For any school it can be hard to make the connection between home and school. Parrett & Budge (2016) point out 6 activities Sadowski (2004) recommends to help establish a link between home and school.
Some of these are school wide, so an individual teacher would not have direct influence, but there are a few things we can control. Personally I have focused on activities and events listed at number 6 on the list above. When I first started I was the head cross country coach for students in grades 6-12 and later that year I added on science fair advisor for grades 4-12. Students loved doing these activities. I was so surprised by the interest in science fair, and to be honest I had a tough time with it, but the students loved it so much I continued doing it. Over the last couple of years I have added to these activities by adding robotics and senior class advisor.
Artifact 1-Robotics
With robotics, I worked with students in grades 6-8. We competed with FLL (First Lego League) in LKSD. This is a challenging program but the students who stuck it out really learned a lot. I have a passion for anything technology based so this turned out to be one of my favorite activities to be a part of. With robotics students brought in their parents or other family members to show what they were doing. We also posted video of the competition to the community Facebook page so the community could take pride in what their students were doing.
Artifact 2-Senior Class Fundraising (senior class advisor)
Senior class advisor was a role that was given to me and I learned to really enjoy it. This past year (2016-2017) I worked with another teacher and we had a great group of seniors. 8 were part of the graduating class and we were able to take 4 students with us on a senior trip (outside circumstances prevented all from going). We worked many weekends trying to raise money by hosting basketball tournaments, running concession stands, or movie nights. We worked with everyone in the community to make sure our events were held in a positive light and to get ideas for more ways to raise money. We raised just over $16,000.
In addition to bonding with students and the community through activities, I also have a classroom website and send home business cards with my contact info during parent teacher conferences. If needed I have also hosted a couple of parent meetings for cross country, the senior class, and PREPARES (a place based culturally relevant science curriculum that allowed me to take 4 students to Hawaii to learn about climate change there).
Another way to get involved is to go to community or sports events. I have made so many connections by just being present. If people see me out in the community and trying to be a part of it the students, families and community members seem to place a higher value on staying connected to the school. As teachers, if we can partner with the community we will see an increase in learning.
- Dual-language classes for students
- English as a second language, GED, and parenting classes
- Home-school liaisons (with fluency in the home language)
- Preschool and early literacy programs
- Early assessment
- Community and school activities and events
Some of these are school wide, so an individual teacher would not have direct influence, but there are a few things we can control. Personally I have focused on activities and events listed at number 6 on the list above. When I first started I was the head cross country coach for students in grades 6-12 and later that year I added on science fair advisor for grades 4-12. Students loved doing these activities. I was so surprised by the interest in science fair, and to be honest I had a tough time with it, but the students loved it so much I continued doing it. Over the last couple of years I have added to these activities by adding robotics and senior class advisor.
Artifact 1-Robotics
With robotics, I worked with students in grades 6-8. We competed with FLL (First Lego League) in LKSD. This is a challenging program but the students who stuck it out really learned a lot. I have a passion for anything technology based so this turned out to be one of my favorite activities to be a part of. With robotics students brought in their parents or other family members to show what they were doing. We also posted video of the competition to the community Facebook page so the community could take pride in what their students were doing.
Artifact 2-Senior Class Fundraising (senior class advisor)
Senior class advisor was a role that was given to me and I learned to really enjoy it. This past year (2016-2017) I worked with another teacher and we had a great group of seniors. 8 were part of the graduating class and we were able to take 4 students with us on a senior trip (outside circumstances prevented all from going). We worked many weekends trying to raise money by hosting basketball tournaments, running concession stands, or movie nights. We worked with everyone in the community to make sure our events were held in a positive light and to get ideas for more ways to raise money. We raised just over $16,000.
In addition to bonding with students and the community through activities, I also have a classroom website and send home business cards with my contact info during parent teacher conferences. If needed I have also hosted a couple of parent meetings for cross country, the senior class, and PREPARES (a place based culturally relevant science curriculum that allowed me to take 4 students to Hawaii to learn about climate change there).
Another way to get involved is to go to community or sports events. I have made so many connections by just being present. If people see me out in the community and trying to be a part of it the students, families and community members seem to place a higher value on staying connected to the school. As teachers, if we can partner with the community we will see an increase in learning.
Resources:
Parrett, W., & Budge, K. (2016, May 18). How Can High-Poverty Schools Engage Families and the Community? Retrieved July 24, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/high-poverty-schools-engage-families-community-william-parrett-kathleen-budge
Parrett, W., & Budge, K. (2016, May 18). How Can High-Poverty Schools Engage Families and the Community? Retrieved July 24, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/high-poverty-schools-engage-families-community-william-parrett-kathleen-budge