Communication

Mark R. Warren et. al. emphasize the plethora of benefits that family involvement has in schools and classrooms; however, they remark that many urban schools have become isolated from the communities in which they exist. A solution, therefore, is actively involving families with schools through community-based organizations (2009). During my student teaching, I used this focus on connections between communities and schools to guide my incorporation of families into students' learning. As I developed relationships with students during my student teaching, I also prioritized open communication and familiarity with students' families or guardians. My incorporation of families into class occurred on two levels. First off, in planning lessons and units for class, I intentionally provided opportunities for students to reflect on our work or reading and to make connections between their personal experiences, family, or community. In making connections, students learned to utilize their funds of knowledge and built strong empathy and compassion skills by connecting with characters and emotions. On this first level of family involvement, students were encouraged to bring all that is important to them and all that has influenced them into class with them; in class, we treated families and communities as invaluable sources of learning and connection. In our podcast and film projects, too, we encouraged students to involve their families -- to engage them in conversation or to celebrate their love and support.

On the second level, I had direct communication with families in order to keep them updated on our work and class goals. I made sure to introduce myself to parents/guardians because I was a new figure both in the school and in students' lives. I explained my position and my goals. This way, when the first report card conferences rolled around, families could feel even a small level of familiarity with me. I also regularly emailed parents/ guardians of students who were falling behind in their work or who were not engaged during class. In emailing both the student and their guardians, I noticed that students were more likely to submit late/revised work and to attend office hours. I also frequently shared Google docs/forms/slides with parents/guardians of students who were not completing work or who were struggling to access them. Shown below is a list of actions I took to engage families in their students' learning throughout the year.

My communication with families as a student teacher heightened my desire to include families into my future classrooms. It was always enlightening to meet with parents during report card conferences and walk them through their child's work and progress towards meeting their goals. Getting to share and celebrate the students' work with their families was a true joy. I also often learned a lot more about students after speaking to their families, especially about students who were not as vocal in class. At first, like most parts of my student teaching, I found it difficult to compose emails for parents/guardians. However, the more practice that I got in communicating with families, the easier it became. As I become an educator, I intend to establish strong connections with families and their communities at the very start of the year. I want to build relationships with both students and families that extend beyond the traditional "calling home" when something goes wrong. An essential piece of treating students as the complete people they are is becoming familiar with their family and community. Open communication and familiarity breed student comfort and success.