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.
Conferences with parents on a yearly basis is something that I always do through IEP meetings. I like to try and talk to parents one-on-one without the rest of the IEP team for awhile as well. I like to build a relationship with the parents to open up lines of communication and let them know that we are on the same page. I try to be as genuine as approachable as possible to show that I care. Doing this, has made parents support me and support my decisions. They have been open to my advice and open to assist me when I need it.
ReplyDeleteFamily participation in setting student goals and planning for college or work is another thing that I use alot. I spend alot of time with my Juniors and Seniors getting them prepare for post-secondary life. I try to lay out options for parents, help students with applications and try to put them on the right track. I let each of the families know that I am there to help them. This culminates with my final meeting at the end of their senior year, when I give them their SARS form. This is my final goodbye and advice. I also give them their final Expectations for living, learning, and working.
Same as before in that by showing that I care and am willing to help them reach their goals, the families are supportive and helpful in return. This ends out in the most possible support for the student who needs it!
Todd - I think it is great that you spend time with students discussing post-secondary life. This is something that my high school did not do. What an important and caring thing to do!
DeleteLife after school is a huge aspect in students' lives. We also help parents set up vocational programs, group homes, etc. Our goal is for the students to become as independent as possible and help them set everything into place. Great post.
DeleteI agree with you Todd. I basically do the same thing with my upper classmen. If we don't advocate for them and help guide them in the right direction, they will ultimately fail. It is important to constantly review and talk about life after highschool.
DeleteI think that in my classroom I would like to implement:
ReplyDeleteSchool & classroom volunteer program - I currently work with volunteers and volunteers not only impact those they are helping, but they are also impacting themselves in a positive way. I think it would be great to encourage parents who have time to come in and help in the classroom. I have personally seen that when someone chooses to volunteer their time in an organization, their dedication and pride in that organization grows. What a great way to get parents more involved!
Summer learning packets or activities - I think this would be a great way to show that I care as a teacher. Putting together packets would take time, but it would be worth it to know that students had something they could work on during the summer and that parents know my dedication.
Erin, it is very interesting that you discuss summer activities. Many people will argue that kids often regress in the summer, yet most teachers will not prepare them with things to do in the summer. Especially, with young kids, I think that it is important to have them engaged in activities in their off time.
DeleteI love the idea of summer learning packets and activities. It is great for students that do not receive summer services. It also helps parents that want to be able to do something but do not know what to do.
DeleteI think volunteering is a great way to positively impact your students. It allows them to get to know community members and apply skills they learn in the classroom to the outside world. I also agree that parents volunteering in the classroom will help them feel more involved in their child's education.
Deletevolunteering in the classroom gives parents and other family members an opprotunity to be involved. This will also give them a better idea of what is happening with their child in school. One of the things that I liked the most is that it helps with discipline issues.
DeleteIn high school I had a teacher who had dozens of sayings he used in class. One of my favorites is, “Communication is the key to healthy relationships.” Communicating effectively with parents can help reduce a lot of conflicts at school. One way to let parents know what is going on at school is through the Internet. There are a variety of ways that this can be done. Using the school’s website, teachers can set up a page with assignments, homework help links, and what happened in the classroom. They can also use a Facebook page or Twitter account to share information. From what I have heard from other educators, parents appreciate being able to follow along with what is happening at school. Many high school students do not communicate well with their parents, so it is helpful to have other tools for the parents to use.
ReplyDeleteGoing along with the communication factor, learning at home does not always occur. Sometimes some of the subjects are beyond what the parents know or it has just been a long time since parents have had to complete that type of work. To help encourage student completion of work and parent involvement in learning, teachers could award points for having assignments signed by a parent. In addition, teachers could create review sheets for parents that they can use to help their child study for tests. If teachers make an effort to include parents, perhaps parents will make more of an effort to be involved in their child’s education.
Communication is so important for teachers. You have to be able to communicate effectively with students, teachers, admin., and parents. If someone is not willing to branch out and be an effective communicator than they will often fail. I think that it often takes being assertive and stepping out of your comfort zone as well.
DeleteI agree with you both, communication is a HUGE thing and can certainly help or hinder anything.
DeleteI agree completely with especially your last statement. I think as technology improves and more families become aware of how it is really simple to be a part of a students life these days that efforts made by teachers will translate into greater efforts by parents.
DeleteI also strongly agree that one of the number one things on a teacher's list should be open communication with student's parents. If there is not any communication on either's part then the teacher and student both will fail in an academic setting.
DeleteI agree, communication is inmy mind the number one component when developing relationships with students and parents. I typically communicate as much as I possibly can whther or not it is for good or bad reasons. Developing a trusting relationship comes from developing good communication.
DeleteUsing 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.
ReplyDeleteType 2 Communicating: I think keeping the parents/guardians involved and informed is very important if you want them to cooperate with you. How are they supposed to respect me and help me if I do not let them know what is going on? I also think if I am constantly keeping the parents informed and communicate with them frequently that they are less likely to "argue" with me about their child. And if they do, I have plenty of proof to show them how much I have done to help them.
