By Trinity Koemel, Arizona State University, Family and Human Development. Trinity is a graduate student and elementary educator who is passionate about helping families feel empowered to support their child’s academic and overall success.
Many teachers put a lot of thought into classroom setup and into designing interesting lessons. Those things matter for student success. There is another piece that a new teacher may not have considered yet: the family.
Students spend most of their time in two places, home and school. When those two places work together, student outcomes improve. One way to begin building that partnership is to make sure parents feel welcome and to create a friendly environment from the start. Here are some simple ways to invite parents into your classroom.
Strategies
- Give parents a place to share what they know about their child. Include space for their hopes and goals for the year.
- Use two way communication. Offer a platform or method where parents can easily send questions or concerns. Invite parents to share important home information, even in general terms. A “handle with care” note sent in with a student on a hard day tells you what you need to know without details. Respond with sensitivity and discretion. Send home class newsletters.
- Host class events with a clear place for parents to be greeted or to do something: a water or small refreshment table, a note writing station where parents can write something for their child to find in class the next day, and a flyer with an overview of the event and its take home purpose.
- At parent conferences, focus on the student’s strengths and needs, and always end on a positive note.
Special considerations
- Find out which languages are spoken at home and provide translated parent materials.
- Give parents a chance to preview conference topics or materials in advance, translated, and have a translated response ready during the meeting when possible.
Sources
Leenders, H., et al. Building strong parent teacher relationships in primary education: the challenge of two way communication.
Additional strategies come from mentor teachers and grade level leads at Williams Elementary, Arlington ISD, from the ECAP teacher program, and from personal classroom experience.