Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Connecting with Parents


Partnering with parents is a vital role of any educator.  When parents feel they are valued in the educational process, I believe the students feel comfortable and do better in class.  So what can schools and teachers do to better foster this connection with parents?  There are 3 things every educator can do to foster a sense of community with parents:  be empathetic, communicate often, and ask for volunteers. 

Parents enter our schools with their own educational backgrounds.  Some parents may have had a great experience while in school, and others may not.  Either way, we must understand that they come in with preset understandings of a school and classroom.  Schools have changed.  The way we teach and involve our students in the process of learning has changed.  All parents do not know this, and having empathy of a parent’s point of view can help make a connection. 

Communication is key to forming connections with families.  With technology there are certainly many forms of electronic communication that can be sent out.  Creating a school or teacher website that keep parents up-to-date on learning objectives, calendar of events, and classroom routines help with keeping parents in the loop.  Shutterfly Share Site and SeeSaw are two of my personal favorites.  Both are secure (parents must have a log in to see content), allow for uploading pictures, uploading work samples, and sharing classroom content.  Shutterfly Share Sites allow you to create a classroom calendar where you can add events, times, and even automatically sends out a reminder to parents of upcoming events!  SeeSaw can also act as a digital student portfolio…which is amazing!  Keeping your parents up-to-date and feeling connected to the classroom/school is a major step in forming a classroom and school community.  However, nothing beats an old-fashioned phone call home!  I, personally, call all of my parents at the end of the first week of school.  All of my parents have been stunned by this, and typically ask, “what’s wrong”.  I ask them how the first week went, if their child is worried about anything, or if they have any questions for me.  It’s a great way to show that you care about their child and their opinions!

Asking for volunteers opens the door to all parents and community members.  There are so many ways that people can volunteer in schools!  Having this open door policy also allows for transparency, which helps parents truly feel like a partner in education.  Here are some things you could ask volunteers for:
·      PTA events
·      Making copies
·      Sharpening pencils
·      Hanging bulletin boards
·      Taking down bulletin boards
·      Hanging artwork from Art class
·      Helping with PE classes
·      Read to students in class or in the library
·      Help in the computer lab
·      Lunch room monitor
·      Plan field trips
·      Shelve books in the library
·      Career day volunteer/speaker
·      Make props for music programs
To make volunteering easy, send out a SignUp Genius and create a Remind 101 account for your volunteers.  This is an easy way to keep up with your volunteers and help remind them of the dates/times and happenings! 


Now, go forth and start connecting!

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