Including Parents in Your Classroom

1. Including Parents in Your Classroom GDEAF 2004 Wednesday, July 21, 2004 Melody Stoner, PhD Student Georgia State University

2. Who Am I? (Part 1 of 2) Teacher of high school students at AASD Special needs Language delayed Functional curriculum Vocational objectives Doctoral student at Georgia State University in Special Education Concentration in language development of students who are deaf/hard of hearing Former secondary English teacher in general education setting

3. Who Am I? (Part 2 of 2) Mother of a beautiful two year old daughter

4. Who Are You?

5. Why is this information important to you? (Part 1 of 4) As a teacher of the deaf, it is critical that you communicate WITH (not AT) your parents� How???

6. Why is this information important to you? (Part 2 of 4) Efficiently Effectively Frequently Personally Positively Expecting a response

7. Why is this information important to you? (Part 3 of 4) You may be the first teacher to do this, providing� Hope in the educational system that has perhaps failed them thus far Care for their child by someone outside of the family A positive outlook on their child�s personality and unique qualities and strengths Information in response to the simple questions of: What did you do today? What did you learn today? How are you feeling today? A personal relationship with a teacher A connection to a child they may not be able to communicate with

8. Why is this information important to you? (Part 4 of 4) With parents on your team, you will accomplish more with your students Students will recognize and care that you care Students will see a carry-over from school to home and from home to school Parents will recognize and care that you care Parents will help you support learning in the classroom and in the home

9. That�s a tall order! How can I do ALL that?(Part 1 of 6) Efficiently With as little work as possible, stream-line it Find the shortcuts you need Providing the maximum benefit for you, the student, and the parent View communication with parents as critical for more effectively impacting the students and the family You need parents on your team Parents need you on their team Students need you and their parents on their team

10. That�s a tall order! How can I do ALL that?(Part 2 of 6) Effectively Communicate clearly, concisely, and simply Consider your parents your audience and modify your message and your language Parents may have different cultural values Parents may have different moral values Parents may have different educational backgrounds Parents may be struggling to put food on the table Parents may be dealing with other children with a disability Parents may be working more than one job Parents may be stressed What you have going on in the classroom may not be the most important thing in the world to them

11. That�s a tall order! How can I do ALL that?(Part 3 of 6) Frequently More often than once in a six- or nine-week grading period Depending on the number of students you have, you should be able to communicate with parents at least once a week Make time for this in your daily/weekly schedule Get students involved in helping you communicate with their parents

12. That�s a tall order! How can I do ALL that?(Part 4 of 6) Personally Talk to the parents more often about their child�s learning, not always about the class�s activities Provide multiple opportunities for the parents to share what is happening at home if they choose to do so Listen to the parents� voices

13. That�s a tall order! How can I do ALL that?(Part 5 of 6) Positively Communicate about positive events, positive learning experiences, and student achievements If you do need to communicate about something not so positive, you should already have the parent on your side if you have already communicated with them positively and frequently

14. That�s a tall order! How can I do ALL that?(Part 6 of 6) Expecting a response Without the expectation of a response, your communicative efforts are one-sided and AT, rather than WITH Provide opportunities for parents to respond to correspondence sent home Multiple copies of paperwork; one for parent to keep, one for parent to return with comments Provide space for specific comments or questions from parents

15. Reminders� You may find that one activity works well for one student�s parents while a different activity works equally as well for another set of parents Take a survey at the beginning of the year to gauge level of interest in and teacher-parent communication options that parents are most interested in Follow through on correspondence sent home if no reply/response Follow through when you leave a message on an answering machine

16. How are you communicating with your parents now? Listen and learn from your colleagues� Are you listening to and learning from your parents in the same manner? Keep your ears open Your parents have a lot to say and a lot of knowledge about your students

17. Here are a FEW other ideas for including parents in your classroom�(Part 1 of 4) Home visits Videotapes of students sent home with a personal note and space to reply/respond Provide activities at school for parents to participate in and personally invite them in Call at least one parent a week with a positive report or simply to call; keep trying if you get the machine or no answer

18. Here are a FEW other ideas for including parents in your classroom�(Part 2 of 4) Write a personalized letter home to at least one parent a week with a positive report or simply to write and provide space to reply/respond Include parents in a dialogue journal activity Have parents send in pictures of family members or events with a short note of description Send home a letter before school starts and shortly after school commences, as well as phone calls

