Parents — Page 3

Parents & your vision…

November 11, 2013 by Amber Leave a Comment

One of the challenges, regardless of your population, is figuring out a way to get all of your families involved at school. We sometimes have the mentality that the parents that we NEED to see are the ones we have a hard time reaching, but as Matt Gomez recently posted, we may need to step back and see what else we can do to make connections. I’ve seen three different ways that campuses have successfully built relationships within all types of families.

Recognizing cultures- Campuses that are able to celebrate the diversity of their building show their students and families that they value their history and past. Dr. Brown, our keynote speaker this year had a through provoking point about schools and their wheelbarrows. If some one looks at your wheelbarrow (all the people that you interact/work/develop ) and they don’t see anything that looks like “them”, they are going to have a hard time connecting with you. What kind of programs do you offer at your school/classroom? Is there diversity present? We had a multicultural night that our music teacher headed up that was incredible! Different families sponsored tables and provided background information about their culture. Some even handed out different food samples that represented their heritage. There were egg rolls, jerky, ravioli, and even apple pie! This free night really showed our families that we cared about the history and perspective they brought to our campus.

Meeting them where they are- Many of our parents have more than one child, and some are working more than one job. One of the great things about technology is that it can allow for no traditional communication to take place. Tools like twitter and remind101 allow teachers to send information through text messages for parents. These timely reminders can help keep parents informed and involved, regardless of whether or not they’ve had time to go through the weekly stack of papers that have come home. I chose to have different students record videos with our weekly goals and upcoming plans. I was strategic in who I chose to film some weeks, knowing that even there wasn’t a computer at home, if certain voices were present, parents would find a way to watch.

Open door policy- Having a friendly, accommodating office staff is crucial. These faces are the flagship of your campus. The way parents, grand parents, and visitors are greeted will set the tone for their expectations while there. Smiles, helpful tones, and a “anything for you” attitude reassures them that we care about their most precious asset that they are leaving with us each day. As a mother, I would not feel comfortable leaving my girls at a place where I felt rebuffed, ignored, or chastised. I want to feel welcome and know that is how my girls would feel too. From start to finish, while they are in that front office, we should do our best to represent what our school stands for. It was a vey big deal for me for our front office to look like we worked in an elementary school…not a doctor’s office. Cold, clinical, sterile? No thank you! We added bright colors, encouraging messages, and most importantly, student work! The brag wall solicited many a compliment from our visitors. It also included frames that stated what each grade level would be learning about throughout the year. Parents walked out knowing that we were all about our students & learning.

November is parent engagement month. What are you doing to bring in your families?

Family friendly,
Amber

Lunch & Learn: a parent engagement opportunity!

November 10, 2013 by Amber Leave a Comment

Never under estimate a team of creative teachers who want to show off their creative students. Our kinder team hosted a lunch and learn for their parents last week. With November being a month of family engagement, this just tied right in! After 30 minutes in classrooms, parents also got to enjoy lunch wit their child. Despite having packed classrooms and 22 five year olds, I was so impressed with the calm & collected manner in which our teachers worked the room, making sure each and every child had someone to share with.

They sent home invites asking parents to come in for thirty minutes before their lunch time. As they walked in, their student greeted them with an iPad and they went and found somewhere to sit. Sharing a set of headphones, the student showed the parent how to get to the iBooks page. On that page, they were greeted by this, over a dozen student created iBooks showing off the culmination of their animal unit.

After a field trip to the petting zoo, our kinder kiddos came back and created these iBooks. They took pictures and videos of their chosen animals in small groups. They came back and were asked different facts and fun questions by their teacher. It was all then compiled into a presentation that they were so proud to share. The beaming smiles on ALL of the faces reminded me that yes, school can be FUN, and accomplish its curricular goals. Students worked together, had tasks to complete, and had to learn facts about their chosen animal. Sounds like a typical kindergarten activity…but what made this different? The opportunity for their voice to be heard by their family. The opportunity to make an artifact that showcased their pictures and their videos in a format that excited them. Moms, dads, and even grandparents, got to share the excitement of pigs, sheep, and cows through a 5 year olds eyes.

