Blog #9; Home and School Connections
This week, we got into the topic of home and school connections. This is a super important topic to be spoken about. A lot of families are not enough connected to their child's teacher and school in general, and it’s unfortunate. Having parents and guardians communicating with teachers and staff can benefit their child more than you would think. There are too many instances where parents are not aware of what is happening with their child in school due to a lack of communication.
From looking at the article on the website Edutopia, “Family Engagement: Resource Roundup,” there are so many helpful resources to improve on that home and school connection. The first resource I looked at was “The Beginners’ Guide to Connecting Home and School.” This was a great read in my opinion. Some of the different strategies or methods put out there by this resource would consist of having students ask their caregivers more in depth questions such as who their friends were when they were kids, what they are scared of, what they love to do, memories and so much more. This can help students have a deeper connection with their caregivers, and it will help them with their interviewing skills as well as taking notes as well. This is also something that students can share with their peers and connect on as well. Another great point this resource made was having to do with homework. Homework can be a really stressful thing for different students, but with parents being involved it can not only connect the caregiver to the school more, but it can connect the caregiver with the child more as well, which is super important. Having an interactive notebook, webpage or calendar can help to keep caregivers up to date on different activities and homeworks to be done. There are many other things that can help home and school relationships but I thought these two were some of the easier ones while still being very effective.
Having a connection with your students is another super important thing, which is something that I read more about when looking at the resource “3 Ways to Make Meaningful Connections With Your Students.” One of the things that this resource spoke about was “the first five minutes.” I thought this was a super interesting thing to read. Basically, a teacher takes the first five minutes of class to engage in a casual conversation with their students. Another super cool thing that one of the teachers did was set up some office hours for students to attend to study, talk or just hangout. Being available for your students is super important and can definitely have you be more connected with one another.
A final resource that I looked into was “8 Tips for Reaching Out to Parents.” Parents and teachers need to have an open communication to ensure their child is getting the best education that they can. Some of the things listed from this resource would be to avoid battles, keep emails timely and brief, post assignments online, involve parents in their children’s education, prepare for a successful “back to school night,” call home to report good news, look professional and participate in after school activities. Being able to connect with parents is super important because of course, they are always going to be concerned about what is going on in the classroom, and sometimes teachers and parents need to be able to communicate about different issues when it comes to the children. Not only that, but a parent may be worrisome about their child in school, especially if they do not know anything about the teacher or never hear from them. Parents want to be able to trust their child’s teacher and feel comfortable with them to ease their concerns when thinking about what is going on in their children’s school lives. I would definitely recommend this entire resource website to all of my friends who are planning to become educators, and I would even recommend it to a parent who is struggling to have a strong home and school connection for their child. I really felt that this website was informative and helpful for someone who is a future educator.
When picking from a video to watch on the Edutopia websites “5-Minute Film Festival: Parent-Teacher Partnerships,” I chose to watch the video called “Putting Parents to Work in the Classroom.” This video was super short, but absolutely heartwarming and honestly amazing in my opinion. This video was from the Logan Square Neighborhood Association in Chicago building a parent mentoring program. The school was mostly Spanish speaking children with Spanish speaking parents. A lot of the families in the school were low income as well. Basically, parents would come in and somewhat assist the teacher and have different parent mentors come and work with the children. At one point in the video there were two young boys saying their parent mentor was like a second mom to them, which was super sweet to hear. Having a parent come in and assist the teacher and work with the students was amazing and I am sure that it is not only helpful for the teacher, but the students as well. This is a great way for parents to be more involved in their child’s learning experience as well as have a better connection with the teachers. At the end of the video, there was a woman who stated that she was going to get an education because the parent mentoring made her realize that teaching was her passion, and I thought that was absolutely amazing to hear. Overall, more schools should participate in parent mentoring programs to help improve everyone’s experience in the classroom, whether it is the teacher, students or the caregivers.
Everything that we have learned from this particular module can relate to the three different mandated workshops as well as the Board of Education meetings we have attended. From my experience attending a Board of Education meeting, I learned that it is so important to have those to not only keep teachers and staff up to date and informed, but also the parents and community as a whole. This is a great way to make that home and school connection that is so important to have. My Board of Education meeting went through a lot of different aspects of the students education experience with Covid-19 being an issue. As an outsider from this school district, I did not know much about what the public schools were doing to handle Covid-19. After sitting through the meeting I felt a lot more informed and connected with the school, and honestly, more parents or caregivers should attend these meetings to stay informed. When comparing the module to the state mandated workshops, it makes me think of all three of them. All three workshops had one thing in common, and for me it was making sure that all students are getting the education they deserve, and to have any and all issues resolved so they can receive that education. All three workshops were so fascinating and honestly I am so glad that I attended them. Having a home and school connection is super important for teachers, children and parents. If a teacher notices a child having a hard time in school, they should be able to communicate with the parents to find a way to make things better for the child, and to keep the parents informed. If a teacher notices alarming behavior in a child, maybe there is something that is going on at home, and something needs to be done. The job of being a teacher is so much more than just teaching, but it is also about looking out for the students and ensuring that they are safe at school and at home.
