Turning Points 2000 Chapter 9

Getting parents involved with the classroom and other school activities is probably one of the most difficult aspects of the education system. I witnessed my mother, who was the secretary/treasurer of the sports boosters at my high school, struggle to find parent volunteers to help with fundraisers and selling concessions. If my mom had a hard time contacting and getting just a few sport parents involved with their athlete’s school, I can imagine the difficulty that teachers have in having positive communication with their students’ parents. I know from experience that having my mom and dad involved in my schooling was not embarrassing, but actually super helpful if a problem did arise. My parents knew when to let me handle things on my own and also when I needed help because they were always helping out. I also witnessed some of my peers and their parents. It was not hard to see the correlation between those parents who helped and were involved in their student’s school and the student’s achievement. The more involved the parent(s), the better the student performed academically. There are the rare exceptions, but overall I feel that getting parents involved will help our students succeed.

Thinking back on my education, I realize that my mom and dad never really got asked to help with the school after elementary school. My mom and dad were just those types of parents that asked what they could do, and the teachers gladly gave them a task. However, as a teacher, I am curious how we can reach out to parents and show them that we want their involvement in their child’s education. Some of the best ideas that this chapter mentioned were the simplest ones, like scheduling parent meetings at a different location that is more easily assessable to parents and less intimidating and personalizing the communication by giving out a private line that they can reach you on. Another great hint was just contacting parents about the good things that their child is doing, not just the bad. This way parents are more receptive to be involved in the solution process if a problem does arise instead of just blaming the teacher.