Using Epstein's Framework of Six Types of Involvement and Sample Practices (Figure 5.14), share two suggestions from the table that you have implemented in your classroom and/ or your school. Discuss how it has impacted student and parent involvement.
I can say for sure that I did communicate with the parents of my students. One thing that happened was parent/teacher conferences twice a year. I was only involved in the second conference. This gave the parents a chance to get to talk to me about their child and get to know me a little better. I did make sure and say good things along with the not so good things about their child. The conference did have an impact on the students because they came in a little more tolerable of me, knowing that I did say good things about them to their parents. As for the parents, some wanted more communication home about their child and others didn’t have much to say. It did help me see what I should be doing more of, communicating home to parents.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that every teacher did was the weekly progress report. All the homework for the week was graded and sent home along with a progress sheet. Test scores and scores below 70% on homework were recorded on these sheets. The parents had to sign them and turn them back in on the following Monday. This held parents accountable in signing the sheet. Some parents would take the time to look at the sheets and the homework before signing. Others just signed it and that was that. There was room for comments from the teacher and the parents. Sometimes parents would write something down and sometimes I would write something. It was kind of a cop out for me in that instead of making a personal phone call, I would just communicate through the paper. But, it was a form of communication that I would still use today, but not as the primary form.
In the childcare position I had for 15 years I was in a room with toddlers most of the day. Daily sheets were required and daily communication with parents was encouraged. I tried to inform them of one positive thing a day even if it was only that they took a two hour nap. Knowing every child in your care makes the parent feel safe, secure, and positive about their decision to leave them in your care. I had instances with biting, hitting, calling with sick, child getting hurt to deal with too. In these instances I would try to remain calm, positive and reassuring to the parent. Parents would usually be calm in return because you would show the respect of talking to them in person or by phone. By making a connection and putting forth effort you can form a positive relationship and mutual respect. In biting scenarios or other things we tried to have websites or pamphlets available as a parent resource. I have even taken classes on how to make some of these situations better. The parents were relieved and felt that their situation was important and not something that we didn’t care about.
ReplyDeleteAt the job that I have now; all staff is required to have several students to keep track of. Each staff member is able to get on infinite campus to find out about the child’s behavior, grades, and activities. We meet with the children twice a month, set goals, chart goals and behaviors, and let them know we are here if they need anything. A phone call home once a month is a requirement of this mentoring program. I have had very positive feedback from parents and children. One parent was glad that their student had an advocate at the school, another was happy that their student would be held accountable for their homework and someone would help them (the parent). After a phone call home one of the parents talked to their student to see why their homework wasn’t being handed in. The student was “losing” it between home and school. As a team we came up with a solution of finding a binder and folders which the school was happy to provide. This got the parent, student, staff, and teacher involved. The student and parent both feel successful in this situation. It has only been a couple of weeks, but the teacher is pleased too. I think this is a great way to keep parents informed and made to feel like an important part in their student’s education.
Emily,
ReplyDeleteI agree that positive communication is a key aspect in parent involvement. I know from my experiences that if you have a positive thing to say, the negative things go a lot smoother. It is not easy to confront any parent and to be able to keep it on a level of mutual respect is hard. Most parents want to be involved in their childs success, sometimes just knowing that they have someone to help them goes along way. I think it would have been hard to create a positive atmosphere half way through a year. It is hard to follow in someone else's footsteps. By being a new teacher you have to gain the respect of students, staff, and parents; which is a lot on anyone's plate. I am glad that you made it through conferences on a positive note and that the communication between you and parents continued even if it was in written form. I think that progress reports are a good thing because then you have a hard copy of the grades to use in the future. It is a start in getting the parent involved in their child's education and earning respect from everyone involved. I think that you did a great job.
Holli,
ReplyDeleteGetting those sheets from daycare was always good. One day, I went to pick up my son and the teacher approached me timidly saying that another kid bit him but they didn't call cause it didn't break the skin but that they cleaned it really well. I just asked if my son hit him back. I appreciated her talking to me and was not going to react negatively because this was the first time that it happened.
Meeting with the students twice a month to go over goals and such is great for those that need it. You are positively influencing these children and helping them to succeed. It is great that the parents are being so supportive. Makes the job a lot easier.
3. One of the things that I use in my room right now is the communication system. I sent out daily sheets that tells the parents what kind of activity that we did for the day, how their day was, and any additional comments that needs to be communicated to the parents. I also have board that is right by the door that has a monthly letter, classroom schedule, lunch menu for the week, and a huge daily sheet that goes into more detail in how the day went.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that I have is an open door policy; I welcome parents any day to come in and volunteer. During special events I have a volunteer sigh up sheets; or if we are doing special projects I have a list of items that may be needed from the parents to donate.
Parents love the daily sheets and the information board. They are gone all day at work they like to know what their children are learning. At this age it is always easy to get volunteers to come into the room and help with special events.
ReplyDeleteAnna,
ReplyDeleteHaving information posted where parents can readily view it is great. They are always informed this way and if they have any questions, they can ask you right away being that you have the open door policy. Parents do love to volunteer at the early ages. I would rather let other parents enjoy this as all the young, screaming, and wild kids would probably drive me crazy (with my kids being the worst). It takes a special person to do what you do with all those young kids.
Holli:
ReplyDeleteI so agree with you on keeping parents informed esp. at a daycare setting. Parents leave their children with you all day and would really like to know what is going on even if it is the little things. I always have somehting to say to parents about each child and if it is a bad I usally put a good with it as well.
Emily: I like the weekly progress report that you were talking about. It does seem like a lot of work but keeping parents informed about their children's progress is a very big deal; I think the next best communication whether than paper would be a computer. Using technology; If I had that available to me along w/ all of the parents I would use that all the time!!!
