Communicating with your students’ parents gives you a huge advantage. You can tackle problems together and your positive feedback will give everyone a boost. Don’t rely on parent communication to solve your management issues, though. For some kids, getting parents involved makes all the difference. For other kids, it won’t have an impact at all. Most kids will be somewhere in between.
Making Contact with Parents
Come up with a list of things you want to convey to parents. Keep this handy, because you never know when or how you’ll reach them. Keep it short and easy to understand – they don’t spend all day thinking about school, so you can easily overwhelm them. Here are some ideas:
- best way to contact parents (check phone numbers, address, etc.)
- best way to contact teacher
- homework expectations (how will they know what’s been assigned?)
- behavior system (let them know exactly when/why you’ll contact them)
- academic progress monitoring (let them know exactly when/why you’ll contact them)
How Will I Find Them?
If you only have 5 parents show up to back-to-school night, don’t give up. If you really want to be successful, you’ll have to keep trying and trying…
- Back-to-School Night
- Phone
- Email
- Send a note home
- Home Visit (talk to your administrator before you start these)
- Before school drop-off or after school pick-up
- Ask siblings or other relatives
- Ask your school counselor or nurse to help
- Ask last year’s teacher
The Parent Folder
Give each student a “Parent Folder”. This should stay in the student’s backpack all the time. All information you send home will go in this folder along with all information coming from home. Put a small spiral notebook in the folder where you can write notes and students can record homework assignments (if age appropriate). Also include the student’s behavior calendar. Make sure you show parents this folder when you meet them (and remind them about it during conferences). Of course some students will lose the folder and others will destroy it, but don’t assume that they can’t be responsible enough to take care of it. They may surprise you.
Every parent wants their kid to go to a good school. But what makes a school good? It depends on what’s important to you. Here are some things to consider in your search…
Test Scores
Test scores tell you one thing: how the other kids in this school do on standardized tests. The problem with choosing a school based on test scores alone is that you’re actually choosing a school based on demographics. High income students score higher on these tests. Low income students score lower (see the research). If you see this direct relationship, you can’t infer anything about the teaching or learning going on at this school. However, if you see a school with a high percentage of low-income students (those who receive free or reduced lunch) and above average test scores, you can infer that there is something special about this school. Conversely, if you see a school with very few low-income students and below average test scores, you can infer that the school has some problems with teaching and learning.
Diversity
Percentages of students from various ethnic backgrounds is public information. If diversity is important to you, find out. If you notice that the school has a high percentages of Hispanic students, this could mean that there are many kids who speak Spanish as their first language. Find out what the district’s policy is regarding Spanish instruction. In some districts, there is no Spanish instruction (English immersion). In other districts, students gradually move from all-Spanish to all-English instruction over several years.
Programs
Maybe you’re looking for a really great art program or a huge computer lab or after school sports. Some schools have full or part day pre-school (also called ECE- Early Childhood Education) or academic tutoring. Ask about what’s available.
Teachers
In my opinion, high-quality teaching is far and away the most important factor. It doesn’t matter if a school has a shiny new playground and a friendly principal if your child’s teacher is struggling. So, good schools have good teachers, right? Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Schools with high percentages of low-income students usually have less experienced teachers. And experienced teachers are often better than new teachers, but not always. Consider this: high poverty schools (with lower test scores) face a great deal of pressure to improve. Teachers in these schools work very hard and they receive a ton of professional development. When I was working as a literacy coach, teachers and principals came from all over the district to observe our expert teachers — in the lowest performing school in the state. Conversely, high-income students tend to score well on standardized tests. Teachers in these schools have very little pressure to perform. That doesn’t mean that good schools have bad teachers (or that bad schools have good teachers); there is probably a little of each. So, why don’t good principals just get rid of the struggling teachers? This is actually a very complex question, but the short answer is: the teachers’ union makes that very difficult.
So, What Do I Do??
Instead of looking around for a “good school”, think about what that means to you. For me, I want a school close by with decent diversity and some after school programs. I’ll talk to some other parents and listen to what they say about particular teachers. If the principal allows it, I would request a specific teacher. At the end of the day, the best you can do is choose a place that feels comfortable to you. If your child ends up in a classroom with a struggling teacher, ask to switch… it’s worth it.
