Help for new teachers

[Norah Hooper]

Look at this CEC blog - some good pointers for new teachers. Tell us what you think!

http://cecblog.typepad.com/

[Shana]

I found this article to be consistent with my own beliefs and practices. There's an old African proverb that says, "it takes a village to raise a child" and in order to make this work, it is essential to keep parents informed of how their child is doing in school. At the secondary level, parents tend to be more hands-off, but nonetheless they are interested in how their child is progressing or not progressing in your class. As a case manager, you are often the link between home and school, so it is essential to have strong communication. One thing that I've done this year is to share the positive things with parents as the article suggested...and not just the negative.

[Michele Hofmann]

I really connected with the advice given under Working with Parents. The blog post included several things that I try to incoporate in my communication with parents. I like to keep track of all communication. I have learned that one of the easiest ways to do this is just hit print whenever i get an email from a parent and then hit print once I type my response. I then staple the two together and stick them in the student's file. I know this may seem like extra work for some but it has worked for me. I was especially glad that I did this when I found out half way through the year that our school emails delete themselves after 3 months. I would have lost a lot of important emails if I had just depended on them being saved in my emails. I also like the advice of encouraging parents to contact you with any questions or concerns. I have tried to keep this feeling of open commuinication between myself and my parents. There have been times when a parent has contacted me what some might say was too often. However, I would much rather be contacted too often than have a parent wait to talk to me until they were really upset or confused about something.

[Norah Hooper]

What a great idea to keep print copies of your communications with parents. Even if you don't need them for evidence at some time, they may be useful in reviewing the progress you and your student have made during the year.

Michele Hofmann said:

I really connected with the advice given under Working with Parents. The blog post included several things that I try to incoporate in my communication with parents. I like to keep track of all communication. I have learned that one of the easiest ways to do this is just hit print whenever i get an email from a parent and then hit print once I type my response. I then staple the two together and stick them in the student's file. I know this may seem like extra work for some but it has worked for me. I was especially glad that I did this when I found out half way through the year that our school emails delete themselves after 3 months. I would have lost a lot of important emails if I had just depended on them being saved in my emails. I also like the advice of encouraging parents to contact you with any questions or concerns. I have tried to keep this feeling of open commuinication between myself and my parents. There have been times when a parent has contacted me what some might say was too often. However, I would much rather be contacted too often than have a parent wait to talk to me until they were really upset or confused about something.

[CS]

I thought the article on Whos in charge was all too familiar. I have noticed this happen time and time again when in the in clusion setting and I often wonder, maybe the warm-up should be more focused on getting organized - you know, question one - get out last nights homework, question two pass it forward, question three sharpen your pencil now, b/c you wont be able to later, get out your note paper, open your text etc. Afterall, is the warm-up a priority in the class or the lesson?

I thought the ideas on how to handle the pencils - the stub can - is a good idea, this would come in handy in our classes. Unfortunately most students do not have a pencil to trade in the first place, but I tend to look the other way on that one.

I also really appreciated the working with parents tips, and felt the idea of bringing a colleague to the house with me a good idea, we are not actually allowed to go to a students house, but still a good idea.

The reminder to do a good news call is timely for me, I am a big proponent of this, and yet, I have not done this lately!

[Bill Wilson]

I enjoyed the Working with Parents section. At Colonial Beach, we were given a “Parent Contact” folder or log, for when we did indeed have to make contact with parents. It makes things a lot easier and organized. Also, we have to print out all emails that contain a name of any student that might be featured in the email and then have that it put into his/her file. It can be annoying especially if you have that parent who wants to know everyday how their child is doing. It can be great because you can (CYA) go back and show the parents that you had indeed tried to contact them or talked with them on a certain day. It is a good system to have.