ReplyDeleteAnna,
ReplyDeleteI think that having an open door policy is a wonderful thing. It puts parents mind at ease and helps them go about their work with a clear conscience. If you are a trusted provider the parents really do appreciate all the things that you do for them. Daily sheets, bulletin boards, lesson plans, and lunch menus all help to create a sense of security for the parent and child and makes parent/teacher relationships easier.
TYPE 6 Collaborating with Community
ReplyDeleteWe do a lot of Collaborating with community. We sponsor a kids soccer program to come out and give lessons while at Daycare, we post community celebrations or activities, and any assistant programs. We recycle, collect soup labels, and milk caps to receive new equipment.
TYPE 2 Communicating
The center has conferences twice a year with parents, puts out monthly news letters, sends out daily notes if needed. We have now decided to do a parent survey once a year and we notify parent through phone calls when necessary.
I haven't seen the results yet since it is all new. I did get a great response from parents when I wrote a letter introducing myself and how I do things. I felt like parents were comfortable approaching me and the subject of toilet training and discipline strategies once I opened the door through my letter.
Anna,
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the white board outside of Alex's room it always tells me what they did for that day. The bulletin above it give information of continuing ed classes, food pantry's, and offers once a month family get together where they educate parents on different subjects.
At my center we do some similar communications as well.
I’ll use some suggestions that I see in the school that I work at. Overall I would say the two types of involvement I witness the most in our building is communicating and volunteering. Being a PBS school, we’ve got parents working side-by-side with teachers and administrators on our committee trying to better implement the program to meet our kid’s needs. We just implemented a “check in and check out” program as well for at-risk students. The child meets with a mentor at the beginning of the day and sets academic and behavior goals for the day. Then the kids carry around a worksheet that gets signed by every teacher they see to track their progress. At the end of the day the child meets with the mentor again to discuss the child’s progress and look over the worksheet. The worksheet then gets taken home and signed by the parents. Long story short; it keeps the parents informed. Our parent organization also has fun nights at least two times a month. Parents can come into the school with their kids and do something fun. Many times teachers are in attendance as well. If anything this is a nice time for parents and teachers to mingle as adults, and build stronger relationships. I also see a lot of teachers using daily/weekly folders that they send home with students. These work great as a simple, quick means of allowing parents to write notes to teachers or simply see what their kids are up to in school. Nearly every day while I’m at work I see new faces; and more often than not it’s a parent of one of our students volunteering to do something in the school. Sometimes they’re helping with a classroom party, or setting up for some event, or helping a child study. I think the reason they keep coming back is because we have a staff that is genuinely appreciative of their contributions and time.
ReplyDeleteEmily: I think your advice is great pertaining to the conferences. It’s definitely a good idea to say as many positive things as you can about a child before you start in with the bad stuff. Why can’t all children just be little angels??? Imagine how easy the conferences would be then? “Well Mr. and Mrs. Doe, Junior is getting all A’s, he hasn’t missed a day of school EVER, he’s never tardy, he’s never disrespectful, always turns his homework in on time….” Life’s just not that easy I guess.
ReplyDeleteAnna- I’m sort of surprised how satisfying a piece of paper can be for parents that tells them how their child did at school during the day. Maybe I’m seeing this in a negative light right now because I’ve been writing way too many of these blogs tonight, but where has our society gone wrong? It’s really too bad that Mom and Dad can’t pick their own kids up from school every day and chitchat with the teacher face to face. Instead society makes Mom and Dad both work so they can pay the bills and buy stuff. When will family become more important than productivity in the U.S.? I hope we all get to see it some day.
ReplyDeleteKelli- I was really impressed with how much your school is involved with the community. I really enjoyed seeing that you’re getting your youngsters to recycle. I think teaching our kids to be environmental stewards is EXTREMELY important. There’s no shame in being a tree hugger, and all kids should know and practice their “3 R’s”….Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
ReplyDeleteIn our classroom we use conferencing. We hold regular conferences the same time the general education classes do but then we also have the IEP meetings that also involve the parents. The problem we have with this is just getting the students parents to show up. They barely make it to the IEP meetings. We almost have to threaten that their child may lose services if they do not attend. However with the General education students I feel conferences work well. It is an opportunity to get the parents in the school and is sometime the only time they come to the building.
ReplyDeleteWe also do some collaborating with the community. We have a Monthly news letter that goes out to every student. Sometimes there is good information about events or contact info if there is an interest. We also send a lot of flyers and things home with the students. And lastly there is a bulletin board in the main office that you can often find good community information.
JoDee,
ReplyDeleteWow, those must be long conferences. The school is putting way to much information into one meeting, no wonder some of them don't show up (just kidding).
Scott,
Yeah I am pretty pound to work at Trinity. I love that we are open to all holiday celebrations and get to pray over each morsel of food and put on concerts twice a year too. I would love to talk with parents about their child but I don't see them. I only write notes if I have something very important (good or bad) to say. The rooms that are 24 months and younger have daily sheets that describe the child's entire day. I would love to be a stay at home mom still. I had five years at home with my kids and just returned to work this year. I love working but, miss my baby.
As a high school teacher it begans to be a little bit more about keeping the students comfortable as well as the parents if a student believes you are treating them like a child they will shut off so I will be careful how i communicate with students parents: I will most deffinanty use parent teacher confrences these have been around for along time and kids tend to be prepared and except these as away to communicate with their parents and communicate what you are seeing and wanting.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing I will do is look for parent involvement I believe if students and parents see and active parent involvement with in your class they will be more open to you approaching them whether its a positive or negative situation