be unfamiliar with the video calling tool that you are using.
📱 If a call is running over time, explain to the parents that you would prefer to give more time to discuss the issue further and say that you will be in touch again or will give them a phone call.
📱 If you think it is necessary, you can have a timer on screen to keep things on track. As there won’t be parents waiting outside the door as is usual on a parents evening, it may be harder to stay on track. www.classroomscreen.com could be used for this and you can use it to display information if necessary using the whiteboard function.
📱 If for some reason the call isn’t working out and you cannot connect, end the call and send an email to the parent to say you will contact them in the coming days to make an alternative arrangement.
📱 Be mindful that work samples you might usually show during a PTM could potentially be
photographed by parents on a call so be sure that you are happy to show what you are showing.
📱 If you are running your PTMs from your classroom or home, you can change your background for privacy.
💡Zoom-click the arrow next to Start Video and click Virtual Background or click Settings and set your Virtual Background.
💡MS Teams-click the three dots at the bottom of the screen and choose “Blur Background” or “Start Camera with Background Blurred”.
💡Google Meet- Click More...Click “Turn on Background Blur”
After:
📱 Ensure that you have fully ended any call that you are on.
📱 Follow up with parents as necessary.
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