Thursday, September 13, 2012

Ways to Involve Parents in Your Classroom

"Strong parent involvement is one factor that research has shown time and time again to have positive effects on academic achievement and school attitudes" (Ovando & Collier, 1998)

If you are looking for a way to increase achievement among your English Language Learners, and students in general, then make room for them to volunteer in your classroom. Realize that some of the parents of your ESL students may work multiple jobs in order to provide for their children and may be intimidated by the school environment. These are possible reasons why parents may not volunteer, so don't assume it's because they are disengaged or indifferent to the child's education. When parents are able to volunteer, here are some ways they can contribute:

  • Setting up learning centers
  • Working with projectors, recorders, listening posts
  • Sharing about their culture
  • Accompanying small groups to the library
  • Recording primary-language stories
  • Supervising individual testing

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