Thursday, August 21, 2008
Published Saturday, August 02, 2008 in Education
Teachers get training in parent conferencing
The Times-Herald
Sherry Warren, Coweta County Schools Title 1 coordinator, reminded new teachers that teaching not only involves the children under their care, but sometimes their parents, too.
Warren covered this topic during a new teachers parent conferencing workshop, part of their orientation at the Centre for the Performing and Visual Arts. She stressed the importance of teachers forming partnerships with parents to ensure their child's success.
In her 39-year career, Warren said she has encountered different types of parents on the first day of school, from the proud ones who bring their child fully prepared and dressed nattily to the parents who drop off their child while muttering negative comments such as "I don't know what you're going to do with him."
"You're job as teachers is not just to convince the child that he can succeed, it's also to convince the parent that he can succeed," she told the more than 100 teachers gathered in the Centre's auditorium.
With the parents whom she's heard denigrate their children, deliberately or unwittingly, Warren has taken them aside and talked honestly with them about the self-prophetic power of words.
Warren also gave teachers tips on how to handle different types of parents, from the irrationally angry ones to the ones who hold negative views of teachers to the ones who are so intimidated by the school environment that they won't even come in to talk with teachers about their child.
Regardless of the type of parent, Warren stressed that each one can be a positive influence in shaping their child's success in school.
Teachers, above all, have to keep the curriculum the number one priority. They also have to demonstrate a positive attitude, communicate kindly and honestly, listen to their parents and offer them help as part of building the teacher-parent partnership, she said.
The former principal added that a common problem with some new teachers, especially those teaching kindergarten, is that "they love their children so much" that it's difficult for them to tell the child's parents that their child is not where he is expected to be with the curriculum.
"Keep instruction priority number one," Warren reiterated.
The parent needs to hear it earlier rather than later.
Another complaint from parents is that they don't have time to help their children with the homework. Warren tells parents that it's not necessary to check all the homework, but check every 10 or so questions.
One tip she got from a parent who couldn't read or write was to ask her child "Are you sure this is right?" Warren said the illiterate parent was able to instill with his child the important practice of "checking your work."
One of the other tips teachers should pass on to parents is to not ask the child if he has homework, but to "ask to see their homework." She said children will routinely answer that they have no homework, most often forgetting that they do -- so asking them to see it will help trigger their memory.
She also advised new teachers that most parents really just want to know and hear that they are concerned and care about their child.
"It's amazing to me how many parents think I got into (education) to pick on their child. They don't know we're here because we love children."
Warren said parents don't necessarily care so much about how much teachers know as much as being assured that teachers care. She asked the educators to make the extra effort to reach out to those parents whose dress, appearance or grooming habits reflect some neglect or other socio-economic issue.
She said instead of tripping over each other trying to shake hands with the wife of a school board member, make a beeline to the parent who shows up in dirty work clothes.
"They're the ones that need it the most. For them, just to get to the building is such a challenge. ... All of us heard about at-risk students, but I can tell you that we have at-risk parents out there," she said.
She said teachers also need to be mindful of the entire family's circumstances. In today's difficult times, some parents are facing so many more issues -- such as foreclosure, the failing health of an elder parent or their own serious illnesses -- that a call from a teacher about a minor behavior problem with their child in school that day may not be their top priority.