Developing a procedure for class meetings gives you and your students a forum for communicating. It’s a time for you to communicate with them and for them to communicate with you. Just like anything you do in your classroom, you have to teach the kids how to have a successful class meeting. And you have to practice.
Setting it Up
1. Begin by practicing the “class meeting formation”. If your students normally sit on the floor facing you, practice getting into a big circle. When it’s time for a class meeting, you don’t want to waste time with the seating arrangements. I found that the kids love to practice this… time them getting into a circle (it only counts if they can do it silently).
2. Create a chart with the ground-rules. Ask the kids to help you come up with the rules, but they should include: one person talks at a time (you could use an object that the talker holds), respect eachother, accept responsibility, but don’t blame others.
3. Practice, practice, practice. Start with something minor – have a class meeting about getting a class pet. Review the rules and talk about the process. “I like how Carlos respected Sydney by waiting for her to finish”.
When to Use It
Use the class meeting when you truly want to dialogue with your students. You don’t need to call a class meeting if you’re the only one doing the talking. Here are some examples of good instances for meetings…
- problem spots in the day (ex: we’re having trouble lining up from recess)
- upcoming events (ex: field trip)
- bad (or good) report from substitute
- bully issues (but don’t focus on a particular student)
Additional Classroom Management Resources:
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/classroom-management/interpersonal-skills/4864.html
http://www.nea.org/classmanagement/ifc020919.html
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev012.shtml
There are many times in the day that you can nudge your students in a particular direction as a group rather than calling out individual students. Some examples: waiting for the class to line up, transitions from one activity to another or anytime your class is moving as a group.
Choose a system
How creative are you? I’m not so much, so my system was points on the chalkboard. Each point represented a minute for game time on Friday afternoon. By the way, this was not “free time”. I had a list of activities to choose from (math games, computer games, etc.). That is pretty basic, but it worked. Anything that rewards the group toward some goal (weekly is good).
When to Reward
Use this system to emphasize what is really important to you. Of course you’ll give them points if they are all working quietly and you’ll take points away when they are slow lining up. But also think about rewarding them for being a good classroom community. Avoid using the incentive as bait i.e., “If you quiet down, I’ll give you a point”. Instead, reward behavior when you see it happening. If the class is doing exceptionally well during independent reading, quietly say, “Nice job” and put a point on the board. If you see one of your students pick up some trash in the hallway to throw away, say, “Thanks for doing that, Nikki” and put a point on the board. You’re reinforcing a positive community while you modify the group’s behavior.
Here are some examples of instances when you can use your group incentives:
- lining up
- walking in the hall
- independent work (everyone is on task)
- homework (everyone turns it in)
- one student helping another
- group work (productive, respectful discussions)
- positive report from substitute or specials teacher
Some other Resources:
Education World
Dave Wiggins
This is the first step in classroom management; and the one with which kids and teachers are most familiar. It’s progessive behavior monitoring – check marks, flags, colored cards. It doesn’t matter which one you choose, but it does matter how you use it. It works with all elementary-aged students. It’s possible to have great classroom management without individual accountability – it requires building excellent community and a very skilled leader. However, I would reccomend all new or struggling teachers to start with individual accountability.
Colored Flags
I’ll use the flag system as an example, but anything similiar will work. First, think about how you will display and manage the flags. Use a pocket chart and hang it low on the wall so the kids can reach it. Write each student’s name on a note card and put it in the pocket chart. Next, cut out little squares of green, yellow and red construction paper. Put a set of each color behind each student’s name. The flags should be visible so that you can glance at the chart and the current flag for every student.
Managing the Chart
Since students will be changing their own flags, the chart itself can become a mess. Create a classroom job for managing the chart. At the start of each day, a student will reset all the flags to green.
Recording the Results
You’ll be using your chart for all kinds of incentives, so you’ll need to have a long-term record. Each month, give the students a blank calendar. At the end of each day, ask them to color in that day’s results. Make sure all the kids have green, yellow and red crayons easily accessible everyday. Walk by the students who ended up on yellow or red to make sure it’s recorded correctly.
Clue in the Parents
Parents love to have a daily record of how their child is doing. Store the flag calendars in a “Parent Notebook” that goes home with the students everyday. This means you won’t have a copy of all the calendars. Instead, you can keep your own calendar (or a note in your lesson plan book) about and red or yellow flags. It should only be a couple (or none) each day.
