Connection, what does that mean for me? I will start with a story of two dogs. There once were two dogs who lived on separate sides of the neighborhood. Both were white, American Eskimos. They had not met before. One day they came upon each other on their daily walk. This lead two families to meet each other. Today we spent a lot of time together like cookouts, adventures to Block Island etc. The dogs though a bit older are truly best pals.
The Mirriam Webster dictionary describes the connection here. It could be a logical connection like people who happen to attend the same school, or more personal connections like those we have with family and close friends. I think about in school how can I make that happen for our families and students. Ken Robinson says that schools work when they are highly personalized, support teachers, have tight links with community, and a broad and diverse curriculum. Students should be involved both in and outside school.
I think back to my life as a student. I grew up in the suburban close knit district of Warwick, Rhode Island. My school was fairly close to my house, and many teachers lived in the Warwick area. My parents were lower middle class. My mom stayed home and my Dad worked two jobs until I was in about the 1st grade. The connection with them to school was minimal. For me, I was a good student, not a behavior problem so teachers likely had no reason to call home. The only opportunities teachers met my parents was the yearly open house, or class performance. My younger brother had an IEP for ADD so they were guaranteed at least one extra opportunity to meet with teachers. My dad worked at the local Stop and Shop managing the bakery, and often saw some of my teachers.
When I entered RIC I had my mind set on the Special education field. I learned a lot about lesson planning, IEP’s etc. We had some opportunities to communicate with parents but it was minimal as an undergrad. At the time I felt nervous about speaking to families. In 2014 I received a long term subbing position in a middle school autism classroom in Providence. This environment required a lot of communication with parents. Some parents were not English speakers. In the Special education field there is a lot of specific jargon. They are expected to know about IEP’s and the needs and accommodations of their child.
In 2018 I became an inclusion teacher at West Broadway Middle school. I had to build connections with my coteachers as well as families. I worked primarily with English and math. Most of my students had reading and math goals. The means of communication were Kinvo(which translates into home languages) and phone calls. Some parents rarely answered or returned calls. Some Kinvo texts were brief. When meeting parents at IEP meetings, they were quiet. They asked questions about their child’s education but seemed disconnected with it. What did their child need to do for homework? How do they bring up their grade? Some parents never showed up to IEP meetings or parent teacher conferences.
Then March 2020 happened. Kids and families were home navigating this online environment. Zoom was the preferred method for communication. Many did not have internet capabilities for their child to be online. How can I improve family communication and keep them a part of the classroom?
Pre-2020 according to Mark Prensky(2001) I would characterize myself as a techno-traditionalist moving to become techno-constructivist. I believe that technology is so much a part of our lives that we can’t ignore it. I am constantly learning about new ways to use technology effectively. I do agree somewhat with what Turkle says in “Connected but Alone?” The kids I am working with are in the puberty ages where building relationships is so important. I see kids that spend so much time on games that they are detached from the real life of school. It is important for me to find a balance between the real world and the technological world. Virtual is not a substitute for real human connection. It will be important for me to find ways to build on relationships both in person and online.
I decided for my project to create a website that can be accessed on chromebooks and phones. I explored some different website hosts but came back to Google classroom. Parents and students have the most familiarity with this and could work to navigate it. I will use this as a central location for resources, and what their child is working on in school. Since I am an inclusion teacher I do not have my own classroom, but have a caseload of 7th and 8th graders. I will have an IEP resource section focused on things to bring to an IEP meeting, differences between types of meetings (annual, 3year eligibility, permission etc.), and what the different parts of an IEP mean. I will also have a transition section for parents of children who are turning 14 with resources geared towards them. Each class I service will also have their own section with homework, links to their google classrooms, resources for assignments, etc. At the beginning of the school year parents will fill out contact information with preferred numbers, communication methods (text/phone call) language, and best time of day. My goal is to contact each parent at least once per month, not counting IEP related scheduling and meetings. I also have a goal to learn some Spanish. It would be really helpful to have conversations with Spanish speaking families without the use of an interpreter. Also as things start going back to normal, there can be more school community events like bingo nights etc. These help us to build relationships in an informal setting.
I believe that strengthening parent and family connections is essential for students to feel comfortable and safe in the classroom environment which builds classroom relationships which is the foundation for relevance and rigor. It is important for me to find deeper ways to connect with parents and families that work for them. According to Wesch, “Crisis of Significance”, “when students recognize their own importance in helping to shape the future of this increasingly global, interconnected society the significance problem fades away.” The environment of learning, including the home, is more important then the content. Students may not remember how to solve a quadratic equation but they remember you and how they felt in your class. This is what I believe should stick with students as they become adults and the future movers and shakers in our society. I think back to watching Boy Meets World and the relationship Mr. Feeny has with his students. This video is the environment I want to create for my students.
