Washington Center for Teaching & Learning
University of Washington
Box 351413
3945 15th Ave. NE
Seattle, WA 98195

Phone: 206-221-4116
Fax: 206-897-1469
pgsexton@u.washington.edu

On Demand Information for New Teachers
Parents, Families, and School Community
Parent Conferences
Seattle Public Schools | Online Discussion, Jan 2007 -- A summary of new teachers' online discussion, "Proactive and Productive Communication with Parents and Families". Resources and links are provided.
NEA | How to Make Parent Conferences Work for the Child -- A primer for parents (but useful for teachers) to read before their teacher conference.
Scholastic | Communication with Parents -- Resources include articles, templates for planning conferences, and even a 7-min. RealAudio file of teachers discussing what they do during conferences.
Parent Teacher Conferences -- A veteran teacher's suggestions for conducting meaningful and productive discussions with parents.
Working with New Colleagues
14 Steps to Teacher Assertiveness - How to cope with difficult parents, principals and staff members -- From Teachers.net Gazette, some wise recommendations for framing potentially fractious conversations.
Parent Volunteers
Parent Involvment in Schools -- A special theme page on the EducationWorld.com Web site dedicated to helping teachers involve parents in their child's learning.
How to Use Parent Helpers in the Classroom -- Tasks to assign to parents who want to help.
Putting Parents to Work -- Setting up tasks for visiting parents can make their presence in your classroom a welcome one.