I would say to plan conferences as far in as advance as possible to have a translator present. Going beyond that to further your communication on a regular basis I would suggest finding a native Spanish speaking colleague that you could collaborate with to create home newsletters and announcements in Spanish. This would help the parents feel more connected to what their children are learning in your classroom and feel more comfortable around you when the conferences do come around.

My advice is that you push administration to provide an adequate amount of translators throughout the year or plan even more in advance. It is important that parents have all of the information they need on their students progress throughout the year. Another suggestion is getting help from translators that are readily available from another source within the school system.

With that amount of students and parents with communication needs, the schools and district needs to have an adequate amount of translators available for conferences. One way to communicate effectively is to plan meeting well in advance and fully prepare for them. I would recommend having your notes and concerns printed in the student and parent's native language. Google has a translating app that will translate English typed documents into a variety of other languages. While having students translate is not the best solution, sometimes it is the only possible solution. However, you need to keep in mind the subject matter and content that is going to be discussed. It will not be appropriate to have another student present in a meeting that deals with sensitive subject matters.

Administration definately needs to push toward providing you with translators. Document everytime the conversation is addressed so that you have evidence that it was a concern of yours. You could also contact individuals in the community who might be willing to volunteer as translators for the school. In the meantime use the students as translators.

As everyone else has said, try to be sure to have a meeting far in advance. Also, if you want to send home a note use Google translate.

Hello, this is a great question. I propose that you try to use your resources of google translate as much as possible. I work at a grocery store where I have to do a lot of money transactions to other countries and even when the word is not exact the people can understand and are very understanding. Good luck.

Depending on your grade level that you work with,you might consider duo lingo or investing in Rosetta Stone. I personally believe that watching latino/hispanic television with english subtitles is great in facilitating the understanding of a language if you take the time to dissect the words.

my recommendation is to use letters or emails. You can use a translation app to help you express yourself and then understand them also.

There is always an app on the cell phone or a device that can translate for both you and the parent. I know it is difficult, but being short translators can be very difficult. Maybe try and learn a few words in Spanish that will help you get the issue to the parents and it also shows that you are putting in an effort to help them and their child.