Welcome to Season 3 episode 14 of Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers.

I'm your host Angela Watson and I'm here to speak life, encouragement, and truth

into the minds and hearts of educators and get you energized

for the week ahead. Today I'm going to share some thoughts on how to deliver bad

difficult or just plain sensitive news to parents in a conference.

Visit truth for teachers.com to get the transcript, links to recommended resources,

and share your thoughts on the show.

So today we're talking about the

conversation that we all dread. Telling a parent that their child is a

failing a subject B needs to be tested for a disability. C, doesn't have any friends. Or, worst of all, D, all of the above. Your stomach is twisting and turning, just thinking about having to confront the parent.

So what do you do? Here are 10 tips to help you share bad news with the student's parent and get the best possible

outcome. Start by choosing the time and place carefully so you're both in the

right mindset. If you think that a parent might be

confrontational or argumentative, arrange to have the conference in the school office

or some other location where you have witnesses or at least other school personnel nearby.

In fact, I held most of my parent conferences in the office for safety reasons, especially

after contracted hours.

If you think the conference might be overly lengthy, plan it for before school instead

of after, so that way there's a set ending time.

In general though, I think it's better to schedule the conference for a place and time

when you're both comfortable.

And make sure it's a time when neither one of you is going to be rushed.

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