What is component 4c? Component 4c focuses on communicating with families. It is important to keep families involved in their child’s school life no matter what kind of job obligations they have. Teachers need to provide opportunities for families to understand the instructional program and their child’s progress. Teachers establish relationships with families by communicating to them about the program and the individual student. Teachers should also invite families to be part of the education process. Especially in the elementary school, parent’s participation and tend to be more involved when their child begins school. It is still important to get the parents involved in all grade levels. Communicating and building a relationship with families convey teachers who are caring and values their students.
Why is it needed? Communicating and connecting with families is an essential part about being a teacher. Parents drop off their children and leave for work and maybe worry about their children especially in the early years of school. Teachers who communicate to create a relationship and makes the parents/families involved in their children’s education.
What are the elements of component 4c? Information about the instructional program. Information is provide to families about the instructional program. Information about individual students. Information is provided to the families about individual progress. Engagement of families in the instructional program. Opportunities are offered to families, so they can participate in the learning of their student(s).
How can it be implemented in the classroom? Teachers can send home information regarding instructional materials and the student’s progress. Have two-way communication with families. Teachers should have frequent opportunities for families to engage in the learning process. Getting to know families at the school’s open house. Having parent-teacher conferences. Using technology to include parents in the student’s learning. Using Bloomz to connect to parents, show behaviors parents can see, assessments and important dates coming up. In a preschool or kindergarten classroom, using the “Hey Mama” app is useful when sending parents photos of their children and what their behavior was (on green, yellow or red). Sending messaging to parents throughout the day if they were concerned in the morning is also a good way to communicate to families. For an older classroom, teachers can use Twitter to post updates, photos and more!
New Tech Tools for communicating! Remind 101 - send out reminds for upcoming events, quizzes Facebook - make groups with parents and update them Chalk.com - have a daily schedule, post grades Edmodo - like facebook for education Trello - collaborate with videos, images and file, text in discussion boards with parents Edublogs - free blog tool, safe for students See Saw - digital portfolio to share with parents
Sources: Teacher and Parent. (2017). Img.huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017, from http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/scalefit_630_noupscale/5846d2b91800002d00e41211.jpeg?cache=DKW2xUea6Q Management, C., Classroom, C., Arts, E., Learning, G., Classroom, K., & Activities, P. et al. (2015). 6 Ways to Strengthen Parent-Teacher Connections - Minds in Bloom. Minds in Bloom. Retrieved 30 November 2017, from http://minds-in-bloom.com/6-ways-to-strengthen-parent-teacher/ Connecting with parents. (2017). I.pinimg.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017, from https://i.pinimg.com/736x/61/4c/1e/614c1ed043e6920bc304efedd7df50e0--parent-newsletter-classroom-newsletter.jpg The Framework for Teaching Evaluation Instrument. (2017). Static.pdesas.org. Retrieved 30 November 2017, from http://static.pdesas.org/content/documents/danielson_rubric_77.pdf