Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
During this season of good will, I think it appropriate to share some thoughts and suggestions on how to build positive relationships with your students' families. Parents and guardians are a source of support and reinforcement for everything we do at school. They are interested in knowing what is going on at school, how their child is doing, and what they can do to help.
Here are few tips that might help you:
*Use notes, phone calls, postcards, in-school conferences, meetings, or home visits to establish communication between your classroom and home. This is something you should do as the school year begins. Your first communications should always be positive. It is a great way to begin the school year on a positive note. If you have not been using such strategies, there is no time like the present to begin!
Note of caution: Texting, while very popular, is a murky area in the arena of educational communication and should be avoided unless clear parameters are established for the purpose of the communication with parents or students.
*Set up and maintain a teacher website (access provided by the district) This is the perfect place to share information with students and their families about your classroom, curriculum, and expectations. If you have not set up a website, you can contact Shawn Mahoney and he will be happy to assist you.
*Maintain regular positive contact. You can even make positive "surprise" contact. For example, an unanticipated positive phone call or note home about something special that happened or something positive you noticed about a child's work is always a welcomed event.
*Proofread all correspondences that go home or, better yet, have someone else check for spelling, punctuation, grammatical and even format errors. Make sure your communication with parents reflects your care and professionalism.
*Begin and end all meetings on time. It is important to be respectful of other's time.
*When talking with parents, educators need to remember we have specialize knowledge and a long list of programs such as NCLB, PBL, ISTEP that parents may be unfamiliar with so..... It is important to remember to eliminate as much of the "jargon" as we can when sharing information with parents.
Sometimes we must be the bearer of a difficult message. When this happens, perhaps these suggestions will be helpful:
*If a student is experiencing difficulty with work or behavior, get in touch with parents right away. We often put off or avoid contact because we are unsure how to handle the situation. Don't put yourself in the embarrassing position of having to explain why you didn't contact the parents until the problem became an issue that affected the student's grades, progress, or placement. If you need help or guidance to address a situation, your building principals or other teachers are ready to provide support.
*When communicating with parents about an incident, be careful to avoid suggesting that the situation is the "parent's problem" or indicating you "don't have time to...". It is our job to work with and address issues concerning our students. If you've been maintaining positive contact with parents all along, you'll most likely find parents to be supportive.
*If you are confronted with an angry parent, above all maintain your composure. Use de escalation techniques, talk soflty, and encourage the parent to talk about concerns and listen to them. It is very difficult, at times, to remain calm and avoid becoming defensive. In these situations you need to acknowledge the parent's anger and hear what they have to say. If you feel threatened, call for another teacher, administrator, or support staff. Move into a common area or make your way to the office. We always have the option to call such a meeting at an end and reschedule for another time when clearer heads may prevail.
Documentation:
In our day and age, documentation is so important. For the various contacts you make with parents/guardians, you should make note of the date, purpose/topic of the interaction, parent response and result. Sometimes you will want to follow-up and your notes on previous interactions will be very helpful.
To summarize, the best way you can build positive relationships with families is to keep lines of communication open. The clarity and frequency of our contact with families is so important and will make a difference in the quality of the Seymour educational experience.
The Win-Win Classroom by Jane Bluestein, Ph.D.
