Blog Post #9: Home/School Connection

Anonymous. (2023, April 20). 50 of the best teacher memes that will make you laugh while teachers cry. Bored Panda. Retrieved April 24, 2023, from https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-teachers-memes/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic 

Part 1:

Very often, when students reach middle and high school, the connection between teachers and parents falls through. Students are becoming mini-adults and the responsibility shifts into their hands almost entirely. However, while parents are relinquishing the job of checking over homework every night, they are still parents of their children, which means they desire success for them possibly more than the students do themselves.

Something I noticed throughout many of these articles was the approach to parents from an angle of positive reinforcement. When I was in high school, I had a teacher in both freshman and junior year that would take the time to call every single parent of all of her students and let them know the good things that their child did that day. It wasn't all the time, but those phone calls seriously made my mom's day. And when I found out about this, I was overjoyed! The fact that a teacher cared that much was so special. As Aguilar writes, "you'd be surprised, perhaps, how desperately an eighth-grade boy wants his mom... to get a positive call home" (2015). This feeling was truly like no other!

Aside from the feelings of the student, the parents also want to know how their child is doing -- especially when the child is a moody teenager who doesn't want to talk about anything. According to Cutler, "great teachers welcome parent support and curiosity" (2015). When you involve the parents in conversations regarding classwork and curriculum, you'd be surprised at how much they offer to help with whatever you need to make their child succeed. Similarly, "a little proactive positivity can go a long way in building trust and comfort between a parent and school" (Wolpert-Gawron, 2016). Creating a strong bond with your students' parents is vital to success in and out of the classroom.

When you don't have a good relationship with parents, it can be easy for them to perceive you as cold or trying to exclude them from certain decisions regarding their child. In 2021, two black students were named as valedictorian and salutatorian of their graduating class. Days later, two white students were also named as new co-valedictorian and co-salutatorian. They discovered an error in calculations, so I am not going to say who had the right intentions or not. What I will say is that the parents of the original valedictorian and salutatorian were unaware of the additions that would be announced at the graduation ceremony. Feeling "underhanded" and ignored, these parents were truly heartbroken by the circumstances (Saul, 2021). The school should have communicated the circumstances to all parents involved, not just the white ones. This ties into my board meeting details. The BOE meeting I attended discussed which students would be valedictorian and salutatorian for the two high schools in the district. These titles can be quite controversial in practice. Students and parents will undermine each other to get themselves ahead, no matter what it takes. This fierce competition can be quite unhealthy for some participants, which is why many schools have eradicated the valedictorian and salutatorian position entirely. I spoke with a Trustee on the board after the meeting about this issue. He believes that although it can get ugly in some schools, the students of Levittown School District have never gone too far. A little healthy competition never hurt anybody!

Part 2:

My plan for parent involvement is quite simple for my classroom. Positive phone calls always go a long way, will never be opposed, and can be applied to older students (Aguilar, 2015). I plan on teaching secondary education specializing in math. Math can be a very difficult subject for many students, and many parents may also have forgotten how to aid their children with any difficulties in the class. I will be sending emails containing tips and tricks for any parents that want to help their students at home if need be. Additionally, high school is the time that students start thinking about future careers and the relevance of the classes they are currently taking. I would welcome any parents that use math in their careers into our classroom to speak about their experiences in the workforce with math (LSNAChicago, 2012). While this was not seen explicitly in this video, this video discussed bringing parents physically into the classroom to encourage students. I'd like to add a twist to that concept for my older students.

References

Aguilar, E. (2015, August 7). The power of the Positive Phone Call Home. Edutopia. Retrieved April 24, 2023, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/power-positive-phone-call-home-elena-aguilar 

Anonymous. (2023, April 20). 50 of the best teacher memes that will make you laugh while teachers cry. Bored Panda. Retrieved April 24, 2023, from https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-teachers-memes/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic 

Cutler, D. (2015, August 20). 8 tips for reaching out to parents. Edutopia. Retrieved April 24, 2023, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/tips-reaching-out-to-parents-david-cutler 

LSNAChicago. (2012, September 25). NBC today show: Education nation - putting parents to work in the classroom. YouTube. Retrieved April 24, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubo6L0qQv6Q&list=PLvzOwE5lWqhRPzheyprYHcA8SZl9Qvnpz&index=2 

Saul, S. (2021, June 11). Two black students won school honors. then came the calls for a recount. The New York Times. Retrieved April 24, 2023, from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/11/us/west-point-high-school-valedictorian.html