Veronica Crespin-Palmer, in her TED talk “How Families Will Transform Our Broken School System” suggest schools get parents involved in actual education and academic achievement. How can you take Ms. Crespin-Palmer’s ideas and incorporate them into your work with students’ families? Why is this a necessary and important part of a teacher’s job? Or, do you disagree?
Having been at my school for 20 years, i know a lot of the parents. I feel i have a good relationship with them and they feel they can contact me at any time and vice versus. One thing I would like to do would be to have them maybe come in and do little presentations on how THEY use math in their life. Too often, that is the reason kids dont care about math--my mom doesnt use it or they dont see it happening so there isnt a purpose.
ReplyDeleteHow can you take Ms. Crespin-Palmer’s ideas and incorporate them into your work with students’ families? Why is this a necessary and important part of a teacher’s job? Or, do you disagree?
ReplyDeleteSo I agree -- but I think this is a hard conversation right now. We need positive views of education. Many families do want good education. But I also have had families who have a poor view of what school did for them.
When I run into those students and parents I like to remind them of two stories -- my father's mother and my ex-husband's family. We have taken two families and changed their stars within a matter of one or three generations. Education is the difference. Safety and education -- the chance to just learn and grow is what children need.
My ex-husband's parents came to America from Guatemala in the 1980s. They'd grown up in a very poor area of Guatemala City -- an area so poor in fact that when I saw pictures of the structures they grew up in, the houses were nothing more than metal nailed together with some wood -- what we might refer to as shanty towns. Vilma would tell me of when she was 9 and had left school -- when her mother would give her the rice they had to cook for the day, and if she burned it while her mother worked, she would be hit.
They made it here, and they sacrificed for many years to make sure their four children attained educations. Vilma and Carlos have four children. The entire family are American citizens now. Their two sons are United States Marine veterans -- one retired after 20 years. One has a diesel mechanics degree from Lake Area. Marilyn has a Master's degree in Early Childhood Education. Astrid has a bachelor's degree in social work. All of these children have grown into adults who have given back to American society. They are educated, productive members of society-- in one generation of opportunity.
My daughters come form Germans, Norwegians, Guatemalans, Spanish, Portuguese, and German-Russians. They are a mix of many cultures. But most importantly, every part of their heritage has people who have strove to survive and push forward to provide a better life. My children get to have an education here and now because of those individuals who took chances and got educations.
I believe that families are they key to making schools great; however, families must be there to empower and help lead the schools -- not tear the schools down. That spirit of cooperation and building -- not negativity is where we need to work. I believe we will head in the right direction if we keep building together.
Parent involvement is critical in students’ learning as parents can serve as a supporter in their child's’ learning such as working with them at home on areas where they are struggling or showing them how school is important and beneficial. If parents are not involved or do not see it as important, their child is going to see it the same way.
ReplyDeleteI agree, if we can get parents on board and involved in their learning, it can make a positive change on student learning. To get parents involved it can be to let them know what their child is learning each month/quarter in a weekly newsletter format, updating parents on their child’s progress, and sending resources home for their child to work on based on the areas where they are struggling. As a teacher, we can try our best to get parents/families to buy into their child’s learning, but we can’t make them, we can only encourage them.
In my school district, we have a very diverse population. We have a good interpreter system where all of our notes from the school get translated so parents can read to be involved. Our school tries to keep in mind families who work to make sure we schedule things when parents can make it and if they can't working with them to schedule a time that works for them. All parents I've worked with want their children to succeed and show an interest in what their child is learning. They all want to learn and know what works well with their child at school and what can they do at home to be consistent. It's important to reach out to and meet families were they are to help improve their child's learning and the school system.
ReplyDeleteI believe family involvement in education has decreased significantly since COVID. During that time, many school systems created procedures that limited face-to-face contact with parents and caregivers. While those measures were necessary then, they also created more distance between families and schools.
ReplyDeleteI would like to incorporate Ms. Crespin-Palmer’s ideas by welcoming families back into the classroom more often. This could include inviting parents to volunteer, read books to students, help serve food, or even join their children during lunch. These opportunities help build stronger relationships between families, teachers, and students.
Family involvement is important because it creates a strong sense of community and shows children that school is a place worth investing their time and energy in. When students see their families engaged in their learning environment, it reinforces the value of education and helps them feel more supported.
Veronica Crespin-Palmer emphasizes that when families understand what is happening at school and feel welcomed as partners, students benefit academically and emotionally. I agree. As a School Counselor, I see this beginning with clear communication about the services we provide in academic, social-emotional, and career planning. Creating opportunities for families to be part of conversations about their student’s goals, through individual meetings, parent information nights, or career and college planning events helps students and families to ask questions, share perspectives, and understand how to support their student’s progress. It also shows students that the important adults in their lives are working together to help them succeed. Providing practical tools, such as resources on study habits, mental health, college planning, or career exploration, empowers families to guide students through challenges and decisions. Family involvement is essential because students’ success is influenced by the support systems around them. When schools and families collaborate, students receive consistent encouragement, which improves motivation, confidence, and academic outcomes. Building strong partnerships with families creates a supportive environment where students feel encouraged both at school and at home.
