Student learning is impacted by a variety of factors, including physical environment and activity, social surroundings, and emotional atmosphere, which further influence a student's cognitive and linguistic processes.
Goal:
I will establish regular communication with parents and students using technology and will use these interactions to engage families in the student learning process.
Goal Reflection:
I chose this goal because there are many things that influence a student's ability to learn including the home environment and family support system. By communicating regularly with parents through email, I am involving parents in the student learning process. Parents know what assignments are coming up, and can motivate their child to learn and study at home. There is a large percentage of students who want to learn and do well, but are forgetful, which is a huge reason why Remind has been a great tool. I am able to reach out to students and help them focus on learning, even when they aren't in the classroom with me. They say it takes a village to raise a child, and same goes for teaching a child. But communication is a key element in that, for without it, parents aren't comfortable communicating when their child is suffering from depression, or when a close family member is ill and dying, or when a big family vacation is coming up, all things which could drastically impact a child's learning. Communicating using technology opens the door to better understand the differences between each unique learner.
Next year, I will continue using Remind and email to communicate with parents, but I really want students and parents to look forward to my communication. I want to include little incentives in the messages to families to be engaged in the learning process. For example, I might send a message to students saying, "Teach and then quiz your parents on how to simplify a radical to prepare for our quiz tomorrow. Show me a parent signature for extra credit on the quiz." Or to parents, I might send an email the night before a test that includes one question from the test, so students can study one test question with their parents without the pressure and anxiety associated with the test. Or even something as simple as, "We learned a song to help us remember the quadratic formula. Ask your student to sing it to you tonight." will help the parents feel as if they are part of the learning environment.
Next year, I will continue using Remind and email to communicate with parents, but I really want students and parents to look forward to my communication. I want to include little incentives in the messages to families to be engaged in the learning process. For example, I might send a message to students saying, "Teach and then quiz your parents on how to simplify a radical to prepare for our quiz tomorrow. Show me a parent signature for extra credit on the quiz." Or to parents, I might send an email the night before a test that includes one question from the test, so students can study one test question with their parents without the pressure and anxiety associated with the test. Or even something as simple as, "We learned a song to help us remember the quadratic formula. Ask your student to sing it to you tonight." will help the parents feel as if they are part of the learning environment.
Evidence:
The image gallery below shows a variety of mass emails sent out through Aspire, and text messages sent out through Remind. It also shows a parent communication log detailing face-to-face meetings and email communication with individual parents.
Reflection:
I used email to communicate with parents (and students) on a regular basis for my first year of teaching. Half way through my first year, I was introduced to Remind which is a secure way to send reminder text messages to our modern text-obsessed students (and their parents). Since then, I have used email in conjunction with Remind to communicate regularly with students and parents alike.
Sometimes, particularly if a student is doing poorly, it is easy for the parents or student to blame the teacher for a student's poor performance. Regular contact in multiple formats opens the door of communication, helps to prevent the classic "I didn't know" excuse, and assures parents that we are definitely on the same side: we both want the student to learn and be successful.
Sometimes, particularly if a student is doing poorly, it is easy for the parents or student to blame the teacher for a student's poor performance. Regular contact in multiple formats opens the door of communication, helps to prevent the classic "I didn't know" excuse, and assures parents that we are definitely on the same side: we both want the student to learn and be successful.