Connecting With Parents

     Connecting with parents from a non English speaking origin can be difficult due to the language barrier. As a daughter of immigrant parents who did not understand English, it was often difficult as an elementary school student. My parents frequently asked me to translate parent-teacher conferences, permission slips, school announcements, etc. As an elementary student, this was difficult to really get the information across. This is where Talkingpoints.org comes in 

    

Talking Points is a website that helps with parent engagement. This website can be accessed anywhere with teacher-to-parent announcements that can be translated into different languages. Students who don't have English-speaking parents at home struggle the most with parental involvement in their education. Parents who don't speak English are often in the dark about the school system. This often leads to no relationship with the teacher because they don't feel comfortable. Talking points also offer surveys that may help teachers know what home may be like for students. This significantly increases the engagement of parents from different backgrounds. Talking Points are used by three million teachers and families and have been very successful in parent involvement. A challenge may be if a family can't access the internet at home. These same reminders/surveys can be sent by paper. ( Talking Points )

    Students often times shove papers down their backpacks as soon as their teacher hands them out. This leads to unreadable papers that may be covered in the students' lunch. This can be solved by using folders that come home every day. As the teacher, you will need to make it a norm that your students bring that folder back daily and have their parents or guardians check it daily as well. To make sure a parent or guardian has checked the folder a daily signed sheet could be an option.  Here is a video about how you can set up a take home folder