Parents and Teachers Working Together

     Dealing With the Tough Stuff Together

            Posted by Joey Pascua 


April 08,2006

"Sherly not her real name was a second year high school, her father is a nurse working oversea's and her mother was a police woman station in her town. She was an honor students in her past grades but today she was afraid that her parents will notice her failing grades."

Certainly, there are a number of things a students can't tell to there parent's. These little secrets may uncover by there teachers and help these students start out the year right, these is why responsibility for upbringing of your child needs a maintaining good parent-teacher communication doesn’t lie solely on the parent.

School success is to make sure that parents and teachers are working together as allies. Sometimes, though, it can seem as though there’s a chalk line drawn down the middle of your child’s life.

On the home side, there are all the things you know about your child, the help you give her for homework and her social development with siblings and peers. On the school side of the line, there are all the things your child’s teacher knows about her, the help she’s getting with her school work and her social development with peers. The information on both sides can be combined to create a fuller understanding of your child. This is not only of benefit to the students but also to parents and her teachers.

Benefits Of Parents and Teachers Partnership

1. One of the keys to parents and teachers working together is to have good communication. What may not be clear is that communication works both ways.

2. Working with the teacher is one of the best ways to support your child’s learning. You share a common goal: Providing the best educational experience for your child.

3. You know your child best. But partnering with the teacher can give you an even better understanding of your child. It gives you the chance to share concerns about what’s happening at home that the teacher may or may not be seeing in the classroom.

4. Building a partnership with teacher benefits your child. Knowing that school and home are working together can be a confidence booster for kids and place no room for critesism and bullying.

For example, the teacher might tell you that your child gets frustrated about assignments and says things like “Why do we have to learn this?” You may be seeing the same frustrated reaction at home when it comes to homework.

By keeping each other informed, you can come up with consistent ways to respond to frustration and growing up problems your children had encounter. Partnering makes it easier to create a common message and to help your child understand the point of an assignment and answers those problems they had encounter.

Understanding what your child has trouble with (and your child’s strengths) helps the teacher develop a more personalized approach to learning. It helps the teacher predict what might be difficult for your child and figure out what kind of support would help. It’s always helpful for teachers to get more insights into their students. Their time with them is limited—it can take a new teacher awhile to get to know your child. The information you share helps move this process along.

Keep in mind, the more parents - teachers know about their students, the better they can engage them in learning. For instance, if your child struggles with writing and the teacher knows your child is interested in dogs, the teacher might infuse that interest into a writing assignment. Having shared expectations with the teacher and a common language around challenges helps kids feel like everybody is on the same page. And that can make life a lot less confusing for them.

The research literature on enhancing parental roles in this regard generally focuses on how parents can help their children through home learning activities and the ways in which such activities can be optimized.

Involving parents in home learning activities vastly improves students' productivity.Programs and activities that may be called "home learning" take many forms, but most commonly include homework, leisure reading, family discussions, educational games, and enrichment activities .

Here are DON'T and DO'S of Parent-Teacher Communication

• Don't: Feel as though you're being a nuisance. Whether you have concerns, questions or just simply want to say "Great job," it's perfectly all right to get in touch with your child's teacher. That's what good parent-teacher communication is all about.

• Do: Advocate for your child. His teacher may spend six hours a day with him and know him within the school setting, but you're with him the rest of the time and know him in a very different light. If there is something he needs or if something isn't going well, make yourself heard.
• Don't: Wait until there's a problem to get in touch with your child's teacher.
• Do:  Make an effort to introduce yourself in person, in writing or over the phone, as a way to begin a good parent-teacher relationship.
• Don't: Call your child's teacher during the school day and expect to be put right through to her.
• Do: Let your child's teacher know what is a good way to get in touch with you and at what times. Teachers are busy teaching during the school day and often use breaks to use the bathroom, grab a quick lunch and/or prepare lesson plans. Thus, you may have to wait until after school hours to speak on the phone. However, if you let the teacher know that you can be reached via note or email or that early in the morning is a fine time to call, you have a better chance of speaking soon.

• Don't: Say to the person who answers the phone "Tell her Jane Smith called" and expect the teacher to know who you are and that you would like a return call.
• Do: Leave a message identifying whose parent you are and leave as much detail as you feel comfortable sharing about why you are calling. If you would like a callback, make sure to mention that in your message.
• Don't: Call your child's teacher at home unless she has specifically indicated it is OK.
• Do: Ask the teacher whether it's all right to reach her at home in the evening to discuss a problem your child is having. While many teachers prefer not to be disturbed at home, some don't mind and will provide their home phone number to a parent whom they know will not abuse it. If you have her home number, make sure to be respectful of the teacher's time, calling at a reasonable hour and only for urgent situations (usually problems that need addressing before the next school day).
• Don't: Hesitate to request a meeting.
• Do: Let your child's teacher know if you need a few face-to-face minutes with her. Just be sure to let her know why, whether you'd like other staff to be there and about how long you expect the meeting to take. That way she can set aside enough time for you.

• Don't: Assume that phone calls and notes are the only way to speak with a teacher.
• Do:  Find out whether or not your school or school district has an intranet, which provides each teacher with a school-related email address. Email is a very quick and easy way to get in touch with a teacher and can provide a great parent-teacher communication platform in which issues or questions can be addressed without playing phone tag or setting up a meeting.
• Don't: Send an unsealed note to your child's teacher and expect your son or daughter not to read it.
• Do:  Seal notes in an envelope or fold and staple them shut, so it's obvious if little eyes have been prying. Make sure to clearly print the teacher's name on the outside if it is for her eyes only. That way, if there is a substitute for the day the note will be set aside unread. ​Notes that deal with changes in transportation for the day or lunch money should be labeled as such on the outside. For example, "John's Lunch Money" or "Bus Change Information."

Conclusion:
Parent-teacher communication plays a big role in helping your child to have a successful academic career. Since parents and teachers know different aspects of a child's personality, they must work together to solve problems or celebrate gains. Unfortunately, because teachers spend their time in the classroom with students, it may not always be easy to get in touch with your child's teacher. Knowing some of the dos and don'ts of parent-teacher communication can help you make that connection. Building partnerships between parents and teachers can rely on teachers listening to parents and parents taking the time to understand where teachers are coming from. Sometimes parents and teachers both are guilty of dismissing the other’s viewpoint.

As a parent, the more dismissed you feel, the less likely you are to participate in your child’s education. As a teacher, the less you feel like you’re being heard, the more likely you are to stop communicating with a parent. Both have impact to their duties as foundation of learning.

Things that may seem confrontational, like an outline of what kind of homework help a teacher wants from a parent or a parent outlining what the school needs to do to accommodate a child’s peanut allergy, aren’t always as demanding as they appear. The end goal is the same for both parent and school: helping kids be responsible, safe and successful.

References:
https://www.verywellfamily.com/dos-and-donts-of-parent-teacher-communication-620919