"Educators understand, respect and support the role of parents and the community in the education of students. Educators communicate effectively and in a timely manner with parents and consider their advice on matters pertaining to their children."
Evidence 1: Letter home to Parents (+Reflection)
In my first semester of the Elementary Post-Baccalaureate Education program, I was assigned to Seaview Elementary School with another student teacher from my Cohort. We were put into a Grade 2/3 class full of eager and engaged students! During our two week practicum at the end of the semester, my practicum partner and I chose to do an English Language Arts unit on Celebrations and Traditions. This unit was designed to encourage students to share why and how they like to celebrate holidays and traditions with their family and friends. My practicum partner and I encouraged the students to be open-minded to other students' cultural differences so that they could learn more about their peers and how they celebrate their diverse cultures. This unit took four days to complete.
The evidence that I have chosen for this TRB Standard is a take-home letter that my practicum partner and I wrote for the unit that we created. This letter was sent home to the parents in each student's planner the day before our unit began so that the parents would have an opportunity to talk with their children about the upcoming unit and so they could help provide ideas for the students to ensure participation and success in the classroom.
We were encouraged to write this letter to the parents by our sponsor teacher so that each family would have the chance to learn about what we would be doing with their children in class over our two week practicum. Through designing this letter, we learned that this was a great means of communication with parents and a good way to communicate with families that can't always be there to pick up their kids after school. We also learned how productive this means of communication can be for student learning in the classroom. This was evident by how prepared and ready to learn the students were the next day!
Moving forward, I plan to continue sending letters home to families after seeing how successful and effective it can be to communicate with families and encourage student learning at home. This piece of evidence encourages learning outside of school which will help foster learning and student participation in the classroom. By sending this letter home, the students were able to take part in Social Learning with their families which motivated and encouraged the students to demonstrate their learning with their peers in class.
In the article, Why Does Parents' Involvement Enhance Children's Achievement? The Role of Parent-Oriented Motivation, Cecilia Sin-Sze Cheung and Eva M. Pomerantz present their thoughts on the importance of parents being involved in their child's education: "Compared with the support that children receive from teachers and peers, the role parents play in children's learning is often considered not only unique but essential." Cheung and Pomerantz continue to say that parent participation in students' schooling is an essential part of student learning. This evidence encourages the parents to take part in the learning that their child is experiencing at school.
As a new teacher, it is imperative that we make ourselves acquainted with the parents or guardians of our students. This piece of evidence does so in a subtle but professional way that also enables our students and their parents to work together. As I move on to a different school for this Spring's practicum, I plan to use this technique of sending home letters to parents to introduce myself and to stay in contact with the families so that we can develop a positive relationship. Other ways that I will stay true to TRB Standard 4 is by using e-mail and weekly reports as a means of communication with the parents. I will be sure to offer opportunities for the parents to get involved in the class by inviting them to school functions as well as other volunteer opportunities. The most important part of this TRB Standard is that it helps ensure that the parents and families of our students are made aware of what is happening in the classroom, and that that they are being given opportunities to be involved with the learning that takes place.
The evidence that I have chosen for this TRB Standard is a take-home letter that my practicum partner and I wrote for the unit that we created. This letter was sent home to the parents in each student's planner the day before our unit began so that the parents would have an opportunity to talk with their children about the upcoming unit and so they could help provide ideas for the students to ensure participation and success in the classroom.
We were encouraged to write this letter to the parents by our sponsor teacher so that each family would have the chance to learn about what we would be doing with their children in class over our two week practicum. Through designing this letter, we learned that this was a great means of communication with parents and a good way to communicate with families that can't always be there to pick up their kids after school. We also learned how productive this means of communication can be for student learning in the classroom. This was evident by how prepared and ready to learn the students were the next day!
Moving forward, I plan to continue sending letters home to families after seeing how successful and effective it can be to communicate with families and encourage student learning at home. This piece of evidence encourages learning outside of school which will help foster learning and student participation in the classroom. By sending this letter home, the students were able to take part in Social Learning with their families which motivated and encouraged the students to demonstrate their learning with their peers in class.
