Parent involvement is so important but, I have seen firsthand that teachers don’t encourage nor do they care. I don’t mean that all teachers are that way, because as a prior teacher I was exactly the opposite. My parents knew everything that was, going on and would be going on in their child’s classroom. I did everything that I could possibly do to make sure that my parents were well aware of what their child was doing. Yes, I did have some parents who frankly did not care about their child’s classroom nor their education. However, I didn’t stop trying to get them involved either. I treated them as if they were 100% involved in their child’s education. Being a teacher prior to having children, I remember thinking how could parents not care about their child’s education and thinking when I am a parent I will do all that I can to help the teacher out in any way possible. When my oldest daughter started preschool, I was so excited to help that teacher in anything she needed. I thought all teachers encouraged parent involvement it was that year that I realized that not all teachers accepted parent involvement nor did they encourage it. After reading this chapter I want to scream because of all the neat ideas that teachers could do to communicate or get parents involved. Some are so simple and require hardly any time to do. But yet a lot of teachers are not doing them. I don’t why it is so hard to send a simple note home saying, Bravo your child did excellent today with whatever it may be. Yet teachers find it so easy to write negatives notes home. There are so many teachers who want parent involvement and don’t always get it. It is the same with parents as well, they want to be involved but have a teacher who doesn’t want the parents to be involved. Involvement goes both ways and I think that my district tries really hard but there is more that they can do to make it a lot better. My daughters’ kindergarten teacher has so many parents who want to be involved and want to help but she doesn’t see that nor does she respond to anything she receives from her parents. This is just one example of why parents who initially start out being or trying to be involved in their child’s education and end up frustrated with everything and eventually the parents will cease their involvement. That is not to say that those parents who have stopped being involved in their child’s schooling doesn’t mean they are not aware of what is going on in their child’s education or care, because they are aware and do care about their child’s education. On page 356 it mentions briefly about how parents are inclined to become involved it they feel welcomed and needed. Teachers, need to be aware of that and appreciate their parents and their needs as well.
Chapter 14 is one of the most important chapters in this text. Parental involvement and collaboration are vital to student success. Students’ behaviors and background knowledge will be affected by their situation at home. We may need to refocus strategies, behavior management, and other aspects of the classroom to help students learn effectively. I also think it is important to remember that not all family set ups necessarily mean the same thing. For example a student who lives in a single parent home in the inner city is not necessarily in a home filled with drugs, alcohol, abuse, or lack of food. This is why it is important to get to know each and every student for who they are. Home situations do matter, but they should not cause teachers to over generalize their students. I think that all of the methods of communication between parents and teachers are great. Writing a letter, creating weekly or month newsletters, making phone calls, creating a class website, etc. are all great ways to stay in contact with parents and to let them know that you truly care about their child and their involvement in the lives of their children. Our students spend a great deal of time at school and it is important to share this time with their parents. Technology has helped, but if parents enjoy receiving phone calls I think it is important to keep in touch on a more personal level. Parents who have access to Skype can use this program for parent teacher conferences if they are unavailable to come into the school. I would prefer to meet parents face to face, but I feel that Skype would be better than not meeting at all. One of the aspects of teaching that makes me feel the most nervous is working with parents who do not care about their child’s education, who are extremely critical, or who will not accept students’ academic difficulties. The suggestions in the text are excellent, but I still feel that firsthand experience will be the best way for me to learn strategies for handling each individual situation. I have been very lucky because all of the parents I have worked with have been incredible and supportive. The parents of the students I tutor have a serious language barrier, but they are so involved with their children’s education and appreciative of the services that I am providing.
Brooke, I like that you said that regardless of the parent's actual involvement, you treated them as if they were 100% involved. I do not think that a lack of parent involvement should discourage us from sending home student work, writing letters, making phone calls, etc. I think that parents are such an important part of a child's learning, growth, and development. They will bring their home life with them to school, and their school life home with them. We must try to make a connection between home and school to help students apply their learning into their real-life context.
Jaclyn C, I love your suggestions about skype! That is awesome and I think that those parents that you can't get to come face to face this would be a great tool to use. I taught at head start for several years and my students parents had a language barrier too. I did use my students to help translate messages for me!
I know first hand that parent involvement is incredibly important. Starting at Kindergarten to 7th grade I received C's and D's on my report cards. My parents didn't really care about my grades. I would bring home a paper for them to sign to say that I had gotten a bad grade and they would just sign it, not talk to me about it or anything. And to make matters worse, the teachers did nothing to try to involve my parents. There were no phone calls or anything and I went to a private school. Then in the 7th grade, my grades shot up to all A's. I was adopted in the 7th grade. They cared about my school work and made sure that I did my homework to my best abilities. Turns out I had more abilities than I knew about. I am a very lucky person to have had someone intervene early enough in my life to make me realize how important my education is. In this chapter it discusses what parents expect of teachers, the importance of students' home life, benefits of parental involvement, and ways to communicate with parents. I think that one of the most important topics discussed in the chapter is the knowledge that a teacher has of their students' home life. If you don't know what is going on in your student's lives, then you don't know your students that well. In order to teach them, you need to know them. Communication with parents is incredibly important to students and it should be important to the teachers as well. You should be able to find some way to communicate with your students' parents.
In response to Brook: I think that you are very right when you say that not all teachers encourage or want parent involvement. I think that it is so important though because the parents are going to know their child better than anyone else. I think that teachers should ask for all the help and support that they can get from parents. If you are able to ask parents to read with their children or help with their homework, the student will most likely come back to school with the work completed.
Brandy, it is so sad that you went through that experience when you were in school! I remember always feeling like my parents were so annoying when I was in junior high and high school. My parents were the polar opposite though, If I had a B in a class they would make a huge deal about it and it was really hard on me. For parents I definitely think it's so important to be involved in a way that is supportive, encouraging, and holds their children accountable for doing the best work possible.
In response to Brandy...... Thank you so much for sharing your story. It really touched my heart. I want to be there for all of my students and do my absolute best to involve parents and the community.
Chapter 12 discussed the involvement of the teacher, the parents, and the community. It is important that students receive as much involvement from those around them as possible. It boosts their self confidence and make them feel good about the things they are doing. I know there are times when parents are not going to be able to make it, but I know there is the difference between the parents who really wants to make it and the parents who just doesn't care. Perhaps a parent really wants to be there but can't. That may be when we the teacher needs to go out of our way to make sure they are involved. Perhaps the parent doesn't have a car or has other children that prevents them from attending. There are several ways that we can involve parents and it is important that we do our best to do so. When students can share their successes with the community it allows them to "show off" their abilities. It gives them the recognition they deserve and want. Teachers need to give there all, and at times they may be expected to give even more than their all, but it is important that they do their best.
Teachers, Caregivers, and the Community Working in Collaboration is the title of Chapter 14. This subject is a good way to finish out the book because I have learned all of these techniques to improve student reading, writing, spelling, etc., but now I need to know how to get their parents and the rest of the community involved in the school. Sometimes I know there can be an issue when getting parents involved. The traits that parents believe effective teachers should possess are very understandable and I would want this for my child's teacher as well. If parents are also involved or informed in the students' home life, they can alter or enhance the experience for the student. If the teacher knows that Sally isn't doing well on her homework because she isn't getting any help, then the teacher could suggest to the parents some techniques to use to help her. It is more of an advantage to have a parent that is involved than one that doesn't care. Sometimes you can tell by the students school work if the parents are not involved. When parents can see what is going on in the school because they are involved, they can understand and appreciate the effectiveness on their children. There are several of beneficial ways to communicate with parents including: introductory letters, introductory parent-teacher conference (called an open house in my area), newsletters(which I see done weekly at the local elementary schools), bulletin boards, parents' nook, telephone calls(mostly when children are in trouble, but should also be done for positive behavior), happy grams, daily welcome, and family-teacher conference. I will say that I am able to be fully involved in my son's school because I am employed there, but because his father works so much, he leaves it up to me to do all of the involvement. I feel like he relies completely on me to find out what is going on with our son. He could definitely improve his involvement by calling or emailing the teacher and asking how Davin is doing. Something simple like this could be done with other parents who are not involved.
In response to Ashley R.: I completely agree that there are parents that WANT to be there and can't make it and those that just don't care. If the teacher could possibly go out on a small limb to make sure the parent that WANTS to be there can be involved sometime, this could improve involvement and show that the teacher wants the parent's involvement.
I enjoyed reading this chapter, partly because I work in the school and partly because I am a parent. I believe that some teachers are not comfortable asking parents to volunteer. I volunteered when my son was in 1st and 2nd grade. I just went in and listened to 3 or 4 students read once a week. The students enjoyed reading to someone new. I also believe grandma's and grandpa's would be good volunteers. Many are retired and would enjoy reading with students. Most parents care about their students education. Some parents may have a bad attitude about school or perhaps they struggled in school and don't really want to spend any more time there. These attitudes are quickly handed down to their students. This is a hard cycle to break. There are other situations where parents want to be too involved. They spend all their time at the school and the teacher has a hard time getting anything done. There is definitely a balance in parent involvement within the school. I liked the ideas that our instructor gave in class to have the parents make some of the small books or paper forms needed within the class. This could be a way to get a parent involved without having them be a distraction within the classroom. Parents are definitely an essential component to students' learning. I liked the way the book listed the expectations of the teacher in the book. Parents are considered the first teacher in the students lives. It is important we get them involved. Putting it all together with the correct balance will be the tricky part.
In response to Ashley... I also liked the idea of the happy grams. The parents need to not fear a call from the teacher. Giving the good and not just the bad and the ugly may help the parents want to stay more connected. This will also hopefully give the students more motivation to continue to give their best.
This is a chapter that will impact many teachers and is a part of the classroom that I hear teachers discuss the most. Parents are a very important part of the classroom and can define how well as student does both in and out of the classroom. From past experience I have had my own children in classrooms that the teacher was very good at communicating both the positives and the need works of my students and I have also had teachers whose classroom was created to focus on the negatives. It is amazing to me to see how students react to the teacher and his/her expectations. Teacher really set the tone for both the expectations of the students and parents. As a parent I want to know what is going on in the classroom and to know honestly how my student is doing good or bad. I will provide this for my own students and their parents. My favorite part of this chapter was how to deal with certain parent personality types. This part of the classroom I am interested in learning more about. By talking to other educators and how they communicate with their parents and how they handle disputes will better prepare me to effectively communicate with any parent. In Response to Janet H: I think that parents need to be welcomed in the classroom and feel that they can help as much as they would like too. So many parents are willing to help and my not know how to approach the teacher about doing so. At the beginning of each year we have a classroom meeting and the teacher has the parents sign up for parties as well as room parents. This would be a great time for teachers to address the volunteer opportuniites and those that are available to help. The more hands on deck the better. Teacher need to make sure that these volunteers are capable and the students are comfortable with the volunteers!
Your personal experience will help make you an AMAZING teacher, ( not that you wouldn’t have been with out them). You are so organized and prepared the parents of your students will probably be amazed with how well and effectively you communicate as a new teacher!
