Educators value the involvement and support of parents, guardians, families and communities in schools.
Back in 2023 I was working on a Letter of Permission in a grade 2/3 class. Before this I worked for about a year as a on call TTOC, and 3 years as an on-call EA. none of that experience prepared me for my first class however. I found this job very challenging, not so much with the content of the curriculum, but how to manage the class. I will admit that my class was very loud and wild at times. Another thing I was worried for was working with parents. It was something I had never done before and I felt like I would come off very unprofessional. However, due to certain circumstances I had to talk to a few parents. To my surprise all of them were amazing and made my job easier!
One parent in particular went out of their way to meet with me after class to give me pointers on their child’s behaviour. Some of the pointers worked like a charm and made the student feel more comfortable around me. Because of this I made sure to at least briefly chat with the parent after class almost everyday. Another parent met with me and the principle about their child’s behaviour. Over the next month and a half of meetings we finalized on the student going home after lunch as one of the parents would be home at that time. I would make sure the student had enough meaningful work to do in the afternoon and in turn the student was trying their best in the morning. Even though this child would go home in the afternoon the student was doing better in class and the parent was happier.
I have more stories like the two mentioned above but the main point is that working with parents made my job much easier. Not only that, it helped the parents out a lot and eased their anxieties about their children’s education and behaviour’s in school. Finally, I feel it helped the students have a better education in my class.