Here's how you can navigate challenging conversations with students, parents, or colleagues as a new teacher.

Let them know you FIRST: Your mission & Vision & Values and stay firm on that. 1.Be Transparent and Consistent: Share your expectations and goals openly with students, parents, and colleagues and be consistent in your actions and responses to establish reliability. 2. Active Listening: Show genuine interest in their concerns and feedback (yet still be firm on your stand), once they feel you are genuine, they would be more open to listen too. 3. Positive Reinforcement: Recognize and praise efforts and achievements regularly, not when there's a problem. All these are necessary Pre work such that when challenging conversations occurs, it's no longer challenging.

It is necessary to conduct a SWOT analysis for each student before interaction and be prepared to modify it during interaction with parents and student.It is helpful to collect resources and links to guide parents and student to inprove performance. Analysis of student test performance question by question , marking opportunities fir improvement will appeal to all stake holders. Cheers

1. Deep Breaths: Practice deep breathing techniques to stay composed before responding. 2.Pause: Take a brief moment before responding to gather your thoughts such that it's not emotional. 3. Maintain Neutrality: Keep your tone neutral and avoid defensive language. Analogy needs to be used tactfully as the other party might find it personal. Phrases like "I understand your concern" are often used, but be mindful it will get on some people's nerve as "we are not them, we do not concern". 4. Focus on Solutions: Direct the conversation towards finding a resolution to help shift the focus from the problem to potential outcomes. If necessary, have someone with you.

As a psychologist, I know that empathy can go a long way in maintaining healthy conversations. It's not enough to just be empathetic, you also need to actively show it to them through your words, actions and considerations. They need to feel seen and heard by you, the trusted adult and expert they've turned to.

It's crucial to practice active listening by giving your full attention and avoiding interruptions to truly understand the other person's perspective. Ask questions that let them talk more about their feelings. Repeat what you hear to show you understand. Stay calm and control your emotions to keep things from getting tense. Finally, focusing on understanding the other person's viewpoint without making judgments or assumptions is essential. These strategies collectively build a connection

Steps: Always start with an outcome that is aligned first, this will constantly bring the other party back to objectives instead of getting emotional. 1. Use Simple Language: Avoid jargon and use clear, straightforward language. If need be, use examples or analogy to illustrate. Keep the sentence short and pause to ask what they think to make it interactive. 2. Check Understanding: Constantly ask the other person to repeat back what they’ve heard. PS: there are many ways to get to this outcome, do not expect the other party to repeat everytime you say something. 3. Summarize Key Points: End the conversation with a summary of the main points discussed.

Communicating clearly is an essential tool we must have as educators when dealing with, well, anyone. As a new teacher, it can be difficult to have the necessary confidence one may need to establish boundaries and rules. The best way I can advise, is to simply lean into the fact that you are there because you were selected above other candidates! You have the necessary skillset and your administration chose you because they believed you were the best person for this role! Know that and use that to build your confidence as a first year teacher. Confidence will allow you to communicate your needs, boundaries, rules, or overall message clearly. (But remember not to be overly confident! Body language and a bad attitude are clear too!)

Communication is just a start, the real challenge is follow up till there's an outcome. This takes effort from both sides, with consistency. So do plan follow up well with check points. Schedule Check-ins: Arrange follow-up meetings or calls to discuss progress with specific dates. - send to their google calendar, ensure they accept, include agenda so that every one is prepared. During the follow up, 1. Provide Updates: Share updates on the actions taken since the last conversation., you can send a brief email summarizing the steps you’ve implemented to address the concern. 2. Seek Feedback: ask specific questions beyond yes no. Eg, if they feel the issue has improved or if more support is needed, ask for specification too.