I really liked reading this chapter. I especially liked the quote. “Act as if it were impossible to fail” by Dorothea Broude. This quote is how teachers should teach their students. Teachers should teach their students as if it were impossible for those students to fail. Teachers should also teach children this quote too. This chapter has so much information that’ll help 1st year teachers deal with parents. When I was in school we did a few of these things, but doing all of them would have been nice. In order for your students to succeed in school you need their parents support and participation. Having parents help you can allow you to do so much more with your students. Plus you’ll have some of those parents that the children absolutely love. Being able to bring in parents and volunteers from your community will help you school to become better. As the chapter said it can also let the community be aware of how different laws will affect your school and they will vote for or against these laws.
I agree with you that it’s important for students to receive support and involvement from those around them. I also agree with you on the parents that want to make it and those who really don’t care. I see it at tutoring. We have those parents/guardians who pick up their kids on time or they arrive early and wait for their children. We also have those parents/guardians who are always late picking up their children. Parents need to think of how their behavior will affect the self-esteem of their children. Teachers also should make accommodations for those parents who have trouble making it to their children’s school activities. Children are very proud of their accomplishments and you’re right that students should share their accomplishments with the community. The community wants to see that they school that they support is doing a good job with their children.
This chapter illustrates how important parent involvement is in education. This chapter gave some awesome suggestions and ideas that teachers could use to communicate or encourage parent involvement. My kindergarten mentor teacher does a great job involving and welcoming parents and other volunteers into her classroom. From guest readers to parents helping with activities she always welcomes extra helpers. I have gained some great ideas from her! Parents are an essential part to student’s success. As teachers, we need to communicate with our parents and help to get/keep them involved in their student’s education. I think we have many tools available to help us do this so there should be no excuses Jaclyn, I love your suggestion about using Skype for parent/teacher conferences or just to keep parents updated! I had not previously thought of this. Of course, visiting with parents face to face would be ideal; however, Skype would be a great alternative.
Chapter 14 is titled Teachers, Caregivers, and the Community Working in Collaboration. The chapter discusses the importance of the cooperation between teachers, parents and the members of the community in the success of the students. I really enjoyed the list of items of what parents’ expectations of teachers are. I think that helps us as candidates know who and what we need to become in order to be a successful teacher. Ten next section I also found very informative. It focused on teachers understanding their students’ home life. I knew that this was important but it became much clearer why while reading this part of the chapter. I found the section about how to communicate with parents very helpful especially since coming up in tutoring we have student lead conferences. I really like the idea of weekly newsletter that go home to parents. Through the newsletter the parents know what exactly is going on in the class and stay up to date on what is going to be happening in the future. I also am thankful that they had sections about dealing with difficult parents, because as much as we would like to think that every parent is excited and involved we need to be realistic and find out how to handle the ones that are not.
I really like that quote. It is so true. Students will succeed if we, the teachers, believe they can. So we must act like it is impossible to fail. The students will benefit greatly from our attitudes when the come into the classroom.
This chapter was about communicating and working with parents, caregivers, and the comminity members. The list of what parents say makes an effective teacher on page 354 is the same as what we say when we are asked in classes who our favorite teachers where and why. This is also a list of qualities and characteristics that we as teacher candidates want to exhibit. It is also extremely important to realize and understand the diverse backgrounds that studetns come from. I grew up in a very diverse town, but I went to a private school where my peers came from a very similar background. When i went to high school, I began to see outside of my sheltered world, and as i have progressed through college and my experiences in differnt schools, I feel like I am better prepared as a teacher to work with studetns of different backgrounds and cultures. Attending a private school meant that there was a very high level of parental involvement and parent/student/teacher engagement. I think this is how it is in most private schools and I am excited to student teach at the local private school because of this. I wish there was a simple way to make all parents realize the impact they can have on their childs learning and schooling by simply getting involved in the school and taking the time help them with homework. I really like the sections on communicating with parents and how the book told us what to include in our introductory letters to parents. That will be extremely helpful when I write my letter introducing myself to the parents of the students in the class i will be student teaching in. Doing what we can to have good effective communication with all parents is important and will be hard. Is it ever okay to quit trying to communicate with parents? Like if you feel it hurts the education more than it helps? Is that ever possible? I think i am as nervous to have parent teacher conferences as I was when my parents would go to my conferences because I wont know what kind of reactions I will get from parents. I really liked the suggestions the a few pages of the chapter gives for ways we can help parents get involved and make a difference in the community and how involved the community can get in the education of youth. This chapter was very informative and helped me feel more prepared for dealing with parents, caregivers, and community members when i get into my student teaching and own classroom.
In response to Brandy...thank you so much for sharing in such a personal way. You are certainly a testament to the difference a loving, caring home environment makes for our students. As a mom of one son who was adopted and 2 biological, environment, not always strictly biology, makes a huge impact in our lives. What a wonderful teacher you will be because of your experiences! Julie
Chapter 14 hits on a crucial element of our students' lives - their parents and how we can effectively collaborate with them in the child's best interest. The chapter addressed some very important issues, such as not stereotyping (ex: the child is from a very poor neighborhood, therefore his parents must be uncaring or criminals). I most appreciated the sample letter of introduction and newsletter ideas. Sooner or later, we will all have to deal with a difficult parent. The chapter gave some good suggestions, specifically, always treating them with respect. The technology information was helpful as well.
Working in the school system and being a parent of two elementary school age children, I have seen both sides of this chapter. I have seen teachers that do not try to get the parents involved and yet they complain because the child is not doing well in class. I know from experience that my child has struggled in math from 1st grade until now which she is now in 5th. Last year I talked to her teacher about what exactly he thought the problem areas that I could work with her at home. I was hoping he would at least supply some worksheets or give me some websites for things that we could use at home, but he never did. She gets fairly good grades in the subject, but I know as she gets older it is going to get harder because she doesn't fully understand the what and why of math. I have been disappointed by this because even though she makes good grades now, I am thinking more toward her future and how it is going to affect her. I also think that teachers should really stop and think about the student's home life as well. There have been teachers that really come down hard on a student, and as a para you hear things, moreso than the teacher about student homelife. Some of these students probably wonder where they are going to sleep or get a nighttime meal. It is no wonder that it is hard to get student involvement in class, much less parental involvement.
Usually the parents that have students that do well or the students that need help and the parents want to be involved will show up for the conferences. The students that are struggling or have issues, the parents hardly ever show up. I have known many teachers that try and try to set up meetings and the parents will come up with an excuse or just not show up.
Communicating with parents is an important part of the educational process. It is important that teachers understand the background of their students and the home life that may have impacts on the students’ education. Communication with parents begins with an introductory letter at the beginning of the school year. This establishes the line of communication and provides parents and guardians with the information needed to maintain communication. The lines of communication throughout the school year can include newsletters, phone calls and personal notes. It is important to provide positive information to parents rather than only contacting parents with negative news. Involving parents in the school setting can have a positive impact on the educational process. There are many ways to involve parents including inclusion in homework assignments and inviting parents to participate in classroom activities. Response to Janet H: I agree that poor parental attitudes toward school can have a dramatic impact on students’ attitudes. It is important to create positive communication with parents to help them become more involved in the education of students. Parents are definitely important in the educational process and getting them involved can be instrumental in overall learning.
Chapter 14 is about involvement from teachers to parents, caregivers and community in working together to focus on the child. In the reading it gives great advice to incorporate everyone or the team to meet the needs of the students. My nieces and nephew received letters to bring home to their parents from their teachers about upcoming events, what is happening in the classroom and what they are learning. I think it is a great idea to send letters and I feel it is appropriate. Also I feel home life can be good or bad and the school systems have an idea of what is life is like for the student. I have witnessed home life for many students and have experienced the worse working as a case manager. But having a team with peers, family friends, different workers the students has that help him can also help with homework or any needs that the students is struggling with at home such as the different subject areas because they may not receive the attention at home. Of course in the reading it discusses difficult parents. I have worked with them and they are not fun! But if keep calm and listen sometimes the situations will get better. I have no questions for this chapter.
In response to Tyler G. I agree with on poor attitudes with students. I have witnessed this behavior and it is then difficult for the school staff to keep positive. Student repeat everything. :) So it is always good as school staff to keep positive and great communication with everyone.
Parent involvement is very important for every child’s education. The student’s home life and background has a lot to do with their education. Children that live in homes with parents that don’t care, usually tend to have poor education. The parents that care and are involved as much as they can be usually have great educations. Communication between the parents and the teacher are very important. The parents should know what is going on in their child’s education and what they are doing from week to week. When my son was in the 3rd and 4th grade, he had the same teacher and she sent home a weekly bulletin about what was going on in the classroom and what was coming up. I loved knowing everything the class was doing. I felt that she kept us all involved. I am sure she had parents that never read the bulletin or even received them, as the students don’t take stuff home much these days. They shove them in their desks or lockers and the stuff only comes out when the clean them out and they are months old. I know some parents, which told their children they are not allowed to take anything out of the backpack until hey get home and they and the parents do it together. There are also parents that tell their child to bring everything home and they make them number the papers they receive that day, and if the child is missing a page, they have to bring the papers home the next day or they get in trouble. There is a student who has to do this same thing with her assignments in my internship class because she was going home to her parents and telling them that she had been given so much homework and the teacher was not allowing them time to work on it, but the student was choosing to goof around in class instead of using it wisely. It seems since this has been implemented, she is not taking as much home and she is doing better at working during class.
In response to Brandy– I agree that there are parents out there that do not care about their child’s grades. The school district that my boys are enrolled in have a program called Edustar. The parents get a log in and password and they can check their child’s grades, attendance and they can also know what is due when and how many points it is worth. Some teachers are really good at uploading the grades right away, some take forever. I enjoy going on there and I try to make myself do it daily so I can check on my 7th grader. He is struggling in math, but I am able to tell that the average for the class is a C. That irritates me, but it makes me feel better that I am able to watch. This way I can fix the problem and help him now before it is too late and he is down to nothing in the class. I think all schools should have something, but again, I am sure there will be some parents out there that don’t care.
I am sad that we are done going through this book. It is definitely one I will keep and use in the future! This chapter was no exception; I have always thought that teacher and parents should collaborate to better the student’s education. As a parent I want to know how my child is doing in school, academically and socially. And as an educator I want to know how things are going at home, is there anything I should know about that could affect the student’s academic performance. I have seen both extremes of parental involvement; the parents who are not involved at all and the parent’s who are in the teacher’s room everyday after school wanting to discuss the day’s events. I think somewhere in the middle is best. Thanks to our internship we have been introduced to the introduction letter, which is a good way to introduce yourself to the parents and students in the beginning of the year. The text had some other great ideas to get and then keep parents involved. The book gave some great advice about how to work with parents who do not accept their children’s difficulties in academics, parents who d nt value education, and parents who seem to critical of the teacher. Some very useful information once again from this book!
In response to Alisha G. My daughter's kindergarten teacher sends home weekly notes to keep us informed on the happening in her class. I love knowing exactly what is going on in in her class. I think communication between parents and teachers is so important!