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree that having families involved in student academics is VERY important. When the teachers, family and students can work together as a team- it is usually the best outcome for that student. Having conversations also allows everyone to be on the same page/ implement that same plans, so that the student is most successful. Having encouragement at both home and school will just increase the likelihood of being successful in life. Although I agree with this, I work in an area where that is not always the case. Most family members are not interested in working with the school. It is very hard to get a hold of the families, and most of them want no part in it.
ReplyDeleteVeronica Crespin-Palmer, in her TED talk “How Families Will Transform Our Broken School System” suggest schools get parents involved in actual education and academic achievement. How can you take Ms. Crespin-Palmer’s ideas and incorporate them into your work with students’ families? Why is this a necessary and important part of a teacher’s job? Or, do you disagree?
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree that getting parents involved in their child's education is extremely important. This is actually one of our district goals is to focus on strong partnerships with parents. We strongly encourage frequent communication with parents, encourage parent participation in parent teacher conferences (strive for 100% attendance), and we also offer parent involvement activities for every grade 3 times throughout the year.
Parents need to know what is going on at school, they need to know what their child is learning. Parents can help their children be successful by showing interest in their learning. I think when students know that their education is valued not only be their teachers but also by their parents, they are shown the importance of learning. I send home 'Happy Mail' every month to 2 students in each class that I teach. These are notes that get sent home to parents to let parents know what their child is doing in PE and to let them know that they child has done an excellent job in my setting.
I agree that getting parents involved is necessary for their child's success in school. Our school has a back to school night two days before the first day of school. Families are invited to stop in, meet the teacher, drop off supplies, and ask any questions they may have. I use this opportunity to speak for a few minutes with each parent. I share my contact information with them, ask if they have any questions for me, and ensure I know how they are getting home on the first day of school. Then each week I send a weekly newsletter through Class Dojo that informs them of homework, and flyers that are coming home plus important dates. I reach out to parents on Class Dojo to share how their students are doing, and mail two positive postcards home a year per student. Most parents are receptive, but I do still have a few that I have never met, or spoken to via phone, email, or Class Dojo. As an educator it can be frustrating to feel that the teacher cares more about the child's education then their own parents. We have state testing coming up and we send blank notecards home for parents to write positive words, good, luck, or even draw a picture. I surprise the students each morning of the test with a note from their families. Every year I have about 5 parents who will not even write one short note. It is truly sad to witness this, and I do my best to fill in the gap so the students don't realize. We have their children for 9 months, they have them for 18 years. I do my best to build the best relationships with my students and their families while I have them.
ReplyDeleteVeronica Crespin-Palmer, in her TED talk “How Families Will Transform Our Broken School System” suggest schools get parents involved in actual education and academic achievement. How can you take Ms. Crespin-Palmer’s ideas and incorporate them into your work with students’ families? Why is this a necessary and important part of a teacher’s job? Or, do you disagree?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Veronica Crespin-Palmer's argument that schools need to involve parents in their children's learning and academic success. More often than not families care about their children's education and great things can happen when schools see this as an reality and take steps to involve them.
One way I can take Veronica Crespin-Palmer's ideas and incorporate them into my work with families is by providing families ways to help their student(s) at home. For example, I can could share online sites that focus on what we are doing in the classroom and/or extra practice type activities.
Another way I can apply Veronica Crespin-Palmer's ideas and incorporate them into my work with families is improving how I communicate with them. I think I could tailor my communications in ways that make my parents feel more like partners in the education process. For example, I could communicate more often to build relationships and include a suggestions box so they feel they are part of the educational decision process in our classroom.
This is an important part of a teacher's job because students benefit when parents are involved in the learning process verses only serving as classroom helpers, etc. Students do better when learning is supported at home. Teachers and families working together to educate kids is a great recipe for effective teaching.
It is important for parents to know what goes on at school. When I was teaching, I would send home a weekly newsletter that outlined each subject area and what would be taught that week. It included the memory verse and spelling words so that parents could help their students. I also invited parents into the classroom on occasion for different projects, special lunches, or field trips outside the school. Parents need to be involved in what their students are doing. It will help them to better connect and be able to support them. It shows that they care and are interested in what their students are doing. It is easy to bring parents along side in various ways.
ReplyDeleteHow can you take Ms. Crespin-Palmer’s ideas and incorporate them into your work with students’ families? Why is this a necessary and important part of a teacher’s job? Or, do you disagree?
ReplyDeleteI do agree that it is important to incorporate families into their students educations! I think that it is important to do it correctly as well. I wish in todays world parents would care more about their children's education, but it seems like they are falling more away from that every single year. It actually feels like parents are on two complete opposite ends of this spectrum. One parent doesn't care at all about their child's education or they are helicopter parents that think they know more than the actual education system. I do believe if we can as a school get parents involved correctly and in a positive way it would do wonders for schools! If parents truly knew what happened in school on a day to day basis they would be better equipped to help with students, whether its their grades or behaviors!