19. Here are a FEW other ideas for including parents in your classroom�(Part 3 of 4) Personally invite a parent, sibling, or other family member to be a guest speaker Provide parents personalized information on local deaf gatherings and attend yourself as well Personally invite parents to presentations by students

20. Here are a FEW other ideas for including parents in your classroom�(Part 4 of 4) Send home videos/DVDs/CD-ROMS of ASL for entire family to share and learn from Make your own videos for parents to learn new sign language vocabulary from, while teaching students at the same time Send home a weekly newsletter

21. Home Visits(Part 1 of 6) Go while the student is still at school, or shortly before he will arrive home, or while the student is already at home Take along some support (or not�) Audiologist Social Worker Transition Coordinator Another teacher

22. Home Visits(Part 2 of 6) If the parent lives far away or does not want you to come to the house, what can you do? Suggest a restaurant, a bookstore, a coffee shop� What if they�re working? How about a lunch date? What if they�re only available on the weekends? No one said teaching was finished at 3:00 on Friday� Meet them on their ground, wherever they are comfortable and willing Find a deaf social to attend and show them the ropes!

23. Home Visits(Part 3 of 6) What can you talk with the parents about during a �home� visit? You don�t talk, you listen� Just listen to the parents� Take notes or tape-record or just remember it best as you can for later if the parent is uncomfortable with your taking notes or a recording Remember that this is the parent�s opportunity to speak about themselves and their relationship with their child Just listen and mull it all over, it is the parent�s turn to speak It is NOT your turn now, your turn will come later

24. Home Visits(Part 4 of 6) Here are sample questions that you could use, but you can read the parent to determine what types of questions would be most effective By all means, add to this list to personalize it for yourself What are the parent�s dreams for the child? What are the parent�s fears for the child? What does the parent realistically expect for the child? How does the parent view the child? How does the parent communicate with the child? Would the parent like some support in communicating more effectively with the child?

25. Home Visits(Part 5 of 6) When it IS your turn� READ your parents for subtle communications about comfort and discomfort Is it time to go, can you stay longer, or do you need another visit at a later date?

26. Home Visits(Part 6 of 6) Talk about yourself so that they may get to know you, if it feels appropriate Ask if they have questions or concerns about current services or current options You may get a different answer in the home, in their comfort zone, than in the school

27. Videotapes of students sent home with a personal note and space to reply/respond(Part 1 of 3) Did you take a CBI somewhere? Are your students working with another class? Are your students working off- or on-campus? Are your students working on a special project? Any of these ideas would work, as would almost any instructional activity

28. Videotapes of students sent home with a personal note and space to reply/respond(Part 2 of 3) Send home a note to provide background Casual Short Simple Ask parents to watch video, discuss with child, and return video/note by a specified date with a response of some sort Follow-up if you do not receive a response

29. Videotapes of students sent home with a personal note and space to reply/respond(Part 3 of 3) Provide yes/no choices in print for parents to circle and some short blanks Here are some ideas to get you started: Did you enjoy this activity with your child? Would you like to receive more videos like this? Do you have any questions about this video? Do you have any suggestions to improve this activity? If so, what? Also provide several blank lines at the end for parents to provide input with an open-ended question, such as: �Is there something in particular you would like to see on the next video sent home?�

30. Provide activities at school for parents to participate in and personally invite them in Communicate with your parents before you plan and find out if they�re available on such and such dates at such and such times and confirm, confirm, and confirm again� Here are a few ideas to get your gears turning: Throw an open-classroom party at the beginning of the school year Invite parents in to see your students mentoring or reading to younger students Consider putting on a production of something you are reading for the parents Have a tea party to socialize with the local deaf community You have ideas, too!

31. Call at least one parent a week with a positive report or simply to call; keep trying if you get the machine or no answer �Follow-up, follow-up, follow-up� You can call about something as simple as an �A� on a vocabulary test or a new friend You can call to make sure that the parent has seen the latest journal entry or that the parent has the latest vocabulary word list It�s more important that you have gone the extra mile to communicate with the parents than that the success may seem �small�

32. Write a personalized letter home to at least one parent a week with a positive report or simply to write and provide space to reply/respond(Part 1 of 2) Provide personalized information about the student for the parent Casual Short Simple Here are some ideas to get you started: Explain what you taught this week Provide information about how the student performed: strengths and weaknesses What was successful in your teaching/reaching the student Provide suggestions for reinforcement of instruction within the home Does parent wish to continue receiving this sort of feedback Does parent have any questions/suggestions Would parent like to meet to discuss any concerns