Chapter 14 deals with Teachers, Caregivers, and the community working in collaboration. To me, this is one of the most important chapters in the book. I think that parent involvement sometimes gets overlooked, and it definitely is evident with some students. I teach swimming lessons in the summer and I can tell which students’ parents are involved in what they do, by simply watching how the student participates in class. I am a big believer in parent involvement, and I will strive to get my parents involved as much as I can. The book pointed out that parents have high expectations of teachers; therefore the more the parent knows you, the more apt they are to support you. As an educator, you need to always be aware of a student’s home life. Something may trigger them at home and it may carry over to the classroom. In the book it states, “Students benefit in a number of ways—academically, physically, socially, and emotionally.” I honestly didn’t realize they benefited in all those ways. I really enjoyed the section that discussed Ways To Communicate With Parents. I thought every suggestion was a very good suggestion, and I have even used two of those in the after school tutoring program. I sent out an introductory letter to all the parents and I also kept a portfolio that contained personal notes. Do parents ever get annoyed if a teacher tries to involve them too much? The section over Working With Difficult Parents pointed out three types of parental approaches: 1. Parents who do not seem to value education 2. Parents who seem highly critical of everything the teacher does 3. Parents who seem not to accept that their child is struggling in reading or writing. I liked how it broke down how to deal with each situation. Overall, this chapter was a great read and I recommend everyone look through it all.
I would have to agree with you, this book has been a great book to have for our class this year! It was full of ALL types of information, and I think that is why I enjoyed it so much. I didn’t feel like any of the chapters were repetitive, but I thought they all tied together very well. I think this chapter was a great one for us to end on because it is the final touch for our teaching career. I am so glad this chapter gave so many tips on how to deal with difficult parents!
Chapter 14 covered teacher/parent/community communication and collaboration. As teachers it is really important for teachers to be able to communicate properly with the parents about their child. I liked how the chapter listed the traits that parents look for in teachers because as an up and coming teacher, I will need to keep these in mind when in my own classroom. I thought the chapter had a lot of great information on how to communicate with parents, activities to get the students and parents involved in learning and the classroom in general, and how to deal with parents overall. Because parent involvement is so important to a student’s success in the classroom, learning how to deal with difficult parents is important for the teacher. I enjoyed reading the chapter and I feel that it has better prepared me for the issues that will at some point arise in my own classroom in the future. One thing that I really liked from the chapter was the newsletter idea. My son’s preschool classroom does this on a weekly basis and it is very helpful for me and my husband to stay in touch with what is going on in my son’s classroom. With busy lives, we are not always able to be involved in the classroom as much as we would like so having the teacher be willing to send out a newsletter to parents just with weekly news is great.
In response to Shelby H…I agree that parent involvement is very important in the classroom! Students are going to be excited about going to school and more excited about learning if they know their parents are on board with them and excited/interested too! I will also try to include parents in my classroom and possibly use the great ideas from the scenario at the beginning of the chapter! I also love the idea of using a newsletter for parents to stay up to date on classroom activities and what the students are learning about. My son’s teacher does this and it is so nice to be able to know what’s going on even though I cannot be as involved in the classroom as I would like to be right now!
I have been waiting for some information like this, all through my college years that have been dedicated to becoming a teacher, I have known that I truly want to get the parents of my students involved. I just haven’t had a list of how to do these things. In a previous technology class, we created a ‘mock’ class website, and I had so much fun with it! I hope to have one of these for my future classroom. While doing that assignment, I searched the Internet for some actual classroom websites and noticed a recurring theme; each website stopped getting updated throughout the school year, like the teacher got burnt out. I know this may happen, we all get busy, but I have made it my goal that if I start a classroom website, I am going to stick to my goal and keep it updated, at least once a week. This chapter had so many great ways to communicate with parents that I don’t think I can choose my favorite! A monthly newsletter seems like a great way to keep the parents involved, I think students would forget to take home a weekly one and find it not important, but if the students get to participate in the creation of a monthly newsletter, I think they would be more eager to take it home and make sure their parents get it. Also, I thought the happy grams were a very cute idea. What student wants their good behavior shared with their parents? All of them! It’s no fun always taking home negative notes or bad grades to be signed, so I think another part of my goal will be to send home a happy gram with students too! Like Mrs. Stoppel said, use the sandwich comment strategy with parents, good-bad-good. I believe if the parents hear good things from you, as well as bad, they may be more eager to work with you!
The ‘Working with Difficult Parents’ section was awesome! I am not a nervous person when it comes to getting in contact with parents, but when I know they can be difficult and confrontational, I am very cautious about how to handle them. This section gave some great and helpful hints to use in future conferences with parents.
In response to Brandy, I am sorry that you had to go through that experience, but I am so glad it all worked out for you. It is great to actually see the positive outcome of parental involvement through your story, thank you for sharing. My parents were always going to parent-teacher conferences, and it always seemed important to them, so I worked hard all the time, so that I made this experience a positive one for them. I knew if they heard only bad things at them, they would come home unhappy and possibly stop going, so I had my motivation. During middle school though, my parents divorced, and my mom worked late shifts, so parent-teacher conferences sometimes got placed on the back burner. I was so glad though when my teachers would make other arrangements to meet with my mom, I don’t know what motivation I would have had if my teachers wouldn’t have been so flexible. I think what you said is extremely important, “communication with parents is incredibly important to students and it should be important to teachers as well”. As you can see above, the communication was important to me and my teachers too. I want to make sure that, as a teacher, I never lose sight of this importance! I want my parent-teacher communication to be even stronger than what I witnessed because I believe it is such an important part of a child’s education!
Jaclyn C, I like your suggestion about Skype! Using 21 Century resources to improve the educational process is a great idea and it makes it easier on the parent as well as you, the educator! I am seeing first hand in student teaching that many parents cannot make conferences so Skype would be beneficial for this type of parent.
I think parent involvement is very important to the educational process. As much as teachers want to conquer the world the truth is they can't do it all by themselves. Currently, I am student teaching and I see that at school. I can tell the children who are getting the help they need at home and I can see who the children are who are not getting the necessary help. I am a firm believer that instruction needs reinforcement. Parents are influential and they need support as well ... I like to see Parent Guardian Academies at schools because many parents need refreshers so they can help their children. I've introduced a web based SIS to the School Principal and he is interested in purchasing it so parents can log in and see their child's grades, attendance and discipline. It gets parents involved and makes them feel "informed." Besides technology, what are other creative and effective ways that we can get parents invovled. I was thinking about having parent meetings every 9 weeks where I will have refreshments and discuss things that parents need to know like the end of the year standardize testing or changes to the curriculum or other important district or school wide policies. I want parents to meet one another and become comfortable with me as their child's teacher so I thought Parent meetings at the school with refreshments would be a good idea for this.
In response to Brandy….. I totally agree with you. I have a friend who thinks the only place her son should get any learning is at school or daycare. She is just too BUSY to teach him…especially to work with him on his reading. And the poor boy is really struggling in reading. When our children don’t feel like our parents are behind our education, do they really want to be in school?
Communication with parents, and involvement of both parents and the community, is the key to successful learning outcomes for children. Parents who are involved in the education of their child, both at home by encouraging reading and providing workspace, and at school by volunteering their time, help to promote learning. However, many parents are unable or unwilling to help their students; others may not speak English; still others may not have the resources or time. In these cases, it is the responsibility of the teacher to make involvement as easy as possible.
At my internship grade school they have a program for retirees and other adults to assist in the classroom called Youth Friends. This program makes sure adult volunteers have background checks and some rudimentary knowledge of volunteering. My son has told me how “Grandma Jen” helps read aloud his AR test questions (he is in Kindergarten).
While reading the section on working with difficult parents, I immediately thought of a recent situation. The parent, having received communication from my mentor teacher that her student was having behavioral issues in class, immediately came to the school and burst into the classroom looking for the teacher, in the middle of class. Unfortunately, this is a recurring pattern. Each time, the teacher calmly moves the conversation to the hall and explains that she would be glad to discuss the situation at a more appropriate time for both of them. I am relieved to have read this chapter, as I had wondered at the time how I would have handled that situation.
In response to Emily K. The classroom website is always a great idea, and I agree that many don't survive long it seems. In the schools I've worked with, I would make the website content the same as the newsletter content. We have so many families without computers at home that it would be good to do both. Great comments!
I loved this chapter and I found it to be so important. Parent involvement is crutial in elementary schools and should be greatly encouraged. In the past internships I've been in, all my mentor teachers have done a great job involving parents in their students' activities and school work. It's as simple as sending home weekly notes just informing the parents of what went on during the week and what to prepare for the next week. One of my internship teachers had parents come in and help with math centers as well as reading a story to them in the afternoon. I dont think a lot of teachers realize how much parents DO want to be involved and asked to help out in the classroom. Part of this chapter I found really interesting was the section that talked about students' home lives. Involving the parents in the classroom help the teacher understand the lives of his or her students by involving the parents. It is so easy to get them involved and the book lists different fun ways to make that happen. I loved the idea of making telephone calls to the parents. It's easy and way more personable than just a newsletter. It shows the parents that the teacher really cares about each student, enough to take the time to make a phone call informing the parents of what's going on in the classroom.
In response to Becky, I also really liked the part of the book talking about what parents expect of teachers. I'm glad I have this resource to look back on when I am beginning my first year of teaching. This chapter has really opened my eyes and I have an even better appreciation of parent involvement in the school.
Chapter 14 is a great reference chapter for all teachers. It contains so many great strategies and ideas for communicating with parents. Plus, it shows not only what teachers should do to communicate effectively with parents, but what parents specifically want from their child’s teacher. I really liked the idea of happy grams as a way to communicate positive behaviors to parents. This is a great way to show parents that you care about their child and want success for them.
Because “parental involvement at home impacts students’ learning more than parental engagement at school,” (DeVries pg. 354) teachers need to initiate communication with parents on a daily basis. My mentor teacher for science and social studies uses a wonderful method to communicate with her first graders’ parents. Similar to what Mrs. Stoppel discussed during Thursday’s class session, each day students take home a plastic folder. In this folder are several pockets including student work to leave at home; important notes and upcoming events; and optional activities for the parents and students to complete together at home. Throughout the day, students place graded assignments in their folders to take home for their parents to see. My mentor teacher also places activities and worksheets in the folder that correlate with what the students are doing in class. These assignments are optional, but the teacher encourages parents to complete them with their students at home. Also in the folder is a home reading log where parents can fill in books read with their child. Finally, the folder contains a behavior log for each month of the school year. The teacher writes a short note in the log each day about the student’s behavior at school. The parents then sign this log and return the folder with their child to school the next day. There is also space for the parents to write notes back to the teacher. For students with behavioral plans, the teacher takes the last several minutes of the day to have a short one-on-one conference with them. They discuss their behavior throughout the day and a longer note is made in these students’ behavioral logs. Parents of these children are encouraged to write a note in the log and send it back to school each day.
In response to Holly D… I also appreciated the section about understanding students’ home life. This section brought up many concepts that I had not previously thought about. It also provided examples of how students’ culture and backgrounds can affect how the student interacts with others and behaves at school. These are all important things to consider when attempting to get parents involved with their child’s school and education.
