Working with my students I have realized the importance of creating a strong relationship between the students and their parents. It will be very difficult to teach students if what they are learning at home contradicts what they learning in the classroom. It is important for parents to be on the same page as their teachers so they can work together to educate the student, because home is also an educational place, just like the classroom.
Because all the students come from very diverse families with different cultures the classroom becomes very diverse and this creates a educational enviorment not only for the students but for us as teachers. We can learn from the students different cultures and different lifestyles. Letting the parents know how the students are doing in the class will be a great help because it will allow them to have their child work harder when it is necessary and they will be able to compliment them on their good work, but sometimes it is difficult to contact the teacher due to linguistic differences.
Regardless of ethnic differences I think it is the teachers responsibilty to reach the parents to bring what the students learns in the classroom home and bring what they learn at home into the classroom. In the Jonathan Kozol presentation we saw, he emphasized the need to build a strong connection with the parents as a teacher. He said it was important to let the parents know you for who you really are so they will feel more comfortable working together to educate their children. It is important for a teacher to understand the diversity in the class and not try to remove it but work with it and promote it.
No comments:
Post a Comment