With parent-teacher conferences in full
swing this week, it is natural to be thinking about how effective our
communication really is with the parents of our students. I am a parent of four
children, ages 3 – 23. As my older children transitioned from elementary school
into middle school, I found myself feeling left out in many ways. I was THE
parent who helped to plan, fund, and participate in every holiday bash or class
party, drove children or shared a bus on field trips, and stood on the
sidelines of every field day with water and snacks. I was very accustomed to
have a face-to-face relationship with my children’s teachers, and it was this
open relationship that made me feel more comfortable about turning over my
babies to another person for 8+ hours per day.
Needless to say that I was more than shocked
when I was no longer needed or wanted to participate in many of the middle
school and high school events that I had formerly been a part of in elementary
school. I had been demoted. This transition can be difficult for many parents
to deal with, and often results in a significant lack of parental involvement
because they just aren’t sure where they fit into their child’s education any
more. I think that is why it is even more important to maintain a consistent
foundation for communication with parents in alternate ways.
“But WHAT works?”
I recently read an article written by Tom
Whitby, entitled, “Home to School Connections: Educating Parents About
Education.” Mr. Whitby is concerned that while best practices in the classroom
are changing to meet the needs of 21st century teachers and
students; parent-teacher communication is not changing and parents are being
left behind the cultural shift. He talks about the many new ideas that teachers
are incorporating into their curriculum: such as how teachers can no longer be
judged by the amount of homework assigned or that content expertise should no
longer be a limitation on students education. Although I am not completely on
board with the lack of homework issued in today’s classrooms, I do agree that
many of the changes being implemented are very positive and if teachers could
find more effective ways to include parents, there would be less opposition and
more support for what we are attempting to accomplish.
Mr. Whitby also discusses several
technology-based methods of communication that can help bridge the gap between
hands on parent participation in the classroom and parent support from home.
Apps like Remind, specialized webpages where parents can view grades and even
uploaded student portfolios, as well as some social media sites can be very
useful in creating a situation where parents feel like they can be involved and
often.
One of the most important things that I plan
to do in my classroom is to provide opportunities for communication with both
students and parents outside of the classroom. This can be a time to discuss
difficult concepts when individual attention is needed, update on make-up work
and exams, and discuss problems and successes that occur with parents and
students. One way that I plan to implement this is by staying after school for
one hour on every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for unscheduled appointments.
This wouldn’t take much of my personal time and if no one stops by, I can use this
time to plan or return emails, and other housekeeping tasks that I would have
to do anyway.
Teacher Hub suggests the site,
Snapschool.com. This site contains a link for a program called Upraised
Learning, where parents have access to student information, parent resources,
activities that parents can discuss and complete with their students, and have
instant communication with educators. Although I believe this site does have a
fee, I am curious of what free sites might be out there that are similar to
this one. Any suggestions? How do you plan to communicate with your students
and parents?
eachHUB | K-12 News, Lessons &
Shared ResourcesBy Teachers, For Teachers. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.teachhub.com/
Whitby, T. (2001, September 17).
Educating Parents About Education | Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/educating-parents-about-education-tom-whitby
Megan,
ReplyDeleteReferencing your comments on homework and the lack thereof as a response to Mr. Whitby's article, I also share your concerns. As a teacher, I want to ensure that class time and home time create the proper level of engagement that students need in each of their classes. What specifically bothers me is when the homework handed out does not support this objective.
I took a look at Mr. Whitby's article. I like a lot of the suggestions that he has. However, while reading his article I thought a lot about our specific classrooms. The language arts classroom is varied in its scope, size, and general makeup. With writing as a key consideration, sometimes students need to step back altogether from the technology that is constantly thrown in their faces.
Several semesters ago I read a book by Dr. Geoffrey Sirc. In his book, Sirc rallies against the accustomed process writing formula that teachers emphasize all the time as if it were religion. I think that sometimes we need to connect with elements away from technology to have students really read, write, and become inspired students. As Dr. Sirc says as his gives his expectation for good writing, “All I demand of writing is that it have writte, that is expose itself, announce itself, appear as writing. Writing stripped bare. Writing that wows me, dazzles me, that announces, you’re coming onto something so fast, so numb, that you can’t even feel’ (R.E.M)” (66).
Specifically, I will use technology. However, to be an effective teacher I think it is important to create a type of connection that is not found in technology. Mr. Whitby is correct when he says that education, its methods, change slowly. Personally, I don't want to be part of an over correction.
Great post. It got my juices flowing.