Connecting With Families: Beyond the Classroom

Hello fellow educator friends! Is it an understatement to simply say "wow!" from today's learning sessions at the TYHO Conference? Less is technically more right, so let's keep it at "wow!" 

Since my article in the (KDP) The New Teacher Handbook: Curated Advice from Award-Winning Teachers focuses on Parent-Teacher Conferences (and the second article is teaching during the pandemic,) I'm like a sponge soaking up every drop of information, suggestions, experiential testimonies, and advice from other educators and, yes, parents! The Parent Engagement Panel today was one of the best sessions I saw the past two days. From practical advice and considerations, to parental perspectives, it had it all! 

With the upcoming school year being represented by a large question mark, there are many parts that teachers have to re-think outside the box on, including school-home connections. One thing that will not change is the notion that establishing connections with families is a vital key to student success. What has changed is the frequency and modalities used to communicate, and more. 
In the spring it was difficult to select what platforms to use because there are (truthfully) so many excellent choices. The biggest thing to remember is less is more in this case. Use one that is easy to navigate for you and families. As time goes on and everyone's skills sharpen, including other platforms can be possible. My personal favorite is Class Dojo, however I'm hearing about others that I just might have fall down the rabbit hold to explore...

One of the major things I learned from the spring experience with remote learning was what to anticipate from families this fall. I know there will be many questions, and time needs to be dedicated to answering. A two-part solution to this is a combination of things I tried and advice from the panel today: 
1- Set "office hours" with emails, communication apps etc. Just as we would in school it's important to set limits for our own self-care, so we can effectively answer families with the best knowledge, resources, and clear thinking as we can. A good trick is "away" messages. These are responsive to the psychological need for immediate feedback, yet allows for time to rejuvenate. 
2- Spend time creating "how-to" videos with instructions, FAQ, and tips/tricks for them to preview. These will help answer the flood of initial questions at one time, instead of individually. (Although we know as teachers to anticipate follow-up meetings.) 

As I'm writing this blog tonight, another idea came to me, one of many today might I add. This might be a great place to do a mini-series on this topic with suggestions, reflections, examples from my class, and of course, ideas shared by other great educators and parents I've spoken with, listened to! This is how creativity is sparked and great ideas spur. I now have a whole new topic to add to my blog! 

Final thoughts: Sometimes, just writing about one concept is the key to opening the door to a world of possibilities. What makes the difference is the choice to walk through them. I hope you enjoyed this first short blog on family connections... stay tuned, stay motivated, and (theme for this week) Teach Your Heart Out always! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teacher Leadership Mini-Series: F.E.E.D the Teacher Leader in You! Part #2: Engagement

Greetings everyone and welcome to my blog this week! I'm so glad you're here for our mini-series leading up to a great event at the end of the month: the KDP, Delta Rho Teacher Leadership Development Summit on 2/24/24. It is a free virtual summit open to all educators everywhere! Please visit my social media for information, or reach out to me! Our theme this year is “Leaders are hungry... F.E.E.D the teacher leader in you!” Each week we will break down F.E.E.D and get excited to hear our amazing presenters and keynote speakers that will give us the fuel we need to confidently lead in our classrooms, schools, and beyond! Last week we talked about “F”- foundations. Discovering our own definition for teacher leadership is the foundation for growing as a teacher leader, and embracing the role. Foundational skills also include knowing yourself as a leader, and believing you are one. Self-reflection, networking and professional learning are great ways to establish your foundation t...
Read more

T.E.A.C.H er Appreciation Month, Part #1

Welcome to Teacher Appreciation Month educator friends! For most places there is a week designated to teacher appreciation, but I vote we celebrate all month! With that in mind, let's celebrate with the acronym T.E.A.C.H. Each week I'll focus on a different letter and what makes educators unique and essential to our world. Today let's start with "T" for Time . Time is one of the most valuable things that we have. We all know that it cannot be bought, exchanged, or given back once it is gone. Teachers know this better than anyone because of the amount of time they spend on work for the profession. From lesson plans, reports, reading, spreadsheets, videos.... and the list goes on, teachers can easily spend hours in their classroom or at home working on things that need to be completed. This is all to better serve their students, schools, and the community.  It's often difficult for teachers to choose between personal time for themselves and doing something that ...
Read more

Veteran Teachers' Corner: Post #3- The Journey of Curriculum Writing- Out with the Old, In with the New (and Old).

 One of the overarching ideas for rewriting the ELA curriculum was the concept of keeping what already worked and add in new details to create and enhance the new version. I paused and thought "would writing from scratch actually be easier in this case?" I determined given the timeframe (see blog post #2) that answer was definitely a no. Others who were creating curriculums from a blank template had a more difficult road to travel by for sure. But for me, as an educator and writer, weaving new and old concepts was a challenge in of itself.  I decided the best way was to start by reading each section what was there, look at new notes I made throughout the year during lessons and reflection, and add those in. There were of course essential pieces we had to include such as new standards, cross-curricular activities, and career readiness. While those were a "copy-paste" movement, it took some time to locate them. Once found, I added all of them into the first unit of t...
Read more