From looking at the article on the website Edutopia, “Family Engagement: Resource Roundup,” there are so many helpful resources to improve on that home and school connection. The first resource I looked at was “The Beginners’ Guide to Connecting Home and School.” This was a great read in my opinion. Some of the different strategies or methods put out there by this resource would consist of having students ask their caregivers more in depth questions such as who their friends were when they were kids, what they are scared of, what they love to do, memories and so much more. This can help students have a deeper connection with their caregivers, and it will help them with their interviewing skills as well as taking notes as well. This is also something that students can share with their peers and connect on as well. Another great point this resource made was having to do with homework. Homework can be a really stressful thing for different students, but with parents being involved it can not only connect the caregiver to the school more, but it can connect the caregiver with the child more as well, which is super important. Having an interactive notebook, webpage or calendar can help to keep caregivers up to date on different activities and homeworks to be done. There are many other things that can help home and school relationships but I thought these two were some of the easier ones while still being very effective.
Having a connection with your students is another super important thing, which is something that I read more about when looking at the resource “3 Ways to Make Meaningful Connections With Your Students.” One of the things that this resource spoke about was “the first five minutes.” I thought this was a super interesting thing to read. Basically, a teacher takes the first five minutes of class to engage in a casual conversation with their students. Another super cool thing that one of the teachers did was set up some office hours for students to attend to study, talk or just hangout. Being available for your students is super important and can definitely have you be more connected with one another.
A final resource that I looked into was “8 Tips for Reaching Out to Parents.” Parents and teachers need to have an open communication to ensure their child is getting the best education that they can. Some of the things listed from this resource would be to avoid battles, keep emails timely and brief, post assignments online, involve parents in their children’s education, prepare for a successful “back to school night,” call home to report good news, look professional and participate in after school activities. Being able to connect with parents is super important because of course, they are always going to be concerned about what is going on in the classroom, and sometimes teachers and parents need to be able to communicate about different issues when it comes to the children. Not only that, but a parent may be worrisome about their child in school, especially if they do not know anything about the teacher or never hear from them. Parents want to be able to trust their child’s teacher and feel comfortable with them to ease their concerns when thinking about what is going on in their children’s school lives. I would definitely recommend this entire resource website to all of my friends who are planning to become educators, and I would even recommend it to a parent who is struggling to have a strong home and school connection for their child. I really felt that this website was informative and helpful for someone who is a future educator.
When picking from a video to watch on the Edutopia websites “5-Minute Film Festival: Parent-Teacher Partnerships,” I chose to watch the video called “Putting Parents to Work in the Classroom.” This video was super short, but absolutely heartwarming and honestly amazing in my opinion. This video was from the Logan Square Neighborhood Association in Chicago building a parent mentoring program. The school was mostly Spanish speaking children with Spanish speaking parents. A lot of the families in the school were low income as well. Basically, parents would come in and somewhat assist the teacher and have different parent mentors come and work with the children. At one point in the video there were two young boys saying their parent mentor was like a second mom to them, which was super sweet to hear. Having a parent come in and assist the teacher and work with the students was amazing and I am sure that it is not only helpful for the teacher, but the students as well. This is a great way for parents to be more involved in their child’s learning experience as well as have a better connection with the teachers. At the end of the video, there was a woman who stated that she was going to get an education because the parent mentoring made her realize that teaching was her passion, and I thought that was absolutely amazing to hear. Overall, more schools should participate in parent mentoring programs to help improve everyone’s experience in the classroom, whether it is the teacher, students or the caregivers.
Everything that we have learned from this particular module can relate to the three different mandated workshops as well as the Board of Education meetings we have attended. From my experience attending a Board of Education meeting, I learned that it is so important to have those to not only keep teachers and staff up to date and informed, but also the parents and community as a whole. This is a great way to make that home and school connection that is so important to have. My Board of Education meeting went through a lot of different aspects of the students education experience with Covid-19 being an issue. As an outsider from this school district, I did not know much about what the public schools were doing to handle Covid-19. After sitting through the meeting I felt a lot more informed and connected with the school, and honestly, more parents or caregivers should attend these meetings to stay informed. When comparing the module to the state mandated workshops, it makes me think of all three of them. All three workshops had one thing in common, and for me it was making sure that all students are getting the education they deserve, and to have any and all issues resolved so they can receive that education. All three workshops were so fascinating and honestly I am so glad that I attended them. Having a home and school connection is super important for teachers, children and parents. If a teacher notices a child having a hard time in school, they should be able to communicate with the parents to find a way to make things better for the child, and to keep the parents informed. If a teacher notices alarming behavior in a child, maybe there is something that is going on at home, and something needs to be done. The job of being a teacher is so much more than just teaching, but it is also about looking out for the students and ensuring that they are safe at school and at home.
Photo: https://pin.it/MoMTVDN
References:
Borovoy, A. (2014, September 15). 5-Minute film festival: PARENT-TEACHER PARTNERSHIPS. Retrieved April 18, 2021, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/film-festival-parent-teacher-partnerships
Cutler, D. (2015, August 20). 8 tips for reaching out to parents. Retrieved April 18, 2021, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/tips-reaching-out-to-parents-david-cutler
Dell'Angelo, T. (2014, December 10). The beginners' guide to Connecting home and school. Retrieved April 18, 2021, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/beginners-guide-connecting-home-school-tabitha-dellangelo
NBC, T. (Director). (2012, September 25). Education Nation - Putting Parents to Work in the Classroom [Video file]. Retrieved April 18, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubo6L0qQv6Q&list=PLvzOwE5lWqhRPzheyprYHcA8SZl9Qvnpz&index=2
Person. (2016, September 26). Family engagement: Resource roundup. Retrieved April 18, 2021, from https://www.edutopia.org/home-school-connections-resources
Provenzano, N. (2014, February 24). 3 ways to make meaningful connections with your students. Retrieved April 18, 2021, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/make-meaningful-connections-with-students-nick-provenzano
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