“I'd like to meet to discuss my son's performance in your class and what I can do to help him do better.”

English Lesson: I'd like to meet to discuss my son's performance in your class and what I can do to help him do better.

Your son got a bad grade in his Math class. You're worried. You write an email to his teacher.

I'd like to meet to discuss my son's performance in your class and what I can do to help him do better.

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(someone's) performance

The word "performance" refers to how well someone does something. People often talk about a person's "job performance", which is how well someone does their job:

I've been extremely satisfied with his job performance.

In the example at top, the writer doesn't use the phrase "job performance", but that is the kind of "performance" she is talking about. The sentence means "If you want to ask about Adele or how well she did at her job, please contact me.

meet to discuss (something)

This is a common phrase for indicating the topic of a meeting. For example, a parent can write a note to her son's teacher saying:

I'd like to meet to discuss my son's performance in your class and what I can do to help him do better.

Or a boss can send a note to her employees:

Let's meet on Monday to discuss the recent changes in our QA workflow.

I'd like to (do something)

"I'd like to..." is an abbreviation of "I would like to..." Use this phrase to ask for services at stores, banks, and so on:

Hi. I'd like to deposit this into checking, please.

I'd like to send this via registered mail.

I'd like to cancel my membership.

You can also use it in an email to someone when you're in a position of authority, like when you're acting as a customer.

It's also possible to write "I'd like to ___" in emails to your boss, if you're doing something that's normal and expected. For example, if you have a specific number of vacation days that you can use, and you're allowed to use them whenever you want, you can write:

I'd like to take off the week of April 3rd.

what (someone) can do to help

Use this phrase when you want to:

  • offer to help
  • ask how you can help

For example:

Let me know what I can do to help.

If there's anything I can do to help, let me know.

This phrase comes across as polite and a bit businesslike.

do better

To "do better" means to improve. For example:

I'll try to do better next time.