Chapter 14 – Teachers, Caregivers, and the Community Working in Collaboration Like the text, I believe that parent/caregiver involvement is a vital part of a student’s education. When parents are involved the students really do benefit. I loved the list of parents’ expectation of teachers on page 354. I think that posting this list on my desk would be a great daily reminder of why I have been called to be an educator. I also thought that list of reasons why parents/caregivers may not be as involved. As teachers, it may be hard to not draw assumptions about children’s home situations. I think that in order to understand the student and parents it is vital to get the “whole picture” of where that child comes from. This might take some work by the teacher. I think that teacher/parent communication is so important. My children bring home homework folders each day and my 4th grade son has a planner. My daughter’s 1st grade teacher does a great job in keeping up with daily updates in her homework folder, which I sign nightly. My son’s teacher started the school year off great by commenting in his planner but it has been MONTHS since she has written anything. Any kind of communication with her is because of my efforts. I understand that the teachers have been so busy preparing the students for the testing (which was last week) but I think that teachers need to keep up with communications. I also think that is SO important that teachers communicate LOTS of positive. A lot of parents think that a note home or call from the teacher is probably going to bring negative news. That is so sad! Positive notes and calls from teachers could completely change a student’s (and parents) outlook in school! Lastly, I think that a classroom BLOG is a great idea. It would be an easy way for parents to keep up with the happenings in the classroom and school.
I thought that your post mirrored my thoughts exactly! I loved the idea of the happy grams too! I think that it is so important for teachers to communicate the positive. I think that so many teachers only communicate the negative and there is no way that is good for the teacher, student or parent. After reading about all the benefits regarding parent involvement I think it is a no-brainer on getting parents involved in my future classroom!
Parental involvement is beneficial to ensuring our students succeed. When we are involved in our children’s education not only at school but at home too our children reap the benefits. As a parent, I completely understand the benefits. Reading this chapter and the section regarding “difficult parents” is the most frustrating part to me and one that I know as a teacher I will encounter. Observing last semester in third grade, the teachers would often comment about a child in their classroom whose parents are either not involved, over involved or think that their child can do no wrong. Honestly, I think they should have kept that tidbit to themselves, but at the same time it gave me insight as to the dynamics of their classroom. When the mentor teacher brought the subject up, I then asked, well how do you get them involved? She said she’ll send a note home, or an email, but she said, “I don’t anticipate a response.” I thought it was a poor attitude to take, and as a teacher, she needs to be involved. She should contact the parents and find out what is going on. I like the idea that Mrs. Stoppel pointed out in the podcast about not just seeing the parents at open house or during conferences, but to invite them to your classroom at any opportunity. A teacher my daughter had in elementary school invited the parents every week to read to the children either as a whole class activity or in small groups for a reading circle. My son has an agenda he brings home every day that a parent needs to sign saying they read the agenda and any notes the teacher wrote for that day. Also, if I need to communicate with the teacher, I can write on his agenda and she will either write on the agenda back or send me an email as soon as she reads the note. His teacher also utilizes a website called, “schoolnotes.com” and every week she sends out an email with the agenda for the week as well as any notes she needs the parents to read, i.e. parties, teacher absence, etc. If she makes a change to the schoolnotes, an email is sent saying that there is a change. We will encounter supportive parents, disgruntled parents and non-existent parents when we become teachers, but if we use the strategies that are in this chapter we will be able to have a successful year.
In response to Hannah, Hannah, we had those same folders at my children’s old school. I loved them. I like that they are vinyl and that they have a place for notes, homework, leave at home, etc. My son currently uses an agenda and it lasted about 4 months before it began to get torn apart. I ended up putting it in a binder so that it stopped the ripping of the paper. It has a place for the teacher to write notes, but I like the vinyl folder better because then he doesn’t have loose papers getting crushed in his back pack.
I really enjoyed reading this chapter. There are a lot of people that go in to making the school environment and learning process. I liked the list of parents' expectations of teachers on page 354. It is good to know before going into a classroom what the parents are expecting of you. I think it is great when parents are involved in the classroom. It can really be a big help to both the teacher and the students. I had never heard of the "Parents' Nook" before but I think it is a wonderful idea! I appreciated the information about parents who seem highly critical too. It can be very nerve-wrecking especially for a new teacher when a parent does not seem to approve of the teacher. The information on page 366 was great with dealing with parents such as those. I remember my mom always coming in to the classroom and volunteering and it was great having her experience and see what I was learning. Does anyone have any tips that can improve parent involvement in the classroom?
In response to Holly D- My reading mentor teacher had a parent volunteer come every week and help with literacy centers. It really helped out having an extra adult in the classroom that was able to guide and help the students through a difficult activity. I also like the idea of making phone calls, as you said, because it is much more personal than a letter. I think you made a great point about teachers not being aware of how much parents really do want to help out any way they can in the classroom. Even if a parent can't come volunteer in the classroom there are tons more ways they can help out and I think all teachers need to take advantage of that.
It's such a coincidence that Chapter 14 mentions parental involvement! In two of my classes we have been discussing the importance of involving parents, and I just took the PLT this weekend and it had a couple questions about parental involvement as well.
I like that the book mentions the importance of understanding students' home life. If you get to know the parents you will understand their attitudes toward school, and you may even understand why the student has the same or opposite view towards school or you. I had never heard of a "Parents' Nook" like the book mentioned, and I LOVE that idea. Has anyone observed a school that contains a special corner of the school just for parents? It would be interesting to hear about it. I also appreciated that the book was honest and let us know that not all parents will be supporting. A teacher mentioned to me that any time a parent comes into the room wanting to know why you do a certain strategy, give them evidence of student growth and share the research done about the strategy.
I agree that it is crucial to know what parents are already thinking or expecting of you when you first meet them. During our tutoring experience I never really thought about perceptions parents may already have about us, I just assumed I had to prove it. The list they give us will be a great tool, indeed!
Chapter 14 - Parents and Teacher involvement. I think that it is very important that parents are involved in their child's education. As a parent that missed out on most of my daughter's activities at school because I was working and unable to attend. I was able to go on some of her field trips in grade school. I made sure that I was involved in her education at home through her homework. I think that it is important for the community to be involved in students activities. When students' have involvement in their activities, their confidence and self-esteem are boosted.
In response to Kelsey M.... I agree the idea of the "parent nook" is great. This would have been something that I think I would have liked to see at my daughter's school. I think that when parents know that there is information available to them that will answer any questions that they may have, this is a good thing.
I agree that in order for parental involvement in the classroom it has to work both ways. There are so many parents that will do everything they possibly can to feel involved in their childs education and the teachers turn them away. That may be because the teachers confidence may go down if they know the parents are willing to step in. They may be intimidated by the parents. I also feel the parents can feel intimidated by the teacher and that could be the reason for their lack of involvement, which is sad. We all need to learn to work together :)
Parental involvement to me is a no brainer, but I know that once I have my own classroom it will all be totally different. I had a teacher tell me once that at the beginning of the year have an open house, and try to get every parent to sign a contract agreeing to be involved in their child's education and be involved in the classroom. Some parents may not have the time to become involved, but there are things outside the classroom that they can help with. I think you can tell at an early age how involved parents have been and will be with their child's learning. Learning needs to start at home at a very early age and some parents have no intention to aid in their child's learning until they send them to pre-school or kindergarten. Some children come to Kindergarten having no idea what to expect and they have never been worked with at home, and it's obvious. Parent involvement needs to start when the children aren't even in school yet. If they start early they may feel like they have a part in their child's education so they need to continue to aid instead of letting the teacher have full reigns.
Chapter 14 talks about communicating with parents and guardians and how effective it is to begin the process before school even begins. During the school year keeping open lines of communication can be done by having a weekly or monthly newsletter or even a webpage. It also goes into how important it is to know your students backgrounds.
I keep informed on what is happening in my children’s classrooms by volunteering to be the room mother every year. Some years I feel like I have no choice because no other parent volunteers. This year I have to be a room mother to both 5th grade and 8th grade at the same time. This is really sad when parents don’t get involved. Is this the teacher’s fault for not trying to get the parents involved or the parents fault for not caring what is happening in their child’s classroom? During my tutoring I found that the parent of one child is too busy to help this student read at home, and just expects the school to do the work. This is a classic place where the teacher and parent should be communication more than at parent / teacher conferences. When I had my meeting with her, she just acted like there was nothing wrong with the way things were going. How can parents be that way toward their child’s education?
This chapter dealt with parental involvement. This is a crucial topic and it has been something that our school district is trying to overcome. The school district I am at is at a stand still right now due to the fact that they have tried many different things and the same people get involved and the same ones don't. They realize the importance of a child's success is crucial with parental involvement. They have implemented a few policies that has helped a little. First for grades 5th and below at the beginning of the school year the teachers are required to go to each of their students homes to meet the family. For grades 3rd and higher the students are issued agendas that they must take home daily and get signed. They are hoping that this will get a little more involvement but it hasn't seemed to help the situation.
We also have Communities In Schools involved and this has been a tremendous program for some of the students who don't get the parental support. They get volunteers from the community to come in and meet with a child once a week. This has been a success for some of the students.
However, I feel this will always be a problem for all school districts and I don't know what the answer is, however, I have been impressed on the proactive stance our school district has taken.
I have to admit I don't think it is the teachers fault when they attempt and try to make communication and get the parents involved. I think that parents need to step up and realize that they are their child's primary care giver and not the school therefore they will need to take a more active role in their child's future.
It saddens me when I hear a parent is too busy to read with their child, we all have busy lives and yet we need to put our children first.
Brooke, You actually make a really good point when you mention that some teachers easily and quickly send negative notes home to parents, but fail to make the time exception for extreme positives those children make. It is also sad that there are parents that are not involved in their children’s lives and that there are also teachers that would prefer not to have to deal with their students’ parents. In a lot of ways I think teaching children can be like a marriage….the family comes along too! We can’t just take the student, their family and parents are part of the package and we need to be willing to cooperate and positively interact with them to enhance the students’ possibilities to learn to their fullest potential.
I suppose I was extremely blessed as a child to have a mother who understood the value of an excellent education. My mom spent some time each day as I grew up either reading to me (before I could read) or taking turns reading with my little sister and I. Those are some of the best memories I have from early childhood. I remember lying on my mom’s bed in the early evenings with her and my sister and we would read a story or mom would start a story about a topic and we would take turns adding to it. It was so much fun. And even as my sister and I got older mom would still help us as often as possible with schoolwork or just take time to listen to what we learned that day at school. Having this experience has made me very sad for children who are not fortunate enough to have their parents’ involvement in the progression of their education. By the time people are parents they should fully comprehend that value of an education in life and I would think they would help their own children actively and successfully pursue that. Some parents are wonderful and are willing to help their children and their teachers. Those are the types of parents teachers enjoy! It is difficult when teachers make the effort to keep their students’ parents involved but get no help or response. I know that if I ever have children of my own someday, knowing that they will spend more time during the day with their teacher than me, I would want to be as actively involved with that teacher as possible. There are many great activities and ideas listed in Chapter 14 detailing how to handle parents and what to do to get them involved. There will unfortunately always be some parents that will not understand the importance of being involved in their child’s education. I think one of my great missions as a teacher will be to pursue the highest level of positive parental involvement as I can.