Type 4 Learning at Home: I would like to be active in helping families to help students at home with homework and other activities. Anything they can do at home will help me in the classroom. It is very important to show the how important education is even when they are not in school. If the parents are supporting their education at home then it will transfer into the classroom. I know with the busy lives of families that it can be easy for parents to put it on the back burner, so I would like to be there to offer suggestions and ideas for home life.
I agree making time for education at home is a challenge for many over scheduled families these days. When my son's school sends home a chapter book for each family and activities that are done at home and brought back to school we tend to remember to get in extra reading. The home/school correlation is important.
DeleteI agree that communicating is key to having successful cooperation from parents. Like you explained parents can only respect you if you are keeping them in the loop about classroom activities. I also think you raised an excellent point about how constant communication can help eliminate the likelihood of parents arguing with decisions you are making about the class.
DeleteCommunicating would be something I would place a lot of emphasis on. There is no job in this world where one does not communicate with someone in some type of manner. Communication is important in everyday life and good, clear communication must be taught. Part of teaching communication would be to be a leader, I would make sure I was always communicating with my students, parents and encourage them to communicate with each other.
ReplyDeleteVolunteers is another thing I think I would like in my room,its good for students to learn from different people, additionally its also good to have parents, grandparents, community members and other positive role models be part of the classroom. It helps students feel like there is relevance to what they are learning when outside members help participate in their learning. Additionally every one teaches a skill or concept differently so getting good volunteers into the classroom could also bring in some differentiated learning.
Melissa - Although I am a HUGE internet addict, I think students need to learn how to communicate in good, old-fashioned face-to-face chat time. The idea of using time to teach communication is wonderful. I love that you mentioned communication and leadership. As a coach, I have struggled in the past few seasons to find players I think are effective leaders, and I think that has something to do with poor communication skills. I also like your idea of bringing other volunteers into the classroom to serve as role models for students. I think teachers frequently hear, "when will we ever use this?" Having someone outside of the education profession verify what you are saying would help put those comments to rest!
DeleteI am really huge on volunteering. I think kids these days don't take pride in much. I think by getting out into the community and giving a helping hand they realize what pride really is!
DeleteAt first I thought the volunteering idea was out of reach, but you make great points about it. I think the students would get a GREAT amount from volunteers. Not only would they get different perspectives (and the teacher get help), but when they see adults doing things like that, it makes them appreciate it and maybe it will rub off on them to be a better helper. I also think it is a good mix up of the day and year to see other faces.
Delete1. Communication- Regular schedule of useful notices, memos, phone calls, newsletters, other.
ReplyDeleteOnce again we send books back and forth every day to let the parents know what happened that day: how they ate, bathroom habits, special activities, etc. Everything and anything gets written in these books and the parents are given the top sheet to do the same for the time they are home.
The impact on students and parents are a positive one. Parents are able to know what their child did during the day and what behaviors occurred. The students in my class are all non-verbal so unless we let them know what happened, they will not be told. Communication is very important when working with children with severe disabilities. Parents are able to call at any time during the day and teachers call parents regularly.
2. Parenting- Family support programs to assist families with health, nutrition, and other services.
We often will referral families to area that they voice concern in. These can include setting up Respite services, other programs that the children can be involved in, and social work needs. We also referral low income families to churches during Christmas time. We attempt to help the families with anything that they need and get help.
It is a very positive aspect for the parents and students. It is hard for the parents of our students. If you have a child with disabilities in your classroom you know how difficult it can be and imagine being their parents that have them all the time. These parents need a break so we try to set up Respite services which give child/parents so many hours a month to use for someone else to watch their child. It is much needed for the parents and is also helps the students. Often the Respite worker will work on skills with the student.
Shandy - I think your willingness to go beyond helping just the students in the classroom will be very helpful in your teaching career and building positive relationships with parents. Your understanding of the needs of parents of children with disabilities is excellent and will only help the lines of communication you have with parents.
DeleteShandy - I like the fact that you take time to send communication home to parents every day. This could be time consuming but it is so valuable!
ReplyDeleteVolunteering- If i were to have my own classroom I would really push for students to volunteer. I think often kids don't understand the importance of taking your own time to help someone else out. I think it's often looked at as, I am not getting paid why would I go volunteer my time at the food bank or helping put up new equipment at the pool park. I have been a huge volunteer person since I was 15 years old. I volunteer my time at Operation Threshold in Grundy Center to work in there food bank. My favorite time of the year to volunteer at the food bank is Thanksgiving and Christmas time. When I volunteer at that time I am getting food boxes ready to send to families who may not be able to afford to purchase food for the Holidays. I don't think many kids take pride in much anymore and volunteering is something you can take a lot of pride in.
ReplyDeleteCommunicating- In my classroom someday I want communication to be very important. I want communication to be priority with staff, students, and parents. I think often a lot of things go left unsaid and that's when build up of tension and conflict start. I think it's so important to come to someone when you realize a problem is about to occur. If a student is having difficulties keeping up I would rather them come to me so I know what's going on, rather than me assuming there not trying. If a parent is having a problem with a way I am teaching or there students, I would hope they would come to me so we were able to come up with solutions. Communication I think is key to having a smooth school year.
