Keeping the Parents Involved

The process of education starts at home with your parents from the time a child is born. That is the reason why as a teacher it is just as important to communicate with the parents--- as it is with the students. With the implementation of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) it is a requirement for teachers to keep the parents informed and involved in regards to their children education. It is extremely important that as teachers we must have an ongoing open relationship with the parents to ensure proper development and guidance for our students. My seventh grade teacher once told our class that “if I could get every parent as involved as much as my parents were involved in my educational endeavors that the whole world better off”. At the time I was listening but never really cared about what that meant.

There are several types of parent teacher conference settings, but the type of setting that is most intriguing to me is the home visit. This was the type of visit that was highly encouraged while I was recruiting for the Army. A great advantage of the home visit is that it puts you right in the middle of the family’s home where they feel most comfortable. As we all know when someone is comfortable they tend to be more honest and upfront with you and less likely to lie or be defensive. This type of visit is good because it gives you the opportunity to see in what manner the student is living. Most importantly it shows the parent, student, principal, and administrators that you as a teacher are willing to go above and beyond the call of duty.

When I become a teacher I will also communicate with my students parents by way of newsletter. On Friday I will send a newsletter home informing the parent what is to come for the following week. This practice should increase parent and student communication at home. This technique will allow the parent to help prepare the child for the upcoming week’s lesson over the weekend. Being a recipient of this newsletter will show parents that it is important to me that they are totally involved in their child’s education. The information in this newsletter will give the parent the opportunity to discuss the lesson with their child prior to the lesson being taught. I believe this type of involvement will encourage the parent(s) to become more involved into my curriculum.

Since technology has become so important with the passing of information it will be extremely important for me to develop a website that my student’s parent can access at anytime to see what is going on in my classroom. This site will show all current and past assignments and projects, test dates, current events. It will also have a calendar with all pertinent information that parents need to know such as when teacher workdays are scheduled, holidays, and when report card will be due out. During orientation I will ensure that I get the email address and phone number of every parent as another way of communicating. When dealing with email as a teacher it will be extremely important to check my email twice a day and reply back in an appropriate timely manner.

Last but not least, the most important gesture in communicating with a parent in regards to their child is to follow up. Following up with a parent after there has been some type of communication shows the parent that you genuinely care about the well being of their child. Once you have shown the parent that you sincerely care nine out of ten times they will put more effort in promoting academic success for their child. Now I truly understand the statement that was once uttered by my seventh grade teacher.