Parent involvement is so important but, I have seen firsthand that teachers don’t encourage nor do they care. I don’t mean that all teachers are that way, because as a prior teacher I was exactly the opposite. My parents knew everything that was, going on and would be going on in their child’s classroom. I did everything that I could possibly do to make sure that my parents were well aware of what their child was doing. Yes, I did have some parents who frankly did not care about their child’s classroom nor their education. However, I didn’t stop trying to get them involved either. I treated them as if they were 100% involved in their child’s education. Being a teacher prior to having children, I remember thinking how could parents not care about their child’s education and thinking when I am a parent I will do all that I can to help the teacher out in any way possible. When my oldest daughter started preschool, I was so excited to help that teacher in anything she needed. I thought all teachers encouraged parent involvement it was that year that I realized that not all teachers accepted parent involvement nor did they encourage it. After reading this chapter I want to scream because of all the neat ideas that teachers could do to communicate or get parents involved. Some are so simple and require hardly any time to do. But yet a lot of teachers are not doing them. I don’t why it is so hard to send a simple note home saying, Bravo your child did excellent today with whatever it may be. Yet teachers find it so easy to write negatives notes home. There are so many teachers who want parent involvement and don’t always get it. It is the same with parents as well, they want to be involved but have a teacher who doesn’t want the parents to be involved. Involvement goes both ways and I think that my district tries really hard but there is more that they can do to make it a lot better. My daughters’ kindergarten teacher has so many parents who want to be involved and want to help but she doesn’t see that nor does she respond to anything she receives from her parents. This is just one example of why parents who initially start out being or trying to be involved in their child’s education and end up frustrated with everything and eventually the parents will cease their involvement. That is not to say that those parents who have stopped being involved in their child’s schooling doesn’t mean they are not aware of what is going on in their child’s education or care, because they are aware and do care about their child’s education. On page 356 it mentions briefly about how parents are inclined to become involved it they feel welcomed and needed. Teachers, need to be aware of that and appreciate their parents and their needs as well.
ReplyDeleteChapter 14 is one of the most important chapters in this text. Parental involvement and collaboration are vital to student success. Students’ behaviors and background knowledge will be affected by their situation at home. We may need to refocus strategies, behavior management, and other aspects of the classroom to help students learn effectively. I also think it is important to remember that not all family set ups necessarily mean the same thing. For example a student who lives in a single parent home in the inner city is not necessarily in a home filled with drugs, alcohol, abuse, or lack of food. This is why it is important to get to know each and every student for who they are. Home situations do matter, but they should not cause teachers to over generalize their students.
ReplyDeleteI think that all of the methods of communication between parents and teachers are great. Writing a letter, creating weekly or month newsletters, making phone calls, creating a class website, etc. are all great ways to stay in contact with parents and to let them know that you truly care about their child and their involvement in the lives of their children. Our students spend a great deal of time at school and it is important to share this time with their parents. Technology has helped, but if parents enjoy receiving phone calls I think it is important to keep in touch on a more personal level. Parents who have access to Skype can use this program for parent teacher conferences if they are unavailable to come into the school. I would prefer to meet parents face to face, but I feel that Skype would be better than not meeting at all.
One of the aspects of teaching that makes me feel the most nervous is working with parents who do not care about their child’s education, who are extremely critical, or who will not accept students’ academic difficulties. The suggestions in the text are excellent, but I still feel that firsthand experience will be the best way for me to learn strategies for handling each individual situation.
I have been very lucky because all of the parents I have worked with have been incredible and supportive. The parents of the students I tutor have a serious language barrier, but they are so involved with their children’s education and appreciative of the services that I am providing.
Brooke, I like that you said that regardless of the parent's actual involvement, you treated them as if they were 100% involved. I do not think that a lack of parent involvement should discourage us from sending home student work, writing letters, making phone calls, etc. I think that parents are such an important part of a child's learning, growth, and development. They will bring their home life with them to school, and their school life home with them. We must try to make a connection between home and school to help students apply their learning into their real-life context.
ReplyDeleteJaclyn C, I love your suggestions about skype! That is awesome and I think that those parents that you can't get to come face to face this would be a great tool to use. I taught at head start for several years and my students parents had a language barrier too. I did use my students to help translate messages for me!
ReplyDeleteI know first hand that parent involvement is incredibly important. Starting at Kindergarten to 7th grade I received C's and D's on my report cards. My parents didn't really care about my grades. I would bring home a paper for them to sign to say that I had gotten a bad grade and they would just sign it, not talk to me about it or anything. And to make matters worse, the teachers did nothing to try to involve my parents. There were no phone calls or anything and I went to a private school. Then in the 7th grade, my grades shot up to all A's. I was adopted in the 7th grade. They cared about my school work and made sure that I did my homework to my best abilities. Turns out I had more abilities than I knew about. I am a very lucky person to have had someone intervene early enough in my life to make me realize how important my education is. In this chapter it discusses what parents expect of teachers, the importance of students' home life, benefits of parental involvement, and ways to communicate with parents. I think that one of the most important topics discussed in the chapter is the knowledge that a teacher has of their students' home life. If you don't know what is going on in your student's lives, then you don't know your students that well. In order to teach them, you need to know them. Communication with parents is incredibly important to students and it should be important to the teachers as well. You should be able to find some way to communicate with your students' parents.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Brook:
ReplyDeleteI think that you are very right when you say that not all teachers encourage or want parent involvement. I think that it is so important though because the parents are going to know their child better than anyone else. I think that teachers should ask for all the help and support that they can get from parents. If you are able to ask parents to read with their children or help with their homework, the student will most likely come back to school with the work completed.
Brandy, it is so sad that you went through that experience when you were in school! I remember always feeling like my parents were so annoying when I was in junior high and high school. My parents were the polar opposite though, If I had a B in a class they would make a huge deal about it and it was really hard on me. For parents I definitely think it's so important to be involved in a way that is supportive, encouraging, and holds their children accountable for doing the best work possible.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Brandy......
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing your story. It really touched my heart. I want to be there for all of my students and do my absolute best to involve parents and the community.
Chapter 12 discussed the involvement of the teacher, the parents, and the community. It is important that students receive as much involvement from those around them as possible. It boosts their self confidence and make them feel good about the things they are doing. I know there are times when parents are not going to be able to make it, but I know there is the difference between the parents who really wants to make it and the parents who just doesn't care. Perhaps a parent really wants to be there but can't. That may be when we the teacher needs to go out of our way to make sure they are involved. Perhaps the parent doesn't have a car or has other children that prevents them from attending. There are several ways that we can involve parents and it is important that we do our best to do so. When students can share their successes with the community it allows them to "show off" their abilities. It gives them the recognition they deserve and want. Teachers need to give there all, and at times they may be expected to give even more than their all, but it is important that they do their best.
ReplyDeleteTeachers, Caregivers, and the Community Working in Collaboration is the title of Chapter 14. This subject is a good way to finish out the book because I have learned all of these techniques to improve student reading, writing, spelling, etc., but now I need to know how to get their parents and the rest of the community involved in the school. Sometimes I know there can be an issue when getting parents involved. The traits that parents believe effective teachers should possess are very understandable and I would want this for my child's teacher as well. If parents are also involved or informed in the students' home life, they can alter or enhance the experience for the student. If the teacher knows that Sally isn't doing well on her homework because she isn't getting any help, then the teacher could suggest to the parents some techniques to use to help her. It is more of an advantage to have a parent that is involved than one that doesn't care. Sometimes you can tell by the students school work if the parents are not involved. When parents can see what is going on in the school because they are involved, they can understand and appreciate the effectiveness on their children. There are several of beneficial ways to communicate with parents including: introductory letters, introductory parent-teacher conference (called an open house in my area), newsletters(which I see done weekly at the local elementary schools), bulletin boards, parents' nook, telephone calls(mostly when children are in trouble, but should also be done for positive behavior), happy grams, daily welcome, and family-teacher conference. I will say that I am able to be fully involved in my son's school because I am employed there, but because his father works so much, he leaves it up to me to do all of the involvement. I feel like he relies completely on me to find out what is going on with our son. He could definitely improve his involvement by calling or emailing the teacher and asking how Davin is doing. Something simple like this could be done with other parents who are not involved.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Ashley R.:
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that there are parents that WANT to be there and can't make it and those that just don't care. If the teacher could possibly go out on a small limb to make sure the parent that WANTS to be there can be involved sometime, this could improve involvement and show that the teacher wants the parent's involvement.
I enjoyed reading this chapter, partly because I work in the school and partly because I am a parent. I believe that some teachers are not comfortable asking parents to volunteer. I volunteered when my son was in 1st and 2nd grade. I just went in and listened to 3 or 4 students read once a week. The students enjoyed reading to someone new. I also believe grandma's and grandpa's would be good volunteers. Many are retired and would enjoy reading with students. Most parents care about their students education. Some parents may have a bad attitude about school or perhaps they struggled in school and don't really want to spend any more time there. These attitudes are quickly handed down to their students. This is a hard cycle to break. There are other situations where parents want to be too involved. They spend all their time at the school and the teacher has a hard time getting anything done. There is definitely a balance in parent involvement within the school. I liked the ideas that our instructor gave in class to have the parents make some of the small books or paper forms needed within the class. This could be a way to get a parent involved without having them be a distraction within the classroom. Parents are definitely an essential component to students' learning. I liked the way the book listed the expectations of the teacher in the book. Parents are considered the first teacher in the students lives. It is important we get them involved. Putting it all together with the correct balance will be the tricky part.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Ashley... I also liked the idea of the happy grams. The parents need to not fear a call from the teacher. Giving the good and not just the bad and the ugly may help the parents want to stay more connected. This will also hopefully give the students more motivation to continue to give their best.
ReplyDeleteThis is a chapter that will impact many teachers and is a part of the classroom that I hear teachers discuss the most. Parents are a very important part of the classroom and can define how well as student does both in and out of the classroom. From past experience I have had my own children in classrooms that the teacher was very good at communicating both the positives and the need works of my students and I have also had teachers whose classroom was created to focus on the negatives. It is amazing to me to see how students react to the teacher and his/her expectations. Teacher really set the tone for both the expectations of the students and parents. As a parent I want to know what is going on in the classroom and to know honestly how my student is doing good or bad. I will provide this for my own students and their parents. My favorite part of this chapter was how to deal with certain parent personality types. This part of the classroom I am interested in learning more about. By talking to other educators and how they communicate with their parents and how they handle disputes will better prepare me to effectively communicate with any parent.
ReplyDeleteIn Response to Janet H:
I think that parents need to be welcomed in the classroom and feel that they can help as much as they would like too. So many parents are willing to help and my not know how to approach the teacher about doing so. At the beginning of each year we have a classroom meeting and the teacher has the parents sign up for parties as well as room parents. This would be a great time for teachers to address the volunteer opportuniites and those that are available to help. The more hands on deck the better. Teacher need to make sure that these volunteers are capable and the students are comfortable with the volunteers!
In Response to Brandy:
ReplyDeleteYour personal experience will help make you an AMAZING teacher, ( not that you wouldn’t have been with out them). You are so organized and prepared the parents of your students will probably be amazed with how well and effectively you communicate as a new teacher!
