Easy Parent Conference Scheduling

It’s hard to believe that fall Parent–Teacher conferences are here already!  While I love the chance to sit down with parents and talk about their child’s strengths, needs, and performance in the classroom, scheduling for me has always been a bit of a nightmare.  Not being the best “detail person,” I find that it takes a lot of time sending out available times, confirming times, changing times when conflicts arise, and sending reminders about times for conferences. Yikes-- I need an administrative assistant! J

Scheduling conferences just got SO….much….easier!  I recently started noticing how all of my dentists and doctors now schedule their appointments online, so I did a quick search to see if there was an online scheduling tool for teachers.  I found a FREE one called Volunteer Spot.  It allows you to:

• Set up a calendar of available slots that parents  can see online
• Decide whether or not you want scheduled names  to be visible in the online calendar
• Quickly and easy copy schedules to other calendar  days if desired
• View the status of your schedule

Best of all, it sends out a REMINDER for the conference time and even syncs with Google calendars and more.  There are also options to have people sign up to bring something (such as for a class party), or to send in payments for field trips or school materials.  Additional add-ons are available for a very small fee.

So excited!  I can have conferences over the next few weeks while still having time to plan great instruction and do the day-to-day teaching responsibilities without missing a beat!  It took all of 20 minutes to set up my calendar, send the link in an email to parents, and post it on my website!  Be sure to check it out—I’m sure you’ll love it too!