Educators value the involvement and support of parents, guardians, families and communities in schools.
As an educator, as well as a parent, I feel the importance of communication with parents and family is crucial in this profession. As a teacher, I am not only teaching their son or daughter, but I am also creating connections. I am building a stable foundation for students success that not only involves me, but also involves the family of the student. As an educator, I keep their children safe and help their children work hard to build their abilities to become successful in their future. I truly believe that it takes a village to raise a child and that this partnership may not be a long one, but it creates trust, respect, and communication. It is important to involve parents, guardians, family and community into the schools whether it is inviting them into the classroom for special activities or whole school events.
During my 490 practicum I was able to sign back and forth books to keep in contact with parents on daily events as well as meet some of the students parents after school. I was able to take students from their classroom out to the parking area to wait for their parents. I was also brave enough to phone a students Mom to come pick her son up when he wasn’t feeling well. As a parent, I know how important communication is and to be involved in this during the practicum was very rewarding.
In PRAC 491, I was able to be in contact with parents much more then my last practicum. At the beginning of the practicum, I was given the opportunity to connect with the parents by sending out a letter introducing myself as the practicum teacher in their childs class. This opened the door to many emails, meetings, and phonecalls with different parents throughout the practicum.
I was blessed to have some phenominal parents connect with me and who were very supportive in my journey to become a teacher. One parent in particular gave me a gift that I will cherish forever! This will be the first thing I put up on the wall of my first classroom!
