Dealing with Difficult Parents (Teacher Edition)

Todd Whitaker (@toddwhitaker) is a leading presenter in the field of education and has written 65 books, including the bestseller What Great Teachers Do Differently. He is a former teacher, coach, principal, and is currently a Research Professor at the University of Missouri..Douglas J. Fiore is Dean of the College of Education at the University of Central Missouri and is author of numerous books, including the popular textbook School-Community Relations, Sixth Edition.

• 1. Dealing with Difficult Parents: An Overview Part 1: Understanding Today’s Parents 2. Who Are These Guys? Understanding Parents’ Circumstances 3. Why Aren’t They On Our Side? Understanding Parents’ Perceptions Part 2: How to Get Parents Off Our Backs and Onto Our Sides 4. Building Credibility: Everyone Wants to Associate with a Winner 5. Taking Your Classroom Social: Good News Builds Trust 6. Positive Communication with Parents: An Ounce of Prevention 7. The Power of Consistent, Proactive Parental Communication Part 3: Dealing with Difficult Parents: And Knowing When to Look Inward, Too 8. Initiating Contact with Parents 9. Calm Is Good 10. The Best Way to Get in the Last Word… 11. What If the Parent Is Right? 12. Do You Feel Defensive? If So, Something Is Wrong 13. The Blame Frame Part 4: Dealing with Difficult Situations: The Nicer the Parent, the Harder It Can Be 14. Delivering Bad News 15. But Do Parents Feel They Got a Good Deal? 16. What If They Use the “F” Word—Fair? 17. Focus on the Future 18. Universal Strategies for Challenging Situations: And Ways to Keep Things From Being Escalated 19. Parting Thoughts