33. Write a personalized letter home to at least one parent a week with a positive report or simply to write and provide space to reply/respond(Part 2 of 2) Also provide several blank lines at the end for parents to provide input with open-ended questions, such as: �Is there something in particular you would like to see on the next letter sent home?� �Is there anything happening in the home now or soon that I should be aware of?� �Is there any other information that you could share with me to provide conversational material for me with your child? (i.e., a sibling�s birthday, a new pet, an upcoming trip)�

34. Include parents in a dialogue journal activity This can be done in a variety of ways: Student and parent Student, parent, and teacher Parent and teacher Explain what the purpose is of the dialogue journal for the parent and just read and respond Treat parent entries as you would a student�s

35. Have parents send in pictures of family members or events with a short note of description Have the student discuss these in class with previously prepared questions that were sent home to the parents to guide their note writing Students LOVE pictures Do a writing activity at the end of the picture discussion and send home a sample to the parents Send home additional questions about pictures for parents

36. Send home a letter before school starts and shortly after school commences, as well as phone calls  Provide some information for parents before the deluge of paperwork begins the first week of school Tell them a little bit about yourself, how excited you are about the upcoming school year, what you plan to teach, and provide accessibility Shortly after school starts, send home another letter or make a phone call to touch base and request parent wishes for the school year Perhaps parent sees a need for instruction in an area that popped up over the summer that�s not addressed on the IEP

37. Personally invite a parent, sibling, or other family member to be a guest speaker Consider the units you are teaching for the year How can you incorporate the expertise of the various families into your units Perhaps you are working on categorizing department store items; perhaps a parent works at a department store Perhaps you are working on community services; perhaps a parent works in the radiology lab at the hospital Stretch your imagination Find out what your parents do and work from that

38. Provide parents personalized information on local deaf gatherings, provide a personalized invitation, and attend yourself as well(Page 1 of 2) www.gachi.org Scroll down to Silent Happenings in Georgia (SHIG) on your left and click You will see several month�s worth of events You can click on events for more information, directions, and phone number contacts Last accessed on July 12, 2004 Information for three months available, June-August 2004 Future events Church services Movies Entertainment Sports Social Dinners Workshops

39. Provide parents personalized information on local deaf gatherings, provide a personalized invitation, and attend yourself as well(Page 2 of 2) www.whatsupga.org Scroll down to Events Calendar on your left and click You will see one month, you have to click on the next month to move forward through the months You can click on events for more information, directions, and phone number contacts Last accessed on July 12, 2004 Information for the remainder of 2004 available, and two events are already listed for next year as well Interpreted plays Captioned movies Silent Dinners Deaf gatherings Golf RVs

40. Personally invite parents to presentations by students What kind of presentation? What are you working on? What kind of project can you develop that will showcase student talent and engage parent interest? Find out when parents are available to attend Send home personalized invitations Talk it up to the students to encourage parent attendance Call parents to confirm attendance

41. Send home videos/DVDs/CD-ROMS of ASL for entire family to share and learn from Send home a personalized note to explain how the current material is incorporated into instruction/unit Specify particular child�s weaknesses and strengths in ASL Clarify and simplify how the parent can help child with ASL skills Provide opportunity for parent feedback and questions

42. Make your own videos for parents to learn new sign language vocabulary from, while teaching students at the same time Send home a personalized note to explain how the current material is incorporated into instruction/unit Specify particular child�s weaknesses and strengths in ASL Clarify and simplify how the parent can help child with ASL skills Provide opportunity for parent feedback and questions

43. And my personal favorite�Send home a weekly newsletter Request parent permission to take and use pictures of the students for all parents Take pictures all week long of different activities Spend some time reviewing each day with pictures and creating sentences to match Select a series of pictures to send home on Fridays Request parents to read, share, and discuss newsletter with children over the weekend Provide opportunity for parents to respond, make comments, and provide suggestions Students use newsletters for independent and shared reading the following week They love to see themselves in pictures! See my sample newsletters being passed around now� My students looked forward to this, and so did my parents

44. What are your questions and comments?

45. Feel free to contact me at any time: melodystoner@hotmail.com (home) mstoner@doe.k12.ga.us (work, August-May) Please e-mail me with any questions, concerns, comments, suggestions, and successes!

46. Assignment? Yes, assignment. Make one goal for the 2004-2005 school year based upon this workshop and support each other in achieving this goal by contacting and replying to each other at least once a month via e-mail. Copy me to each of these e-mails.