Family and Community Engagement
I feel it is vital for families and the community to play a role in the classroom. As the classroom is only one environment that a student spends time in, it is very important to develop an understanding of who my students are at home and in the community.
As parents and guardians are experts on their child, I utilize communication with families to make sure that I am meeting the academic, social, and physical needs of my students. I feel that parents and guardians work with me as a team to make sure that my students are receiving a student-centered education. I often reach out to families to gain more insight into things I am seeing in the classroom and to communicate information regarding how the student is progressing in my class.
In regard to the community, I feel that it is my duty as a teacher to create well-rounded students who are invested citizens of their community. One of the primary ways in which I develop citizenship is by bringing community members into the classroom. Community members are able to provide examples of how our class content is applicable to real-world situations. Furthermore, by providing students with new experiences within their community, students become much more interested in being more active citizens.
Parent Questionnaire
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As a Pre-K teacher, I used this questionnaire to get to know students and establish a connection with families before the school year. The questionnaire gave me information on how the parents see their child - which helps me understand the goals the parents have for the school year. I would also attach a note for parents to record questions and comments from the student on the back so that the students felt heard as well!
I feel that by providing a space for parents and guardians to be heard early in the school year, I can set the foundation for a collaborative partnership with families. During the school year, I look to families for guidance and support and by showing them how I value their opinions in this questionnaire I have noticed a willingness from parents to provide continuity between school and home. I plan to continue using this questionnaire as a first-year teacher with additional questions regarding languages spoken at home. It is my hope that by continuing my use of this questionnaire, I will be able to include families in my classroom community as much as possible.
Camp Carysbrook
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This is a flier for the Carysbrook Literacy Night. Once a year the teachers and literacy specialists plan an evening for parents to come to the school and explore how their children are learning to read. The school stays open late with games, books, and a free dinner for families that attend. As a student teacher, I helped plan and facilitate activities for ‘Camp Carysbrook’.
This school event was a wonderful opportunity to see my students and their parents outside of the classroom. As it was a more social environment, families engaged in extended conversations with the teaching staff and were able to build strong relationships. As a result of this evening, I was able to meet several families of my students face-to-face and develop warm connections with them that I might not have made outside of this event. In the future, I plan to participate in and host several family events like Camp Carysbrook so that I can increase my opportunities to build relationships with families.
Halloween Stories
This audio clip is from a podcast on Z95.1. The local radio station was asking for Halloween story submissions from students in local schools to read over the air. Several of the fourth-grade teachers and I coordinated gathering stories, and 4 of our students' stories were selected and read over the radio.
The students took great pride in the fact they were able to share their work with their community and their families, and it encouraged them to support their local radio station by listening in! As a future teacher, I plan to seek out more opportunities like this writing competition as it motivated students to share their ideas while simultaneously encouraging them to explore a community organization.