Additional Classroom Management Resources:
Dr. Fred Jones
Reading books with pre-schoolers is easy – the parent reads and the kid listens. But, what should do you do when the child is learning to read? Should you let them struggle through each word? Should you jump in whenever they get stuck? Should you formulate comprehension questions? Here are a couple of tips.
Remember the Goal
The best thing you can do for your child is foster a love of reading. They don’t have to be a fluent reader in order to comprehend a book. When you sit down to read with your child, try to make it fun.
Challenge, but Don’t Frustrate
When a child is reading alone, it’s important that the text is appropriate for their reading skill. When you’re reading together, you can choose any book at any level – as long as it’s interesting to the child. You will support more or less depending on the difficulty. When they come to a word they don’t know, give them a clue (“look at the picture” or “It starts with C, just like your name”). If they don’t get it, move on. If the child gets frustrated, the fun is over.
Focus on Comprehension
Talk about what’s happening in the book. Talk about the pictures. Make connections to the child’s life. Make connections to other books. You’re conveying the message that reading is not just about sounding out words. Reading makes you think and makes you laugh. When you’re talking about a book, the most open-ended questions are the ones that make kids think the most (they are also the most difficult). For example, you might simply say, “What are you thinking?”. If that’s enough to get them talking, great. If you get a blank stare, you’ll have to get a bit more specific, “What did you think about Charlie?” and then, “Why did Charlie want to go to the toy store?”. You can progress like this until you get some conversation going, but always try to get back to those open-ended questions. Sometimes the child is thinking about something that may never have occured to you.
Additional Resources:
US Department of Education
KidsReads.com
Carol Hurst
Most parents know that reading to their kids is important, but don’t often write with them. Not surprisingly, many kids are great readers but struggle with writing. Writing with your kids is really fun; here are a couple of tips.
Make Books
Take a piece of construction paper, fold it in half and staple some copy paper inside. With young kids, you can “write” the story with illustrations first; this helps them follow along. See my post about making books with pre-schoolers. If the kid is doing the writing, don’t spend too much time getting it perfect. The emphasis is on the creative process, not the spelling or handwriting. Older kids will have fun making their own illustrations. These books become a part of your library and kids love to read them over and over again.
Choose Non-Fiction
Kids tend to get stuck on the autobiographical “About Me” books (What I Want to be When I Grow Up, My Family, etc.). Help them get past this by realizing that everyday things are book-worthy. When they get the hang of writing about things that really happened, there is never a shortage of material.
Write Small
Beware the “My Summer Vacation” story. The subject is way too big to be interesting. It will inevitably sound like a laundry list of events (First, we flew on the plane, then we went to the hotel. We went to the beach and built a sandcastle…). Instead, help them choose one, much smaller event – maybe just the airplane. The details will make the story colorful (I ate two tiny bags of peanuts and drank a cup of tomato juice…).
Write Often
Don’t wait for something special to happen. Write about walking to the park, baking a cake, getting a haircut, visiting a friend…
Additional Resources:
US Department of Education
Organizing the Books
Having an organized classroom library makes readers’ workshop much easier. You’ll need to have lots of books – of all levels and genres. You can organize most of the library according to level. There are tons of systems for leveling books. Most books have some level attached to them (usually on the back cover), but every publisher is different. If your school doesn’t already have a system, use a correlational chart to get them all on the same scale. I wouldn’t recommend trying to level and organize books yourself. You’ll need help (it’s a job too complex for most kids). If it’s not a school-wide initiative, gather a few teachers and do it together.
Putting books in tubs makes them easier to manage. Color coding the tubs makes it even easier (levels A-F are blue, etc.). Kids have to be able to easily identify books that are appropriate for them. You will guide them to appropriate books during a reading conference. They also have to be able to put the books away in the correct tub. In addition to the leveled books, you’ll want genre tubs.
The type of genre depends on the age of the students, but some choices are: fiction, non-fiction, mystery, biography, science, history, fairy tales, realistic fiction, historical fiction, transportation, fantasy. You can also make tubs from favorite series or favorite authors.