In the article, Why Does Parents' Involvement Enhance Children's Achievement? The Role of Parent-Oriented Motivation, Cecilia Sin-Sze Cheung and Eva M. Pomerantz present their thoughts on the importance of parents being involved in their child's education: "Compared with the support that children receive from teachers and peers, the role parents play in children's learning is often considered not only unique but essential." Cheung and Pomerantz continue to say that parent participation in students' schooling is an essential part of student learning. This evidence encourages the parents to take part in the learning that their child is experiencing at school.
As a new teacher, it is imperative that we make ourselves acquainted with the parents or guardians of our students. This piece of evidence does so in a subtle but professional way that also enables our students and their parents to work together. As I move on to a different school for this Spring's practicum, I plan to use this technique of sending home letters to parents to introduce myself and to stay in contact with the families so that we can develop a positive relationship. Other ways that I will stay true to TRB Standard 4 is by using e-mail and weekly reports as a means of communication with the parents. I will be sure to offer opportunities for the parents to get involved in the class by inviting them to school functions as well as other volunteer opportunities. The most important part of this TRB Standard is that it helps ensure that the parents and families of our students are made aware of what is happening in the classroom, and that that they are being given opportunities to be involved with the learning that takes place.
References
Cheung, C. S., & Pomerantz, E. M. (2012). Why does parents' involvement enhance children's achievement? The role of parent-oriented motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104(3), 820-832. doi:10.1037/a0027183
Cheung, C. S., & Pomerantz, E. M. (2012). Why does parents' involvement enhance children's achievement? The role of parent-oriented motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104(3), 820-832. doi:10.1037/a0027183
Evidence 2: Café Français Blog Post (+Reflection)
The second piece of evidence that I have chosen for TRB Standard 4, is a link to a blog post in which I reflected on an experience that came from my second practicum assignment. In this practicum, I was assigned to Chemainus Elementary Community School in School District 79. Throughout this practicum, I enjoyed many fantastic learning experiences and made memories that will last for a lifetime. One memorable experience I had came from teaching French in a grade 4/5 classroom. I learned firsthand that having French as a specialty makes you a hot commodity in the education field! Originally, I was assigned to a grade 6/7 combined class in which I spent the majority of my practicum experience in; however, after making connections and building relationships with other staff in my new practicum school, I was asked to join a grade 4/5 classroom to teach French. This blog post outlines how this teaching experience went, while also highlighting a notable experience which included the involvement of one of my student's parents in our classroom.
This TRB Standard states that, "educators value the involvement and support of parents, guardians, families and communities in the school". In relation to the definition of this standard, I was able to learn firsthand how powerful and beneficial it can be for the students to involve parents/guardians in their child(ren)'s learning. Regarding this student in particular, she was always a very quiet and introverted individual in our classroom. She was obviously very bright, which was evident in her work and how she went about each task; although, her involvement in some of the hands-on activities that we did in French class was often minimal. On the day that her parent came in to organize the Café Français and teach in front of the class, I saw a noticeable change in this student's involvement. Her hand was constantly being raised to answer questions and or/demonstrate her knowledge in front of the rest of the class. I found this to be quite interesting, and I was incredibly proud of this student for getting more involved in the class, and I believe her classmates were proud of her as well.
Another benefit that came from this experience was the opportunity for me to build a positive, face-to-face relationship with a parent of one of my students. I found that through working with this parent and having ongoing communication with her allowed for us to have a positive and professional parent-teacher relationship. In my opinion, this is a vital aspect to work on as a new teacher - and can only be developed through including parent involvement (PI) in their child's learning. My beliefs towards the importance of parent involvement relating to building successful parent-teacher relationships is supported though Brownlee's article, Parental Involvement in School Benefits Students and Develops Teacher-Parent Relationships: "PI is not only extensively beneficial to the child, but a crucial tool in developing parent-teacher relationships" (2015, p. 54).
The second piece of evidence that I have chosen for this TRB Standard clearly demonstrates my willingness and commitment to involve parents in my teaching. Not only does the blog post illustrate how I included this parent in our classroom, but it also shows my capability to be flexible in how I carry out a unit. My original plan was to have students present their final projects to their classmates; however, when presented with a better idea, I jumped on the opportunity and with the aid of this parent's involvement, we carried out a tremendous final lesson in our Foods unit.
