The relationship between teachers and the parents of their students has always been important. Now that Coronavirus has closed schools and teachers are teaching virtually, the relationship with parents has become even more important. How can teachers help parents as they are trying to help students learn at home?
Most parents want to help their children keep learning. Many feel under-prepared and overwhelmed. They are also juggling jobs and struggling emotionally as they try to find a new normal in an unprecedented time.
Teachers are also struggling to turn their classrooms into virtual learning experiences. Educating an entire nation of students at home is a huge task. Now more than ever before, this challenge requires teachers and parents to work together.
Teachers understand their students and the educational needs they have. They understand the curriculum and standards students must meet. They know the on-line programs their district uses. Perhaps most importantly, they know how to manage their classrooms while meeting not only the educational needs of students but also their social, emotional and physical needs.
These are all things that teachers can share with parents.
Here are some ideas of ways to share your expertise with parents so that they are better prepared to help their children:
Offer reassurance.
Remind parents that they don’t need to come up with curriculum, and that you will guide them. It might also be useful for them to know that much of the time, their job is to supervise and guide students, not to “teach” them. Let them know that this process will not be perfect, that there is room for flexibility and adaptations. Also let them know of time expectations. We’ve seen Facebook posts from of parents who believe they need to be teaching for 6-8 hours a day, which is not a realistic expectation.
Send links to the best resources.
Parents want to send their children on-line to use educational sites. As the expert, you know the sites that will help students in your grade and your subject matter. For example, if your students are supposed to be learning double digit subtraction, send parents links to sites where students can practice math skills at their level. Send links to documentaries that explore your subject matter. You can help parents narrow down the overwhelming number of on-line education sites to the ones that are age and developmentally appropriate, as well as those that connect to your content.
Give parents some basic learning management suggestions.
We’ve all seen the funny memes where parents are exasperated after spending just thirty minutes teaching their three children. They are promising future undying support to teachers, recommending that they need to be paid a million dollars and promising to buy 100 glue sticks off of next year’s school supply list. Whatever you need, they promise, it’s yours! How do you do this with 29 children when we can’t even manage three?
While parents may be frustrated by managing their children, teachers know lots of ways to keep their students engaged. What comes naturally to you may not come so naturally to parents who haven’t had to spend a lot of time educating their children.
For example, you know the length of time you can expect your students to stay on task. You know how many minutes they should be reading each day, or approximately how long they should be spending on assignments. You also know that students need movement breaks or that starting off a class after a recess break might require a quiet, focusing activity like reading to them. Think of the techniques you use to engage and motivate students and share them with parents.
Give students and parents choices.
One of the struggles of suddenly moving instruction on-line is that not all families have access to all the same materials. Families may share electronic devices, or lack access to a printer. One way to combat this is to give parents choices. For example, give them the learning standard, and then offer them several different ways students can learn that standard.
Here is an example from fifth grade Common Core Standard: ELA- Literacy W.5.8: Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.
Here are the choices:
Students could recollect favorite family memories. They could interview three family members, and write down their version of the events. They then summarize the information and provide their sources.
Students chose a current event topic. They could use various sources including books, documentaries and on-line, print, or television news sources. They then summarize the information and provide their sources.
Students could choose a favorite topic. They could find three different on-line sources. They then summarize the information and provide their sources.
Giving students choices is a major factor in motivation, and parents will enjoy having some choices too.
Find ways to stay emotional connected to students.
Your students’ emotional comfort and safety are important to you. Teachers often provide social and emotional support for students. Now, isolated from their peers, and with their daily rhythms upended, students may feel the loss.
We love the many ways we’ve seen teachers reach out to families. They’ve conducted drive -by parades. They have sent daily video messages. They have conducted Zoom calls or Facebook Live sessions. Teachers are calling the students and parents weekly.
We urge you to continue to support your students and their families in whatever way works best for you. You are the anchor in many students’ lives, and they continue to need your presence.
We know that these are crazy, stress filled days. We also know that the teacher heart is alive and strong, and ready to take on new challenges. Now, more than ever, the world needs your expertise. You have options for what that will look like in the months ahead, and we are encouraged by the many ways we have seen you rise up to meet the challenges head on.
Let us know what we can do to support you, and in the meantime, keep shining!
Our best,
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