Educators value the involvement and support of parents, guardians, families and communities in schools.
Coming out of this final 10 week practicum, I have had many wonderful opportunities to implement this standard into my practice. In my previous practicums, they have been shorter, and I haven’t had as many opportunities to really immerse myself and a big part of being a teacher is creating and building relationships with the parents of the students in the classroom. In my most recent practicum, I have had the opportunity to be a part of a public remembrance assembly, parent and teacher conferences and many one on one meetings. All of these experiences have really helped me develop my comfortability and knowledge on meeting and incorporating parents into the classroom community.
I really do believe that this standard 4 is very interconnected with standard 1: valuing the success of all students. If you believe in the success of all students, then I believe you will focus on the good things that you see in your students. When you relay the positives and great things that you see that your students are capable of to their parents, it will create a better relationship with their parents or guardians.
I am a big believer in focusing with the positive and I think that in my recent experiences, this is a great way to go into conversations with parents. If you only contacted parents when something was going wrong to relay negative behaviour that might be happening in the classroom that you are seeing, then I don’t think it would foster a supportive and favourable relationship. I know that if my child’s teacher only contacted me to tell me negative things going on in the classroom, then it would make me instantly defensive of my child who I know is a wonderful person.
Some of my big take-aways from my practicum are always leading with the positive, making sure there is open communication with all parents, welcoming all parents into my classroom, and making sure that parents know or are involved with the learning being done in the class community. I think these principles will be good guiding ideals that will help me to move forward in my teaching career. I know that in this profession there will be difficult situations, but I truly believe that if I lead with these values and principles in mind, that it will be a help, never a hinderance.