Having frequent, positive communication with parents or guardians of students provides an essential extension to school-based activities. Providing parents with up-to-date information regarding student progress not only helps to inform parents knowledge of their child's progress, but also enables them to team with the teacher to provide the student with consistent message of support. If a student is performing poorly, either behaviorally or academically, families are in a unique position to help inform and implement the appropriate intervention.
Explanation of Artifacts
Artifact 1:
Progress Self-Assessment
Positive interactions with families is a cornerstone of all my academic and behavioral interventions. This is particularly important in an alternative school, where in past instances a majority of family interactions may have been negative. At worst, families may have felt blamed for the difficulties of their children. In other instances, families may lose trust in the school and withdraw from the process of informing successful interventions with his/ her child.
In any school, building and maintaining relationship with families ensures that they participate in and support school-based interventions. To build these relationships, it is incumbent upon teachers to establish positive rapport with parents. To this end, I strive to assure that a majority of phone calls to parents are positive and express a genuine appreciation for the skills, strengths, and abilities of the student. This frequent, positive contact disarms families and prevents them from fearing that contact from school may bear bad news. When I must address student conduct issues or need for academic remediation, parents recognize that it is coming from a place of support and represents a desire to see their student succeed, rather than being punitive or blaming them for their child's shortcomings.
My ability to speak Spanish has also put me in a unique position to connect the school to families. Almost 50% of students at Academy-North have Spanish- speaking parents Through translating at IEP meetings, family nights, and phone calls, I have been fortunate to serve as a bridge between the school and the Spanish- speaking community. Latino families will frequently contact me directly to discuss concerns, needs and questions regarding their students.
Explanation of Artifacts
Artifact 1:
All communications between the school and families are tracked within a Microsoft OneNote so that all members of the case management team may be kept abreast of circumstances with a student. In this particular case, I provide a majority of the contact with the family, as the mother is Spanish-speaking. After communication, I email the document to other team members within the school (Social Worker and Director) so that they make have the most current information. The attached document has been redacted to remove names and other identifying information.
Areas for Future Development
In the upcoming year, I would like to have weekly contact with the parent/ guardian of the students on my caseload and encourage parents to contact the school more frequently. I also look forward to participating in a series of Parent Nights, to solidify the relationships between family and school.
In the upcoming year, I would like to have weekly contact with the parent/ guardian of the students on my caseload and encourage parents to contact the school more frequently. I also look forward to participating in a series of Parent Nights, to solidify the relationships between family and school.