Make it Comfortable
Make your library a nice place to be. Rugs, pillows, lamps, art, flowers – whatever you have to make it cozy. Spend some time teaching kids how to put books away so that the library stays organized. Show the kids that the library is a special place and they will take care of it.
Prepare your students for conferences
Students have to know where they are academically. It should not be a secret that they are behind in writing or advanced in math. They should all have goals and take pride in their progress toward their goals. Conferences are a time to make parents a part of the process. Give students a “conference plan” beforehand and some incentive for making sure their parents come. A conference plan might look like this:
1. Reading: get the book you are reading and read a page to your parent. Explain your reading goals.
2. Writing: get the last piece of writing that you published from your writing folder. Explain your writing goals.
3. Math: Choose a math game and teach your parent how to play. Explain your math goals.
4. Science: Show your parent your science fair project and the peer comments you received.
Be prepared to show parents the data
A report card is not enough. You need test results and examples of grade-level work. After each student shares with their parent, you need to show them the relevant data. Parents might not know what third grade writing should look like. Show them. They might not know what a fifth grade book likes like. Show them.
An Example
Here is an example of a fifth-grade student named Gaby. She is doing well in math, but struggling in reading and writing.
Gaby brings her book to the table with her grandmother and me. She reads aloud and I can see that her grandmother is surprised at how she is struggling. Next, we look at the test results. I explain that Gaby is now reading at a third grade level (remember, this is no surprise to Gaby). We discuss Gaby’s progress so far and her reading goals. Gaby tells her grandma, “I am working on context clues to figure out words I don’t know”. I explain to grandma that she really needs extra practice at home. We talk about where Gaby can read at home and if they can go to the library together. Grandma commits to helping her at home.
After a similar conversation about writing (it’s important that I show her what fifth grade writing looks like), we move on to math. Gaby chooses to play a multiplication game with grandma and explains the rules. Gaby wins the game and is beaming. I show grandma the math data and congratulate them on her achievements.
After we’ve been through the whole conference plan, we review what they’ll work on at home. I give them a book and a take-home math game.
Additional Resources:
Public Engagement
Education World
Making books is a great way to introduce, practice or solidify the literacy concept. Making books is appropriate for students of all ages, but I’ll focus here on non-readers. This is perfect for one-on-one work or for parents to do at home.
The concept can be described in three steps:
1 – What I think, I can say.
2 – What I say can be written.
3- What is written can be read.
I’ll use an example of a book I made with my two-year old to describe the process. The first step is to recognize when something book-worthy is happening. Carson and I were cutting open a pumpkin in order to fill it with applesauce and bake it when I realized this would make a good book. So, I talked a lot about what we were doing. “I’m cutting the pumpkin with a knife”, “Let’s scrape the seeds out with spoon” and “Good job – you scraped the seeds out with a spoon”. It’s also nice if you can take a picture. Remembering details is sometimes tricky with a toddler, so the photo helps jog the memory.
Later that day, I helped Carson tell his dad about the pumpkin. I showed him the picture and he was able to remember some of the details. I thought it was a good time to make a book. The trick here is to work quickly. We grabbed a piece of construction paper and 3 sheets of copy paper, folded them in half and stapled them.
The title of the book always has his name in it. In this case, “Carson and Mommy Cooked a Pumpkin”. We’re working on that first step in the concept of literacy, (What I think, I can say). I try to get a coherent sentence from Carson. “What did we do with the pumpkin? How did we open it?” As we are working through the sentence, I am drawing a picture. When I say picture, I mean stick-figures and barely recognizable objects. As soon as we get something that makes sense, we move on to the second step (What I say can be written). “OK, I’m writing your sentence: Mommy cut the pumpkin with a knife”. You’ll have to work as fast as the attention span of the kiddo. For me, that’s about 10 seconds per page and 4 total pages. When the book is done, you read it together (step 3 – what is written can be read).
We read the “Carson books” all the time. I encourage him to “read” it and he loves it.
A couple of tips about making books:
– non-fiction and narrative (real life stories are the best practice)
– choose small topics (“my summer vacation” is way to big to be interesting)
– work quickly (keep their attention)
– re-read often (point to the words while you read)
If you are not artistically inclined and worried about your illustrations (I have a hard time differentiating my stick figures), try this:
www.moo.com
You can upload pictures and have them printed on stickers. That way, you can give your stick figures a real face. 