Family Involvement Workshop

1. Family Involvement Workshop

2. Introduction • Nickia Ross • 2009-2010 Principal of Wilder Preparatory Charter School • Resource Teacher • 2nd & 5th Grade Teacher at Compton’s 1st CA Distinguished School • TFA Institute School Director

3. Objective • This workshop will provide you with the skills and knowledge you need in order to communicate with your parents more effectively and leverage that relationship to ensure student success.

4. Warm-up • Write down 1 negative and 1 positive experience you have had with a parent. • Write down the situation of one student whose academic abilities would be significantly impacted by an improved relationship between teacher, student and family member.

5. Did you start the year off well? • Did you call each student and/or introduce yourself to the family before school started? • Did you send a family letter introducing yourself on the first day of school that included your email address and contact number? • Did you maintain regular contact with a student’s family regarding academic performance and behavior? • Did you conduct home visits when needed with the community relations person on your staff or a co-teacher?

6. Did you … • Drop off homework/classwork to a sick student? • Always call a parent back when they called you, even when you knew they were upset? • Schedule appointments to speak with parents about their concerns or students at-risk of failing a unit or the semester? • Create a classroom newsletter, post homework, awards, and provide frequent updates?

7. It’s not too late … • As second semester approaches, view it as an opportunity to redo or augment your plan from the beginning of the year.

8. Remember the situation … • Ideal: All families participate energetically and consistently in their student’s academic life. • Reality: Some parents and families have time to get involved in many ways; others may only have time for one or two activities. Others still may only have time to sign notes sent home. • Action: What can you do with families that gets the most benefit? What can you do to increase the influence of families on student performance?

9. Tips and Tricks – What will work for you? • Pull out the Likert scale template with 8 family involvement questions. • Read each question and decide how realistic each strategy would be for the rest of the semester. • This needs assessment will help focus our work the rest of this session.

10. Ms. Ross’ spring semester mainstays: • Event nights: • Math/literacy night • Explanation • Make and take night before test • Fundraisers: • Chuck E. Cheese • Sizzler • Cupcake & Juice • Jamba Juice • Movie Night • Donors Choose announcements • End of year BBQs • Homework Parties (80% complete homework per student) • The chocolate fountain • CST/Finals celebrations: • STAR Night • Spring Break Work • Snack letters • “What parents can do?” newsletter • Post-test parties

11. Strategy Sort: Read each one and decide which one of these methods worked best and which ones provided the least results. • Creating a classroom website • Sending home student test weekly • Sending home Daily Behavior Sheet (DBS) • Sending home student test scores on the DBS • Integrating yourself in the child’s home life • Sending home progress reports and report cards • Translating notes that go home and requiring a parent signature upon return. • Calling home first thing in the morning when there is a concern (Homework not complete, a note not returned). • Creating a parent contact sheet • Speaking to parents only at parent conferences • Sending text messages to parents • Emailing parents when needed

12. Ross’ Tried and True Family Involvement Tips Answers • Creating a classroom website (Will not work well if most low income families do not have computers or internet assess at home.) • Sending home student tests weekly (The problem with this is some students show their parents their test and others don’t. Which leads to you having to call several parents first thing Monday morning.) • Sending home Daily Behavior Sheet (DBS) (Works really well once the parents are trained that this forms goes home every day. NO matter what their child tells them.) • Sending home student test scores on the DBS (Works really well once the parents are trained that this forms goes home every day. NO matter what their child tells them.)

13. Ross’ Tried and True Family Involvement Tips Answers • Integrating yourself in the child’s home life (Works really well because the students feel that you are trying to get to know them outside of school and understand their problems.) • Sending home progress reports and report cards (Some make it home and some do not. Make copies for your files) • Translating notes that go home and requiring a parent signature upon return. (Works really well and easy to manage when you may only have to send home a note once or twice a week.) • Calling home first thing in the morning when there is a concern (Homework not complete, a note not returned). (Works really well when the parents and students get accustomed to you determining what was not complete or returned early in the day.)

14. Ross’ Tried and True Family Involvement Tips Answers Creating a parent contact sheet (Makes your life easier when you really need to contact a parent immediately.) Speaking to parents only at parent conferences (Does not work well. Constant contact is needed especially when a student is at risk of failing.) Sending text messages to parents (Really effective if the parent is ok with this type of communication if you have a student that is constantly disruptive.) Emailing parents when needed (Effective only for the parents that have internet access and check their email regularly.)

15. Role Play 1 • Scenarios 1: 6ft man (obviously very upset) walks to your room in the middle of you teaching and asks to speak with you. He shares that he is upset because he keeps getting calls from his son’s teachers. Since you are the homeroom teacher he wants to know what is going on. What do you tell him? • Person 1: You are the 6ft man and you are won’t let the teacher make you wait until later or go talk to someone else. • Teacher: What do you do? What do you say?

16. Role Play 1- Talking Point • Communication with the teachers on your grade level is key. Why? • Parent relations can be bridge or broken. How?

17. Role Play 2 • Scenario 2: During a third quarter parent conference a parent starts breaking down crying because she was just informed that her son is failing and will be retained. This is the first parent conference that she has attended and the first time she has met you. She starts telling you about how the student does not have a father figure, she is about the lose her apartment, she has six other kids, her son won’t listen to her and he is constantly talking back. She is lost and does not know what to do. • Person 1: You are the parent. You are shocked, crying, and losing control of your child. • Teacher: What do you do? What do you say?

18. Role Play 2- Talking Points • Communication with parents throughout the year is very important. When a child is in danger of failing you have to reach out and find a way to communicate with the parent of the child in danger. • Schedule parent conferences over the phone, send home letters through the school mail, see if there is another family member that can come in the parents place, or go to the students house if needed.

19. What are your monthly goals? • Take a moment and write out FOUR goals that you will complete based on what you learned here today. • A sample below has been provided for you. Goals • Create a DBS to use in class daily (Including a section to write test scores.) • Conducted two home visits a months • Make 10 positive phone calls (3 have to be for your most difficult students) • Complete 4 difficult phone calls per class

20. Suggested Readings • Do You Know Enough About Me To Teach Me? by Stephen J. Peters • The Art and Science of Teaching by Robert Marzano • Eric add title of Florida Article HERE