I really liked reading this chapter. I especially liked the quote. “Act as if it were impossible to fail” by Dorothea Broude. This quote is how teachers should teach their students. Teachers should teach their students as if it were impossible for those students to fail. Teachers should also teach children this quote too. This chapter has so much information that’ll help 1st year teachers deal with parents. When I was in school we did a few of these things, but doing all of them would have been nice. In order for your students to succeed in school you need their parents support and participation. Having parents help you can allow you to do so much more with your students. Plus you’ll have some of those parents that the children absolutely love. Being able to bring in parents and volunteers from your community will help you school to become better. As the chapter said it can also let the community be aware of how different laws will affect your school and they will vote for or against these laws.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Ashley R:
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that it’s important for students to receive support and involvement from those around them. I also agree with you on the parents that want to make it and those who really don’t care. I see it at tutoring. We have those parents/guardians who pick up their kids on time or they arrive early and wait for their children. We also have those parents/guardians who are always late picking up their children. Parents need to think of how their behavior will affect the self-esteem of their children. Teachers also should make accommodations for those parents who have trouble making it to their children’s school activities. Children are very proud of their accomplishments and you’re right that students should share their accomplishments with the community. The community wants to see that they school that they support is doing a good job with their children.
This chapter illustrates how important parent involvement is in education. This chapter gave some awesome suggestions and ideas that teachers could use to communicate or encourage parent involvement. My kindergarten mentor teacher does a great job involving and welcoming parents and other volunteers into her classroom. From guest readers to parents helping with activities she always welcomes extra helpers. I have gained some great ideas from her! Parents are an essential part to student’s success. As teachers, we need to communicate with our parents and help to get/keep them involved in their student’s education. I think we have many tools available to help us do this so there should be no excuses
ReplyDeleteJaclyn, I love your suggestion about using Skype for parent/teacher conferences or just to keep parents updated! I had not previously thought of this. Of course, visiting with parents face to face would be ideal; however, Skype would be a great alternative.
Melinda S.
ReplyDeleteChapter 14 is titled Teachers, Caregivers, and the Community Working in Collaboration. The chapter discusses the importance of the cooperation between teachers, parents and the members of the community in the success of the students. I really enjoyed the list of items of what parents’ expectations of teachers are. I think that helps us as candidates know who and what we need to become in order to be a successful teacher. Ten next section I also found very informative. It focused on teachers understanding their students’ home life. I knew that this was important but it became much clearer why while reading this part of the chapter. I found the section about how to communicate with parents very helpful especially since coming up in tutoring we have student lead conferences. I really like the idea of weekly newsletter that go home to parents. Through the newsletter the parents know what exactly is going on in the class and stay up to date on what is going to be happening in the future. I also am thankful that they had sections about dealing with difficult parents, because as much as we would like to think that every parent is excited and involved we need to be realistic and find out how to handle the ones that are not.
In response to Janna C.
ReplyDeleteI really like that quote. It is so true. Students will succeed if we, the teachers, believe they can. So we must act like it is impossible to fail. The students will benefit greatly from our attitudes when the come into the classroom.
This chapter was about communicating and working with parents, caregivers, and the comminity members.
ReplyDeleteThe list of what parents say makes an effective teacher on page 354 is the same as what we say when we are asked in classes who our favorite teachers where and why. This is also a list of qualities and characteristics that we as teacher candidates want to exhibit. It is also extremely important to realize and understand the diverse backgrounds that studetns come from. I grew up in a very diverse town, but I went to a private school where my peers came from a very similar background. When i went to high school, I began to see outside of my sheltered world, and as i have progressed through college and my experiences in differnt schools, I feel like I am better prepared as a teacher to work with studetns of different backgrounds and cultures.
Attending a private school meant that there was a very high level of parental involvement and parent/student/teacher engagement. I think this is how it is in most private schools and I am excited to student teach at the local private school because of this. I wish there was a simple way to make all parents realize the impact they can have on their childs learning and schooling by simply getting involved in the school and taking the time help them with homework.
I really like the sections on communicating with parents and how the book told us what to include in our introductory letters to parents. That will be extremely helpful when I write my letter introducing myself to the parents of the students in the class i will be student teaching in. Doing what we can to have good effective communication with all parents is important and will be hard. Is it ever okay to quit trying to communicate with parents? Like if you feel it hurts the education more than it helps? Is that ever possible? I think i am as nervous to have parent teacher conferences as I was when my parents would go to my conferences because I wont know what kind of reactions I will get from parents. I really liked the suggestions the a few pages of the chapter gives for ways we can help parents get involved and make a difference in the community and how involved the community can get in the education of youth.
This chapter was very informative and helped me feel more prepared for dealing with parents, caregivers, and community members when i get into my student teaching and own classroom.
In response to Brandy...thank you so much for sharing in such a personal way. You are certainly a testament to the difference a loving, caring home environment makes for our students. As a mom of one son who was adopted and 2 biological, environment, not always strictly biology, makes a huge impact in our lives. What a wonderful teacher you will be because of your experiences! Julie
ReplyDeleteChapter 14 hits on a crucial element of our students' lives - their parents and how we can effectively collaborate with them in the child's best interest. The chapter addressed some very important issues, such as not stereotyping (ex: the child is from a very poor neighborhood, therefore his parents must be uncaring or criminals). I most appreciated the sample letter of introduction and newsletter ideas. Sooner or later, we will all have to deal with a difficult parent. The chapter gave some good suggestions, specifically, always treating them with respect. The technology information was helpful as well.
ReplyDeleteWorking in the school system and being a parent of two elementary school age children, I have seen both sides of this chapter. I have seen teachers that do not try to get the parents involved and yet they complain because the child is not doing well in class. I know from experience that my child has struggled in math from 1st grade until now which she is now in 5th. Last year I talked to her teacher about what exactly he thought the problem areas that I could work with her at home. I was hoping he would at least supply some worksheets or give me some websites for things that we could use at home, but he never did. She gets fairly good grades in the subject, but I know as she gets older it is going to get harder because she doesn't fully understand the what and why of math. I have been disappointed by this because even though she makes good grades now, I am thinking more toward her future and how it is going to affect her.
ReplyDeleteI also think that teachers should really stop and think about the student's home life as well. There have been teachers that really come down hard on a student, and as a para you hear things, moreso than the teacher about student homelife. Some of these students probably wonder where they are going to sleep or get a nighttime meal. It is no wonder that it is hard to get student involvement in class, much less parental involvement.
In response to Janel:
ReplyDeleteUsually the parents that have students that do well or the students that need help and the parents want to be involved will show up for the conferences. The students that are struggling or have issues, the parents hardly ever show up. I have known many teachers that try and try to set up meetings and the parents will come up with an excuse or just not show up.
Communicating with parents is an important part of the educational process. It is important that teachers understand the background of their students and the home life that may have impacts on the students’ education. Communication with parents begins with an introductory letter at the beginning of the school year. This establishes the line of communication and provides parents and guardians with the information needed to maintain communication. The lines of communication throughout the school year can include newsletters, phone calls and personal notes. It is important to provide positive information to parents rather than only contacting parents with negative news.
ReplyDeleteInvolving parents in the school setting can have a positive impact on the educational process. There are many ways to involve parents including inclusion in homework assignments and inviting parents to participate in classroom activities.
Response to Janet H:
I agree that poor parental attitudes toward school can have a dramatic impact on students’ attitudes. It is important to create positive communication with parents to help them become more involved in the education of students. Parents are definitely important in the educational process and getting them involved can be instrumental in overall learning.
Chapter 14 is about involvement from teachers to parents, caregivers and community in working together to focus on the child. In the reading it gives great advice to incorporate everyone or the team to meet the needs of the students. My nieces and nephew received letters to bring home to their parents from their teachers about upcoming events, what is happening in the classroom and what they are learning. I think it is a great idea to send letters and I feel it is appropriate. Also I feel home life can be good or bad and the school systems have an idea of what is life is like for the student. I have witnessed home life for many students and have experienced the worse working as a case manager. But having a team with peers, family friends, different workers the students has that help him can also help with homework or any needs that the students is struggling with at home such as the different subject areas because they may not receive the attention at home. Of course in the reading it discusses difficult parents. I have worked with them and they are not fun! But if keep calm and listen sometimes the situations will get better. I have no questions for this chapter.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Tyler G. I agree with on poor attitudes with students. I have witnessed this behavior and it is then difficult for the school staff to keep positive. Student repeat everything. :) So it is always good as school staff to keep positive and great communication with everyone.
ReplyDeleteParent involvement is very important for every child’s education. The student’s home life and background has a lot to do with their education. Children that live in homes with parents that don’t care, usually tend to have poor education. The parents that care and are involved as much as they can be usually have great educations. Communication between the parents and the teacher are very important. The parents should know what is going on in their child’s education and what they are doing from week to week. When my son was in the 3rd and 4th grade, he had the same teacher and she sent home a weekly bulletin about what was going on in the classroom and what was coming up. I loved knowing everything the class was doing. I felt that she kept us all involved. I am sure she had parents that never read the bulletin or even received them, as the students don’t take stuff home much these days. They shove them in their desks or lockers and the stuff only comes out when the clean them out and they are months old. I know some parents, which told their children they are not allowed to take anything out of the backpack until hey get home and they and the parents do it together. There are also parents that tell their child to bring everything home and they make them number the papers they receive that day, and if the child is missing a page, they have to bring the papers home the next day or they get in trouble. There is a student who has to do this same thing with her assignments in my internship class because she was going home to her parents and telling them that she had been given so much homework and the teacher was not allowing them time to work on it, but the student was choosing to goof around in class instead of using it wisely. It seems since this has been implemented, she is not taking as much home and she is doing better at working during class.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Brandy–
ReplyDeleteI agree that there are parents out there that do not care about their child’s grades. The school district that my boys are enrolled in have a program called Edustar. The parents get a log in and password and they can check their child’s grades, attendance and they can also know what is due when and how many points it is worth. Some teachers are really good at uploading the grades right away, some take forever. I enjoy going on there and I try to make myself do it daily so I can check on my 7th grader. He is struggling in math, but I am able to tell that the average for the class is a C. That irritates me, but it makes me feel better that I am able to watch. This way I can fix the problem and help him now before it is too late and he is down to nothing in the class. I think all schools should have something, but again, I am sure there will be some parents out there that don’t care.
I am sad that we are done going through this book. It is definitely one I will keep and use in the future! This chapter was no exception; I have always thought that teacher and parents should collaborate to better the student’s education. As a parent I want to know how my child is doing in school, academically and socially. And as an educator I want to know how things are going at home, is there anything I should know about that could affect the student’s academic performance. I have seen both extremes of parental involvement; the parents who are not involved at all and the parent’s who are in the teacher’s room everyday after school wanting to discuss the day’s events. I think somewhere in the middle is best. Thanks to our internship we have been introduced to the introduction letter, which is a good way to introduce yourself to the parents and students in the beginning of the year. The text had some other great ideas to get and then keep parents involved. The book gave some great advice about how to work with parents who do not accept their children’s difficulties in academics, parents who d nt value education, and parents who seem to critical of the teacher. Some very useful information once again from this book!
ReplyDeleteIn response to Alisha G.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter's kindergarten teacher sends home weekly notes to keep us informed on the happening in her class. I love knowing exactly what is going on in in her class. I think communication between parents and teachers is so important!
Jaclyn, Skype is a great idea for meeting with parents. Since it is free the only issue you may have would be the family not owning a computer.