A principal colleague recently asked if school should be fun. This day full of smiles and a much more authentic version of “what I learned on my field trip” reassures me that yes, yes it should.

engagement proud,

Amber

ps: That lunch and learn concept? Imagine the possibilities. PD. Any grade level can do it with parents. A google hangout with other administrators. A principal’s roundtable on any number of topics. Everyone likes food and a 30 minute commitment isn’t too much to ask…

A cautionary tale…reposted

September 20, 2013 by Amber 1 Comment

A conversation with some fabulous kinder team reminded of this post and I thought it would be approriate to re-share…

A word to the wise…

Parents are biased. Parents are sending you the absolute BEST that they have to offer at home. The child in your class that may test your patience like no other is the 20×30 poster hanging over their mantle. They are LOVED. ADORED. WANTED.

Yesterday when I picked up my TsT, she was “shadowing” the teacher. Meaning her lil’hand was in the teachers pocket and she had to stay there all day. No free play, no lunching with friends, no centers…basically no fun. Why? Because she wasn’t being sweet and gentle with her friends.

(Read: a hitter! my kid was the hitter!! argh)

My first reaction was to want to cry. (Like the 2 year old was doing as she was telling me how ” sowee” she was.)

Disclaimer: I MISS my kids when they are away from me. I think about them. I want to see them. I can’t WAIT to hug them.

Do you know how hard it was to “discipline” my girl once we were home? I made her stay in her room, gave her no dessert, and NO ipad fun game time with mom.

Guess who felt more punished?? ME! I didn’t know if that was the right thing to do! Were these things even effective? Should I be more concerned? Is there a youtube video I could watch on how to fix this issue??

Teachers….you have to HELP your parents. Explain behaviors. Explain when there is cause for concern, or if it’s developmentally appropriate. They look to YOU as the expert. Balancing being a mom and wanting to support what is happening at school but also loving your kids is HARD. We’re asking them to unbiasedly look at their child and behaviors that they weren’t a witness too, and take action on them.

How would you feel if ONLY negative things came home? Or if the only contact you had with your child’s school was a negative one?

You have the power to fix that. YOU can make every encounter positive & supportive. Even when there is negative information to convey…

a mom’s perspective,

Amber

A digital footprint for the beast

August 23, 2013 by Amber 6 Comments

During a conversation with a new colleague recently, she expressed surprise at the fact that I have two daughters, not just one curly headed one. I heart social media, especially when it lets me share my sweet baby girl with my friends and family.

I am very cautious, however, about sharing my big girl. She almost a teen and I try to be very cognizant of her digital footprint. I don’t want her to be attached to the social stream of who I have defined her to be. I want her to be her own person, with her own likes, dislikes, pins, etc. I never use her real name on the internet. She is known by what I’ve called since she was 2 and toddled around carrying a sack of potatoes. She’s my “beast”. (Obviously, she’s gorgeous, else that would just be uncomfortable!)

I’m also aware of the fact that there are going to be times in the future when she is not holding my hand when she walks across the parking lot. I don’t need “strangers” being able to initiate conversations with her based on details I’ve provided. (The baby is always with an adult, less opportunity for that with her!)

She is very limited in what she is allowed to be involved with on the Internet. It is a constant discussion in our household in what I think she should have an account with or have zero access too. From what I have seen & learned though, is that my opinion does not match what other parents may be thinking or doing.

Scrolling through her “friends” accounts shows me how uninvolved some parents may be in their children’s social media world.

It’s not enough that I can teach MY child how to be appropriate…I also have to monitor what other people are posting & sharing. While I initially took advantage of the teachable moment when something came across, I ended up having her delete her account. There is a cognitive level of maturity that needs to occur both with her and her circle of friends before we’re going let her dive into that social media stream. Controversial? Probably, given my stance on all things SM, but unless my PLN wants to help me have some of the super awkward conversations that were caused by things that we came across…we’re going stick with harsher parameters for now.

Mom to 2,
Amber