Calling the rents'

Friday, I called home to two parents.

I set a goal early in the week (6:30 a.m. Saturday morning) to communicate positive feedback to parents of students who are doing particularly well. To be honest, my goal was set only to have a third goal for the week.

It turned out to be an awesome experience and one I plan to continue.

If you are a student teacher, you are probably scared or unsure of what to say to parents even if you are calling to tell them their child is succeeding.

Here are some tips from my experience:

1. Say hello and introduce yourself
For example, I said, "Hi. Is this the parent of _____? (They said yes.) I said, "My name is Miss Gibson and I have ____ in my Newspaper 1-2 class.
2. Tell them why you are calling
For example, I said, "I am just calling to let you know ___ has really improved this week as far as speaking during class discussions and I really appreciate her feedback. I just wanted to you to know she is doing well."
3. Realize they will probably be shocked that you are calling for a GOOD reason
Be prepared to restate what you just said in different terms. I think I had to repeat myself twice to both parents because they needed a second time to comprehend what I was saying.

Calling parents was a wonderful experience. It really showed me that there are parents who want to be involved in their child's education and want to hear how their child is doing.

What would it look like if more teachers were proactive about contacting parents instead of reactive to problems when they occur?

Nothing short of amazing, I'll say.

Pardon the interruption...

Feb. 12, 2010 marked Abraham Lincoln's (201) birthday. It also marked my third (maybe fourth) two-hour delay in that past few weeks.

Throw in a snow day and President's Day and you have a pile of lesson plans that haven't been used yet.

When you get behind due to weather delays or other unwanted (in some cases, wanted) time off school, you have to make a series of choices in regards to student learning.

I talked to two veteran teachers, Beth Bloom at Amelia High School in Batavia, OH and C.E. Sikkenga at Grand Haven High School in Grand Haven, MI.

Sikkenga said he recommends young teachers look at cancellations as a gift and use them as a chance to recharge. I think we can all agree that a few extra hours of sleep can go a long way.
Secondly, Sikkenga said it is important to know your content and be aware of what is most necessary to teach.

He said, "A lot of effective teaching is not as much knowing what you have to teach so much as knowing what you don't have to teach. A lot of that comes from experience."

Bloom also said she recommends student teachers enjoy snow days and cancellations and to be flexible. While it can be challenging to meet deadlines and state standards when time is lost, eventually, Bloom said, "Everything still manages to work itself out."

Overall, I think it is important to plan effectively. This is something that has been a challenge for me so far. It's hard enough to plan for things to go well, let alone plan for potential problems.

But I think if I make planning a priority, I will see results that I am not seeing now.

Bulletin board

This is my bulletin board for student teaching. It talks about where I am from and the things that are important to me. :)

Also, my kids just had a new issue of the newspaper. Check it out at www.hilite.org

So what?

So you're a teacher. You have a name badge, a desk, and a red (in my case, purple) pen.

So what?

Why should students trust you? What makes you credible to students?

Today I gave my students a reason - and I want to challenge veteran and rookie teachers alike to do the same.

Here's what I did.

Last summer, I worked for the BSU Daily News as a feature writer. I covered Muncie's dullest and Muncie's finest - from Farmer's Markets to murders.

One of my favorite experiences working for the Daily News stems from a simple walk to class one Tuesday morning. I had consistently seen an old lady smiling and waving at students as they passed by on their way to campus. It had become so familiar that it didn't occur to me that this grandma-looking lady was out of her element. I began to wonder, "Why in the world would she want to live in a college-dominated neighborhood?"

So I asked.

The result?:
Story: http://tinyurl.com/ydlttkx
Multimedia piece: http://apps.bsudailynews.com/files/grandma_neeley/index.html

I shared this with my newspaper staff today, explaining that I too have been "just a reporter." Every journalist starts somewhere - and I think it's important to show students where you've come from. They see the destination daily in your teaching but I would argue that isn't enough to earn the trust of a high schooler.


Try it. Let me know how it goes.