ReplyDeleteChapter 14 deals with Teachers, Caregivers, and the community working in collaboration. To me, this is one of the most important chapters in the book. I think that parent involvement sometimes gets overlooked, and it definitely is evident with some students. I teach swimming lessons in the summer and I can tell which students’ parents are involved in what they do, by simply watching how the student participates in class. I am a big believer in parent involvement, and I will strive to get my parents involved as much as I can. The book pointed out that parents have high expectations of teachers; therefore the more the parent knows you, the more apt they are to support you. As an educator, you need to always be aware of a student’s home life. Something may trigger them at home and it may carry over to the classroom. In the book it states, “Students benefit in a number of ways—academically, physically, socially, and emotionally.” I honestly didn’t realize they benefited in all those ways. I really enjoyed the section that discussed Ways To Communicate With Parents. I thought every suggestion was a very good suggestion, and I have even used two of those in the after school tutoring program. I sent out an introductory letter to all the parents and I also kept a portfolio that contained personal notes. Do parents ever get annoyed if a teacher tries to involve them too much? The section over Working With Difficult Parents pointed out three types of parental approaches: 1. Parents who do not seem to value education 2. Parents who seem highly critical of everything the teacher does 3. Parents who seem not to accept that their child is struggling in reading or writing. I liked how it broke down how to deal with each situation. Overall, this chapter was a great read and I recommend everyone look through it all.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Kim D:
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with you, this book has been a great book to have for our class this year! It was full of ALL types of information, and I think that is why I enjoyed it so much. I didn’t feel like any of the chapters were repetitive, but I thought they all tied together very well. I think this chapter was a great one for us to end on because it is the final touch for our teaching career. I am so glad this chapter gave so many tips on how to deal with difficult parents!
Chapter 14 covered teacher/parent/community communication and collaboration. As teachers it is really important for teachers to be able to communicate properly with the parents about their child. I liked how the chapter listed the traits that parents look for in teachers because as an up and coming teacher, I will need to keep these in mind when in my own classroom. I thought the chapter had a lot of great information on how to communicate with parents, activities to get the students and parents involved in learning and the classroom in general, and how to deal with parents overall. Because parent involvement is so important to a student’s success in the classroom, learning how to deal with difficult parents is important for the teacher. I enjoyed reading the chapter and I feel that it has better prepared me for the issues that will at some point arise in my own classroom in the future.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I really liked from the chapter was the newsletter idea. My son’s preschool classroom does this on a weekly basis and it is very helpful for me and my husband to stay in touch with what is going on in my son’s classroom. With busy lives, we are not always able to be involved in the classroom as much as we would like so having the teacher be willing to send out a newsletter to parents just with weekly news is great.
In response to Shelby H…I agree that parent involvement is very important in the classroom! Students are going to be excited about going to school and more excited about learning if they know their parents are on board with them and excited/interested too! I will also try to include parents in my classroom and possibly use the great ideas from the scenario at the beginning of the chapter! I also love the idea of using a newsletter for parents to stay up to date on classroom activities and what the students are learning about. My son’s teacher does this and it is so nice to be able to know what’s going on even though I cannot be as involved in the classroom as I would like to be right now!
ReplyDeleteI have been waiting for some information like this, all through my college years that have been dedicated to becoming a teacher, I have known that I truly want to get the parents of my students involved. I just haven’t had a list of how to do these things. In a previous technology class, we created a ‘mock’ class website, and I had so much fun with it! I hope to have one of these for my future classroom. While doing that assignment, I searched the Internet for some actual classroom websites and noticed a recurring theme; each website stopped getting updated throughout the school year, like the teacher got burnt out. I know this may happen, we all get busy, but I have made it my goal that if I start a classroom website, I am going to stick to my goal and keep it updated, at least once a week. This chapter had so many great ways to communicate with parents that I don’t think I can choose my favorite! A monthly newsletter seems like a great way to keep the parents involved, I think students would forget to take home a weekly one and find it not important, but if the students get to participate in the creation of a monthly newsletter, I think they would be more eager to take it home and make sure their parents get it. Also, I thought the happy grams were a very cute idea. What student wants their good behavior shared with their parents? All of them! It’s no fun always taking home negative notes or bad grades to be signed, so I think another part of my goal will be to send home a happy gram with students too! Like Mrs. Stoppel said, use the sandwich comment strategy with parents, good-bad-good. I believe if the parents hear good things from you, as well as bad, they may be more eager to work with you!
ReplyDeleteThe ‘Working with Difficult Parents’ section was awesome! I am not a nervous person when it comes to getting in contact with parents, but when I know they can be difficult and confrontational, I am very cautious about how to handle them. This section gave some great and helpful hints to use in future conferences with parents.
In response to Brandy, I am sorry that you had to go through that experience, but I am so glad it all worked out for you. It is great to actually see the positive outcome of parental involvement through your story, thank you for sharing. My parents were always going to parent-teacher conferences, and it always seemed important to them, so I worked hard all the time, so that I made this experience a positive one for them. I knew if they heard only bad things at them, they would come home unhappy and possibly stop going, so I had my motivation. During middle school though, my parents divorced, and my mom worked late shifts, so parent-teacher conferences sometimes got placed on the back burner. I was so glad though when my teachers would make other arrangements to meet with my mom, I don’t know what motivation I would have had if my teachers wouldn’t have been so flexible. I think what you said is extremely important, “communication with parents is incredibly important to students and it should be important to teachers as well”. As you can see above, the communication was important to me and my teachers too. I want to make sure that, as a teacher, I never lose sight of this importance! I want my parent-teacher communication to be even stronger than what I witnessed because I believe it is such an important part of a child’s education!
ReplyDeleteJaclyn C, I like your suggestion about Skype! Using 21 Century resources to improve the educational process is a great idea and it makes it easier on the parent as well as you, the educator! I am seeing first hand in student teaching that many parents cannot make conferences so Skype would be beneficial for this type of parent.
ReplyDeleteI think parent involvement is very important to the educational process. As much as teachers want to conquer the world the truth is they can't do it all by themselves. Currently, I am student teaching and I see that at school. I can tell the children who are getting the help they need at home and I can see who the children are who are not getting the necessary help. I am a firm believer that instruction needs reinforcement. Parents are influential and they need support as well ... I like to see Parent Guardian Academies at schools because many parents need refreshers so they can help their children. I've introduced a web based SIS to the School Principal and he is interested in purchasing it so parents can log in and see their child's grades, attendance and discipline. It gets parents involved and makes them feel "informed." Besides technology, what are other creative and effective ways that we can get parents invovled. I was thinking about having parent meetings every 9 weeks where I will have refreshments and discuss things that parents need to know like the end of the year standardize testing or changes to the curriculum or other important district or school wide policies. I want parents to meet one another and become comfortable with me as their child's teacher so I thought Parent meetings at the school with refreshments would be a good idea for this.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Brandy…..
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. I have a friend who thinks the only place her son should get any learning is at school or daycare. She is just too BUSY to teach him…especially to work with him on his reading. And the poor boy is really struggling in reading. When our children don’t feel like our parents are behind our education, do they really want to be in school?
Communication with parents, and involvement of both parents and the community, is the key to successful learning outcomes for children. Parents who are involved in the education of their child, both at home by encouraging reading and providing workspace, and at school by volunteering their time, help to promote learning. However, many parents are unable or unwilling to help their students; others may not speak English; still others may not have the resources or time. In these cases, it is the responsibility of the teacher to make involvement as easy as possible.
ReplyDeleteAt my internship grade school they have a program for retirees and other adults to assist in the classroom called Youth Friends. This program makes sure adult volunteers have background checks and some rudimentary knowledge of volunteering. My son has told me how “Grandma Jen” helps read aloud his AR test questions (he is in Kindergarten).
While reading the section on working with difficult parents, I immediately thought of a recent situation. The parent, having received communication from my mentor teacher that her student was having behavioral issues in class, immediately came to the school and burst into the classroom looking for the teacher, in the middle of class. Unfortunately, this is a recurring pattern. Each time, the teacher calmly moves the conversation to the hall and explains that she would be glad to discuss the situation at a more appropriate time for both of them. I am relieved to have read this chapter, as I had wondered at the time how I would have handled that situation.
In response to Emily K.
ReplyDeleteThe classroom website is always a great idea, and I agree that many don't survive long it seems. In the schools I've worked with, I would make the website content the same as the newsletter content. We have so many families without computers at home that it would be good to do both.
Great comments!
I loved this chapter and I found it to be so important. Parent involvement is crutial in elementary schools and should be greatly encouraged. In the past internships I've been in, all my mentor teachers have done a great job involving parents in their students' activities and school work. It's as simple as sending home weekly notes just informing the parents of what went on during the week and what to prepare for the next week. One of my internship teachers had parents come in and help with math centers as well as reading a story to them in the afternoon. I dont think a lot of teachers realize how much parents DO want to be involved and asked to help out in the classroom. Part of this chapter I found really interesting was the section that talked about students' home lives. Involving the parents in the classroom help the teacher understand the lives of his or her students by involving the parents. It is so easy to get them involved and the book lists different fun ways to make that happen. I loved the idea of making telephone calls to the parents. It's easy and way more personable than just a newsletter. It shows the parents that the teacher really cares about each student, enough to take the time to make a phone call informing the parents of what's going on in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Becky,
ReplyDeleteI also really liked the part of the book talking about what parents expect of teachers. I'm glad I have this resource to look back on when I am beginning my first year of teaching. This chapter has really opened my eyes and I have an even better appreciation of parent involvement in the school.
Chapter 14 is a great reference chapter for all teachers. It contains so many great strategies and ideas for communicating with parents. Plus, it shows not only what teachers should do to communicate effectively with parents, but what parents specifically want from their child’s teacher. I really liked the idea of happy grams as a way to communicate positive behaviors to parents. This is a great way to show parents that you care about their child and want success for them.
ReplyDeleteBecause “parental involvement at home impacts students’ learning more than parental engagement at school,” (DeVries pg. 354) teachers need to initiate communication with parents on a daily basis. My mentor teacher for science and social studies uses a wonderful method to communicate with her first graders’ parents. Similar to what Mrs. Stoppel discussed during Thursday’s class session, each day students take home a plastic folder. In this folder are several pockets including student work to leave at home; important notes and upcoming events; and optional activities for the parents and students to complete together at home. Throughout the day, students place graded assignments in their folders to take home for their parents to see. My mentor teacher also places activities and worksheets in the folder that correlate with what the students are doing in class. These assignments are optional, but the teacher encourages parents to complete them with their students at home. Also in the folder is a home reading log where parents can fill in books read with their child. Finally, the folder contains a behavior log for each month of the school year. The teacher writes a short note in the log each day about the student’s behavior at school. The parents then sign this log and return the folder with their child to school the next day. There is also space for the parents to write notes back to the teacher. For students with behavioral plans, the teacher takes the last several minutes of the day to have a short one-on-one conference with them. They discuss their behavior throughout the day and a longer note is made in these students’ behavioral logs. Parents of these children are encouraged to write a note in the log and send it back to school each day.
In response to Holly D…
ReplyDeleteI also appreciated the section about understanding students’ home life. This section brought up many concepts that I had not previously thought about. It also provided examples of how students’ culture and backgrounds can affect how the student interacts with others and behaves at school. These are all important things to consider when attempting to get parents involved with their child’s school and education.
Chapter 14 – Teachers, Caregivers, and the Community Working in Collaboration
ReplyDeleteLike the text, I believe that parent/caregiver involvement is a vital part of a student’s education. When parents are involved the students really do benefit. I loved the list of parents’ expectation of teachers on page 354. I think that posting this list on my desk would be a great daily reminder of why I have been called to be an educator. I also thought that list of reasons why parents/caregivers may not be as involved. As teachers, it may be hard to not draw assumptions about children’s home situations. I think that in order to understand the student and parents it is vital to get the “whole picture” of where that child comes from. This might take some work by the teacher.
