Transcript edu-131-chapter-8-fall-2016

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What do you understand to be effective
methods for communicating with all families?
How does a teacher reach all families with
informal communication?
What are key points to consider when
designing communication methods?
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descriptions and practical considerations
of ten methods of communicating with
families:
daily conversations
telephone calls
personal notes
daily newsflash
newsletters
bulletin boards
electronic communication
traveling suitcases and literacy activities
suggestion boxes
classroom displays
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Why should I be responsible for
communicating with parents?
◦ Establishing and nurturing the parent-teacher
relationship is largely the teacher's responsibility;
there are many methods of communicating that
take little time and help build trust between
parent and teacher.
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Communication techniques are one-way and
two-way
Need for variety of communication
techniques
Teachers must take initiative
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NAEYC places very strong emphasis on the
importance of reciprocal relationships with
families and communication. NAEYC Early
Childhood Program Accreditation Criteria for
Relationships Standard 1.A.01 says:
“Teachers work in partnership with families,
establishing and maintaining regular,
ongoing, two-way communication.”
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Standard 7.B.06 says:
Program staff communicate with families on
at least a weekly basis regarding children’s
activities and developmental milestones,
shared caregiving issues, and other
information that affects the well-being and
development of their children.
Where in-person communication is not
possible, program staff communicate through
established alternative means.”
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Daily conversations are preferable
when possible
◦ Teacher strategies to initiate
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Do I have to speak to every parent every
day?
◦ Remember that the smallest effort at
conversation and the appearance of
accessibility can be very rewarding to your
relationship with parent
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Telephone calls
◦ For keeping in touch with good news
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Personal notes
◦ Preprinted “happygrams” are less personal
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Bulletin boards
◦ Visible, frequently changed, take-away articles
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Electronic communication
◦ Email, blog, web site
◦ Mindful of privacy issues and family access
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Daily news flash
◦ Keep parents informed for “car talk”
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Newsletters
◦ Give parents information and chances to reinforce
learning at home
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Traveling backpacks, libraries, and literacy
activities
◦ Enhance parent-child communication and literacy
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Classroom displays
Suggestion boxes
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Daily conversations: teacher-initiated
◦ The highest frequency of parent-teacher communication
occurs at the "transition point“--the time when parents
are leaving or picking up their children.
◦ The average length of conversation between parent and
teacher at "transition time" is 12 seconds.
 Important topics cannot be covered in this time.
What is the problem for teachers when children carpool or
take the bus?
 Lack of communication time with parents
These parents miss the daily conversation time.
Teachers and parents should not discuss the
child in the child's presence.
 It is best to schedule time without children for such
discussions.
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Most important use is to share information about
the child.
Not a good idea to initiate conversation on the
phone about problems teachers and parents need
to address.
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"happy-grams" are less personal
Notes back & forth via a journal or notebook
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visible
frequently changed
take-aways
Labeled for parents
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I'm not very artistic. How can I create a
bulletin board?
◦ Bulletin boards for parents should not be so much
artistic as organized and well-presented.
◦ It is important to keep them fresh, and update them
frequently to keep parents interested.
◦ Try to be neat and simple in your presentation of
materials, include hand-outs of prepared materials,
and add some of the children's artwork if you would
like an artistic touch.
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Briefly describes one thing children have done or
talked about that day
Wednesday October 18, 2011
Today we painted with yellow and
red.
We made orange!
Limitations and Cautions:
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Families do not have equipment or
technological skills to access the information
 Makes sure the information transmitted
electronically is also available in another format
2.
3.
4.
Teachers may intimidated by the technology
Sense of removal could inhibit the relationship
Privacy
 Photographs and names---need permission
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Daily classroom journals
Reminders
Electronic newsletter
Personal notes
Teacher web sites
Classroom web sites
out
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Announcements ...
No School Monday, October 16th
Student-Led Conferences: Thursday,October 19th 3:00-5:30
Biography book report and puppet due Friday, October 27th, later this week check
the link below with instructions and examples.
In Reading....
Each week students will receive 10 vocabulary words and be
given many chances to practice them in preparation for Friday's
test. This week's words all begin with the prefix "uni" which means
one.
Everyone will also receive a story every Monday for them to practice
reading out loud. This assignment asks for parent participation.
After we read the passage at school, the students need to read it
again at home each night. It's important that the student read OUT
LOUD. On the handout there is a note to you, the parent., and a
place at the bottom for you to sign. By Thursday night, you should
denote marked improvement in how well your child can read the
passage. Remember - Repeated practice builds fluency. Thank you
for your help.
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In Language Arts...
Students are ready to write their own essays! The
topic this week will be 3 ways to eat animal
cookies. After students taste the three ways they
will write about it. We will take 1 week to
concentrate on five great paragraphs: introductory,
3 body parts, and the conclusion.
Each week, students are given 10 spelling words,
picked from a list of the 100 most misspelled
words in the 4th grade. The Friday test will be in
the form of a dictated paragraph which gives them
a chance to actually use them in context. See link
below for this week's words.
Keep parents informed.
Give parents insights.
Enhance child-parent
communication.
Reinforce and extend learning
from school to home
Here's a list of topics that could be put into
newsletters
Birthdays for the month & "thank you's" for special
snacks that may have been provided
"Thank You" to parents who contributed in any way to
the classroom (made playdoh, brought in paper towel
cardboard tubes for the supply room, did a classroom
visit with the children, etc). Even the smallest
recognition is appreciated by most parents.
Make requests for recyclable items needed (for special
art projects, etc.)
Upcoming field trip or special events information
Short poems or poignant statements made by experts or
those who have written articles in the field of ECE
always add a nice touch
Brief description of thematic units of study
Small graphics always make words more appealing
Suggest books or websites dealing with child rearing
Reminders of school policies when needed
Words to a fingerplay, healthy snack ideas, or a followup activity to something that was done in the classroom
◦ Loaning materials
◦ Circulating notebook of
letters/comments
◦ Supports family literacy
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Promote communication about learning and
development of children.
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Obtain feedback
Anonymous
Scenario
A teacher who describes herself as shy has always
been reluctant to initiate conversations when
parents drop off and pick up their children.
1. What would you say to this teacher about
beginning conversations?
2. What practical advice could help her get started?
3. What could she do to gain confidence and
improve this area?
Consider the picture below.
What are some of the factors that facilitate
face-to-face communication?
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Which communication techniques could be
effective for:
◦ A class of 4th graders who ride the bus, and half the
families are English Language Learners?
◦ A group of infants?
◦ A class of preschoolers with disabilities?
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Teachers must take the initiative in
establishing a variety of communication
methods, to reach all parents.
Teachers must consider factors such as
parent time and access, two-way
communication, professional appearance.
It is important to persist in communication,
and to evaluate its effectiveness.
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All Rights Reserved.