The night before the meeting, pack in the materials that you will need. You'll want those parent handout pages that you prepared, some face fresheners, and good charts showing all of the children's grades.

Get a very good and luxurious night's sleep. You will need to demonstrate that you are a good teacher. That means that you will have to be alert and handle parents' questions effectively.

If possible, take a small siesta before the actual meeting.

Get to the PTA meeting early. Place some photocopied pages on the table. They should be easily accessible to you, but not to the parents.

Give each parent the appropriate page at the beginning of the meeting. Explain that it describes the lessons that were taught so far that year. They will probably be surprised, as most of the other teachers will have not prepared a special document. At that point – and before they have a chance to read the document - introduce yourself to the parent and find out the parent's name.

Start talking while you are looking for the record for that child. Do not let the parent talk first. Be sure that you are in control from the outset, and that you remain in control for the duration of the meeting.

Some abusive or quarrelsome parents may introduce difficult questions when they feel that there is a gap. Parents of weaker children may be very defensive and accusing. They might want to accuse you of responsibility for their child's deficiencies. However, if you are in control of the entire session, then you will stress points that are important to you.

Now, let's discuss the meeting itself.