I think that teacher/parent communication is so important. My children bring home homework folders each day and my 4th grade son has a planner. My daughter’s 1st grade teacher does a great job in keeping up with daily updates in her homework folder, which I sign nightly. My son’s teacher started the school year off great by commenting in his planner but it has been MONTHS since she has written anything. Any kind of communication with her is because of my efforts. I understand that the teachers have been so busy preparing the students for the testing (which was last week) but I think that teachers need to keep up with communications. I also think that is SO important that teachers communicate LOTS of positive. A lot of parents think that a note home or call from the teacher is probably going to bring negative news. That is so sad! Positive notes and calls from teachers could completely change a student’s (and parents) outlook in school!
Lastly, I think that a classroom BLOG is a great idea. It would be an easy way for parents to keep up with the happenings in the classroom and school.
In response to Hannah:
ReplyDeleteI thought that your post mirrored my thoughts exactly! I loved the idea of the happy grams too! I think that it is so important for teachers to communicate the positive. I think that so many teachers only communicate the negative and there is no way that is good for the teacher, student or parent. After reading about all the benefits regarding parent involvement I think it is a no-brainer on getting parents involved in my future classroom!
Parental involvement is beneficial to ensuring our students succeed. When we are involved in our children’s education not only at school but at home too our children reap the benefits. As a parent, I completely understand the benefits. Reading this chapter and the section regarding “difficult parents” is the most frustrating part to me and one that I know as a teacher I will encounter. Observing last semester in third grade, the teachers would often comment about a child in their classroom whose parents are either not involved, over involved or think that their child can do no wrong. Honestly, I think they should have kept that tidbit to themselves, but at the same time it gave me insight as to the dynamics of their classroom. When the mentor teacher brought the subject up, I then asked, well how do you get them involved? She said she’ll send a note home, or an email, but she said, “I don’t anticipate a response.” I thought it was a poor attitude to take, and as a teacher, she needs to be involved. She should contact the parents and find out what is going on.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea that Mrs. Stoppel pointed out in the podcast about not just seeing the parents at open house or during conferences, but to invite them to your classroom at any opportunity. A teacher my daughter had in elementary school invited the parents every week to read to the children either as a whole class activity or in small groups for a reading circle. My son has an agenda he brings home every day that a parent needs to sign saying they read the agenda and any notes the teacher wrote for that day. Also, if I need to communicate with the teacher, I can write on his agenda and she will either write on the agenda back or send me an email as soon as she reads the note. His teacher also utilizes a website called, “schoolnotes.com” and every week she sends out an email with the agenda for the week as well as any notes she needs the parents to read, i.e. parties, teacher absence, etc. If she makes a change to the schoolnotes, an email is sent saying that there is a change.
We will encounter supportive parents, disgruntled parents and non-existent parents when we become teachers, but if we use the strategies that are in this chapter we will be able to have a successful year.
In response to Hannah,
ReplyDeleteHannah, we had those same folders at my children’s old school. I loved them. I like that they are vinyl and that they have a place for notes, homework, leave at home, etc. My son currently uses an agenda and it lasted about 4 months before it began to get torn apart. I ended up putting it in a binder so that it stopped the ripping of the paper. It has a place for the teacher to write notes, but I like the vinyl folder better because then he doesn’t have loose papers getting crushed in his back pack.
I really enjoyed reading this chapter. There are a lot of people that go in to making the school environment and learning process. I liked the list of parents' expectations of teachers on page 354. It is good to know before going into a classroom what the parents are expecting of you. I think it is great when parents are involved in the classroom. It can really be a big help to both the teacher and the students. I had never heard of the "Parents' Nook" before but I think it is a wonderful idea! I appreciated the information about parents who seem highly critical too. It can be very nerve-wrecking especially for a new teacher when a parent does not seem to approve of the teacher. The information on page 366 was great with dealing with parents such as those. I remember my mom always coming in to the classroom and volunteering and it was great having her experience and see what I was learning. Does anyone have any tips that can improve parent involvement in the classroom?
ReplyDeleteIn response to Holly D- My reading mentor teacher had a parent volunteer come every week and help with literacy centers. It really helped out having an extra adult in the classroom that was able to guide and help the students through a difficult activity. I also like the idea of making phone calls, as you said, because it is much more personal than a letter. I think you made a great point about teachers not being aware of how much parents really do want to help out any way they can in the classroom. Even if a parent can't come volunteer in the classroom there are tons more ways they can help out and I think all teachers need to take advantage of that.
ReplyDeleteIt's such a coincidence that Chapter 14 mentions parental involvement! In two of my classes we have been discussing the importance of involving parents, and I just took the PLT this weekend and it had a couple questions about parental involvement as well.
ReplyDeleteI like that the book mentions the importance of understanding students' home life. If you get to know the parents you will understand their attitudes toward school, and you may even understand why the student has the same or opposite view towards school or you. I had never heard of a "Parents' Nook" like the book mentioned, and I LOVE that idea. Has anyone observed a school that contains a special corner of the school just for parents? It would be interesting to hear about it. I also appreciated that the book was honest and let us know that not all parents will be supporting. A teacher mentioned to me that any time a parent comes into the room wanting to know why you do a certain strategy, give them evidence of student growth and share the research done about the strategy.
In response to Kelsey M,
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is crucial to know what parents are already thinking or expecting of you when you first meet them. During our tutoring experience I never really thought about perceptions parents may already have about us, I just assumed I had to prove it. The list they give us will be a great tool, indeed!
Chapter 14 - Parents and Teacher involvement. I think that it is very important that parents are involved in their child's education. As a parent that missed out on most of my daughter's activities at school because I was working and unable to attend. I was able to go on some of her field trips in grade school. I made sure that I was involved in her education at home through her homework. I think that it is important for the community to be involved in students activities. When students' have involvement in their activities, their confidence and self-esteem are boosted.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Kelsey M.... I agree the idea of the "parent nook" is great. This would have been something that I think I would have liked to see at my daughter's school. I think that when parents know that there is information available to them that will answer any questions that they may have, this is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteBrooke:
ReplyDeleteI agree that in order for parental involvement in the classroom it has to work both ways. There are so many parents that will do everything they possibly can to feel involved in their childs education and the teachers turn them away. That may be because the teachers confidence may go down if they know the parents are willing to step in. They may be intimidated by the parents. I also feel the parents can feel intimidated by the teacher and that could be the reason for their lack of involvement, which is sad. We all need to learn to work together :)
Parental involvement to me is a no brainer, but I know that once I have my own classroom it will all be totally different. I had a teacher tell me once that at the beginning of the year have an open house, and try to get every parent to sign a contract agreeing to be involved in their child's education and be involved in the classroom. Some parents may not have the time to become involved, but there are things outside the classroom that they can help with.
ReplyDeleteI think you can tell at an early age how involved parents have been and will be with their child's learning. Learning needs to start at home at a very early age and some parents have no intention to aid in their child's learning until they send them to pre-school or kindergarten. Some children come to Kindergarten having no idea what to expect and they have never been worked with at home, and it's obvious.
Parent involvement needs to start when the children aren't even in school yet. If they start early they may feel like they have a part in their child's education so they need to continue to aid instead of letting the teacher have full reigns.
Chapter 14 talks about communicating with parents and guardians and how effective it is to begin the process before school even begins. During the school year keeping open lines of communication can be done by having a weekly or monthly newsletter or even a webpage. It also goes into how important it is to know your students backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteI keep informed on what is happening in my children’s classrooms by volunteering to be the room mother every year. Some years I feel like I have no choice because no other parent volunteers. This year I have to be a room mother to both 5th grade and 8th grade at the same time. This is really sad when parents don’t get involved. Is this the teacher’s fault for not trying to get the parents involved or the parents fault for not caring what is happening in their child’s classroom? During my tutoring I found that the parent of one child is too busy to help this student read at home, and just expects the school to do the work. This is a classic place where the teacher and parent should be communication more than at parent / teacher conferences. When I had my meeting with her, she just acted like there was nothing wrong with the way things were going. How can parents be that way toward their child’s education?
This chapter dealt with parental involvement. This is a crucial topic and it has been something that our school district is trying to overcome. The school district I am at is at a stand still right now due to the fact that they have tried many different things and the same people get involved and the same ones don't. They realize the importance of a child's success is crucial with parental involvement. They have implemented a few policies that has helped a little.
ReplyDeleteFirst for grades 5th and below at the beginning of the school year the teachers are required to go to each of their students homes to meet the family. For grades 3rd and higher the students are issued agendas that they must take home daily and get signed. They are hoping that this will get a little more involvement but it hasn't seemed to help the situation.
We also have Communities In Schools involved and this has been a tremendous program for some of the students who don't get the parental support. They get volunteers from the community to come in and meet with a child once a week. This has been a success for some of the students.
However, I feel this will always be a problem for all school districts and I don't know what the answer is, however, I have been impressed on the proactive stance our school district has taken.
In response to Debbie,
ReplyDeleteI have to admit I don't think it is the teachers fault when they attempt and try to make communication and get the parents involved. I think that parents need to step up and realize that they are their child's primary care giver and not the school therefore they will need to take a more active role in their child's future.
It saddens me when I hear a parent is too busy to read with their child, we all have busy lives and yet we need to put our children first.
Brooke,
ReplyDeleteYou actually make a really good point when you mention that some teachers easily and quickly send negative notes home to parents, but fail to make the time exception for extreme positives those children make. It is also sad that there are parents that are not involved in their children’s lives and that there are also teachers that would prefer not to have to deal with their students’ parents. In a lot of ways I think teaching children can be like a marriage….the family comes along too! We can’t just take the student, their family and parents are part of the package and we need to be willing to cooperate and positively interact with them to enhance the students’ possibilities to learn to their fullest potential.
I suppose I was extremely blessed as a child to have a mother who understood the value of an excellent education. My mom spent some time each day as I grew up either reading to me (before I could read) or taking turns reading with my little sister and I. Those are some of the best memories I have from early childhood. I remember lying on my mom’s bed in the early evenings with her and my sister and we would read a story or mom would start a story about a topic and we would take turns adding to it. It was so much fun. And even as my sister and I got older mom would still help us as often as possible with schoolwork or just take time to listen to what we learned that day at school. Having this experience has made me very sad for children who are not fortunate enough to have their parents’ involvement in the progression of their education. By the time people are parents they should fully comprehend that value of an education in life and I would think they would help their own children actively and successfully pursue that. Some parents are wonderful and are willing to help their children and their teachers. Those are the types of parents teachers enjoy! It is difficult when teachers make the effort to keep their students’ parents involved but get no help or response. I know that if I ever have children of my own someday, knowing that they will spend more time during the day with their teacher than me, I would want to be as actively involved with that teacher as possible. There are many great activities and ideas listed in Chapter 14 detailing how to handle parents and what to do to get them involved. There will unfortunately always be some parents that will not understand the importance of being involved in their child’s education. I think one of my great missions as a teacher will be to pursue the highest level of positive parental involvement as I can.
ReplyDelete