Parents as Resources

As you have seen from previous posts, connecting with parents and having them as a resource is invaluable. Educating a child truly is a partnership, and parents need to feel a valued part of that.

Here are some more tips on ways to do just that:

• Establish an explicit open-door policy so parents will know they are welcome
• Send written information home about classroom assignments and goals, and encourage parents to reply
• Call parents periodically when things are going well and let them know when they can call you
• Suggest specific ways parents can help in assignments
• Get to know the community by visiting the community
• Let parents know when you are available to visit homes or talk at some other location
• Arrange several parent conferences a year and let parents talk about their child's achievement
• Solicit parents' views on education through a simple questionnaire, telephone interviews, or student or parent interviews

Source: Weed, K. Z. & Diaz-Rico, L. T. (2010) The crosscultural, language, and academic development handbook. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Cultivating Parent Partnerships, Part 2

Yesterday I did a post on cultivating parent partnerships and why this should be our goal as educators. Parents/caregivers of your ESL students may be even more hesitant to come to the school or initiate contact with you, so I wanted to give you some information on home visits to give you even more tools to cultivate those partnerships. Here are some tips to having a quality home visit:

• Allow the family to do the majority of the talking and question asking
• View the home visit as a way to step into your student's world
• Listen attentively
• Let your agenda be nothing else but to learn from the family; don't try to hold a parent/teacher conference
• Gather information that can be used in the curriculum or to make future connections with the student

According to Powell and Rightmyer (2011), "Research shows that there are many positive benefits to conducting home visits. Families tend to change their attitudes towards the educational process, their ability to work successfully with their child improves, and they begin to utilize outside resources more often. Children demonstrate positive behavior changes and their self-esteem improves. Most importantly, the gap between home and school is bridged. Families begin to feel empowered and a real sense of partnership develops. Friendships are formed and mutual trust and respect can be found"(p. 75).

What better incentive could we need to try a home visit soon?!

Source: Powell, R. & Rightmyer, E.C. (2011). Literacy for all students. New York: Routledge.

Cultivating Parent Partnerships, Part 1

"We must appreciate that a child's parent is their primary educator, and as such, they play a critical role in the child's academic success" (Powell & Rightmyer, 2011).

Parent/teacher partnerships increase student achievement, increase student educational aspirations, increase length of time spent attending school overall, and increases ratings/opinions of schools in general (Powell & Rightmyer, 2011).

This is just one example of all the research that shows the benefits of teacher/parent partnerships. So how do we as teachers develop those partnerships? Here are some ideas and things to consider:

Make your school/classroom a welcoming environment
Your classroom should be clean and inviting
Display student work
Look around your classroom--Pictures and literature should convey an appreciation of diversity
Encourage parents to participate/volunteer in a way that they feel comfortable

Communication
All communication should be open, polite, and respectful
Use vocabulary that families can understand (avoid educator lingo)
Use titles (Mr. Mrs. etc)
Be clear and concise
Have written material translated, if possible and/or necessary
Give full attention when the parent is talking

Best Practices Booklet

At www.tolerance.org, they have put together a great booklet of information on best practices in the following areas:

• Communication
• School Climate
• Student Registration 

Each section shares best practice information regarding your English as a Second Language population of students and parents, as well as practical tips. It is very short but very useful! You can find the booklet here.

Thanks to Dr. Broady's blog for making me aware of this great resource so I can pass it on!

Connecting with Parents

Here is a short video where a teacher shares some ideas she has used to successfully connect with parents. Enjoy!

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