As I have previously said in this reflection, this experience further taught me how important and beneficial it can be to include families in their students' learning. Not only did it allow for one of my students to open up more in class and participate at a greater extent in her learning, but it also made for a great opportunity for our entire class to use the information that we learned over the unit in a hands-on manner, while enjoying a fun day at school.
As stated above in my first piece of evidence for this standard, I believe that it is imperative that all teacher's keep their students' families involved in what is happening at school. By doing so, this will result in more parent involvement that will only enhance your students' classroom experiences. As my career progresses, I will continue to involve my students' parents in what is happening in our classroom. In addition to this, I will look to build more positive, professional relationships with parents in my future classrooms - as I personally experienced how advantageous these relationships can be for a beginner teacher.
This TRB Standard states that, "educators value the involvement and support of parents, guardians, families and communities in the school". In relation to the definition of this standard, I was able to learn firsthand how powerful and beneficial it can be for the students to involve parents/guardians in their child(ren)'s learning. Regarding this student in particular, she was always a very quiet and introverted individual in our classroom. She was obviously very bright, which was evident in her work and how she went about each task; although, her involvement in some of the hands-on activities that we did in French class was often minimal. On the day that her parent came in to organize the Café Français and teach in front of the class, I saw a noticeable change in this student's involvement. Her hand was constantly being raised to answer questions and or/demonstrate her knowledge in front of the rest of the class. I found this to be quite interesting, and I was incredibly proud of this student for getting more involved in the class, and I believe her classmates were proud of her as well.
Another benefit that came from this experience was the opportunity for me to build a positive, face-to-face relationship with a parent of one of my students. I found that through working with this parent and having ongoing communication with her allowed for us to have a positive and professional parent-teacher relationship. In my opinion, this is a vital aspect to work on as a new teacher - and can only be developed through including parent involvement (PI) in their child's learning. My beliefs towards the importance of parent involvement relating to building successful parent-teacher relationships is supported though Brownlee's article, Parental Involvement in School Benefits Students and Develops Teacher-Parent Relationships: "PI is not only extensively beneficial to the child, but a crucial tool in developing parent-teacher relationships" (2015, p. 54).
The second piece of evidence that I have chosen for this TRB Standard clearly demonstrates my willingness and commitment to involve parents in my teaching. Not only does the blog post illustrate how I included this parent in our classroom, but it also shows my capability to be flexible in how I carry out a unit. My original plan was to have students present their final projects to their classmates; however, when presented with a better idea, I jumped on the opportunity and with the aid of this parent's involvement, we carried out a tremendous final lesson in our Foods unit.
As I have previously said in this reflection, this experience further taught me how important and beneficial it can be to include families in their students' learning. Not only did it allow for one of my students to open up more in class and participate at a greater extent in her learning, but it also made for a great opportunity for our entire class to use the information that we learned over the unit in a hands-on manner, while enjoying a fun day at school.
As stated above in my first piece of evidence for this standard, I believe that it is imperative that all teacher's keep their students' families involved in what is happening at school. By doing so, this will result in more parent involvement that will only enhance your students' classroom experiences. As my career progresses, I will continue to involve my students' parents in what is happening in our classroom. In addition to this, I will look to build more positive, professional relationships with parents in my future classrooms - as I personally experienced how advantageous these relationships can be for a beginner teacher.
References
Brownlee, L. (2015). Parental involvement in school benefits students and develops teacher-parent relationships. Journal of Initial Teacher Inquiry, 1, 54-56. Retrieved from https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/handle/10092/11471
Ministry of Education. (2012, January). Standards for Education, Competence and Professional Conduct of Educators in British Columbia. Retrieved from https://www.bcteacherregulation.ca/documents/AboutUs/Standards/edu_stds.pdf
Brownlee, L. (2015). Parental involvement in school benefits students and develops teacher-parent relationships. Journal of Initial Teacher Inquiry, 1, 54-56. Retrieved from https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/handle/10092/11471
Ministry of Education. (2012, January). Standards for Education, Competence and Professional Conduct of Educators in British Columbia. Retrieved from https://www.bcteacherregulation.ca/documents/AboutUs/Standards/edu_stds.pdf
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