That's awesome how you volunteer within your community! It sets a really good example for your future students.
DeleteLearning at home - I think this is very important because you can only do so much at school. Students spend way more time at home and often use that time doing things that aren't necessarily constructive like watching cartoons. I think its important to at least provide ways of helping students with opportunities to do work outside of class and hopefully families get involved with that.
ReplyDeleteCommunication - This goes in hand with learning at home. I think having that class website or class twitter page would be a great way of establishing communication and providing students and their families ways of getting active voices and expanding their involvement.
I also agree that learning needs to be continued at home but in alot of low income schools that is not the parent's first priority when there child comes home. In alot of cases the learning students will recieve after school is either through after school programs or summer programs. I wish this wasn't the case but in today's world it seems like it is.
DeleteI really like how you used technology to maybe get families involved. Not only are kids constantly on social media but parents are guilty of it to. I think class websites and twitter are great ideas.
ReplyDeleteLearning at home - we work very closely with parents to provide them resources to better track and understand their child's responsabilities as students. Daily we send home copies of the students behavior report for their parents to review. This allows them to get in contact with the school if they have any questions about their child's behavior. The parents also have a homework schedule so they know what subject their child has homework in each night. We also provide the parents online resources to help them with their child's homework. This impacts the students and parents by giving making the students more accountable for their behavior and academics because it takes away any excuses they might have. These measures also allow parents and teachers to stay on the same page, plus when conferences come around any news about their child's behavior or academic performance is not a shock.
ReplyDeleteVolunteering - part of our students' curriculum is regular volunteering. The students typically volunteer at meals on wheels every week. They also do additional volunteering when opportunities come up. Volunteering allows the students to go out in the community and interact with people outside their social circle. Volunteering also allows the students to learn work skills and gain accountability and work on their behavior outside the classroom.
Learning at home is very important and can not only make our jobs easier, but make other students better. I feel like we used to learn some at home, but nowadays parents are too busy to work with their kids at home, which is sad. I think it is great that you are providing resources and encouraging the parents to be involved at home! They need the help. ;)
DeleteEpstein’s Framework
ReplyDeleteType 2 - Conferences with every parent at least once a year, with follow-ups as needed.
At least twice a year we would have conferences with parents to let them know the progress of their child. Darning this time, we would look at each subject and discuss the positives and any concerns. This worked very well. The majority of the time I had 100% participation with parent involvement. If a parent did not make it or just did not sign up, we were responsible for making the contact.
Type 3 – School and classroom volunteer program to help teachers, administrators, students, and other parents.
At the beginning of each year the school would send home sheets for parents to volunteer in the school community. This may be in their child’s classroom, in the cafeteria, or for the spring carnival. The parents and student enjoyed being involved. This involvement allowed parents to support and have a firsthand look at what was happening in the school. I found in most cases that parent involvement lead to less discipline issues.
Two suggestions thatI have seen implemented into the classroom are:
ReplyDeleteType 2 Communicating. Communicating with parents is key to a student's learning. I know here at Starmont teachers and administration highly recommend parent's to come to their child's conference no matter what grade in school. They make it very comfortable and usually offer coffee, juice, water, and some form of snack while waiting. Also, studen't Art projects are set up through out the whole school so this also encourages parent's to come. Starmont last year had a 97% show up rate for conferences last year. Also, giving school information at open houses before school and during the first week really helps with parent's knowing what is going on from day one and getting the support from parents.
Type 5 Decision Making. The school that I work at does an awesome job in including parent's and student's in school decisions when dealing with the student's academic goals. On our school website are links to all of the teachers website that includes daily assignments, and also the school website has all of the information and forms that a student and parent needs. I think that including the parents and students in different decisions helps make transitions alot easier. It makes them feel that they are a part of the school and not being TOLD what to do.
I would definitely implement communication throughout the year. Communication is such an important item when working with parents and fellow colleagues. The more you can communicate to parents what is going on in the building, what is going on in the classroom, and how their student is doing. The more open you are with communication the more secure and happy parents feel. The more parents feel good with things the better communication they will have with you as a teacher. Communication with your colleagues is very important as well because you want them to be aware of what is going on as well. You want to be open and willing to listen and communicate concerns.
ReplyDeleteI feel learning at home is a key to learning. I work with kindergarten era and you can always tell when students do not have any teaching at home. I think parents need to take some responsibility in their child's learning throughout their school years. A child who has some support and help at home will gain more from education than anyone else.
Effective communication is so important from home to school and school to home. Alot of teachers use websites to share all information the do in the classroom and homework. Also in my district we use a program called Powerschool where teachers put everything in like attendance, grades, etc. The parents have a parent access to this to be able to see all the info that the teachers enter
ReplyDeleteLearning at home is also so important. I see many teachers using their websites to have different ways to help children at home with their homework. Also they provide different links to educational websites that parents can use. We also have family nights, where there is activities for the children while the parents learn about different things that their children are learning. They get ways to help them and different games to play with their children to help the learning at home.