搭建家与学校之间的桥梁

建立持久的纽带
As a prior teacher, I sought to build a connection between home and school. I found it only after I began assigning occasional homework to parents rather than my 学生s. 另外, it produced better relationships between several of my 学生s and their parents/guardians because I inadvertently humanized the teaching process through collaboration that built community.

One of my most memorable parent homework assignments was a quick write where parents had to respond to the following question with two to three sentences: If you could be an addition, 减法, 乘法, 或者除号, 你会是哪一个，为什么? I expected parents to write answers that were math-related since I was a math teacher. 然而, 父母发自内心地写信, and with such complete transparency that it brought me to tears and gave me a glimpse of the struggles they faced.

I recall one parent writing that she desired to be an addition sign because she wanted to spend more time with her children. Another parent wrote that they wished to be a 减法 sign so they could subtract poverty from the world. 仍然, another wrote that they would like to be a 乘法 sign so they could multiply their finances. One parent wanted to multiply her children because they brought her so much joy, while another wanted to add strength to her body because she had multiple sclerosis.

I often share this story with teachers who are looking for non-traditional ways to engage parents.

包括父母的传统方式
What are the typical ways teachers use when attempting to engage and involve parents? 许多, 就像下面列出的, 经过尝试的真实尝试是否影响最小, 由于它们的传统性质.

• Requiring a signature on a test, quiz or other documents
• Providing a flyer for Back-to-School night or parent conference
• 给家里寄便条解释学校的情况

I was guilty of all the above and more and questioned why parents weren’t involved in their child’s education in meaningful ways in my class.

翻转脚本
I vividly remember the first time I assigned parent homework. I expressed to my 学生s that when their parents or guardian questioned if they had homework, 他们应该大声而自豪地说, ‘No, 但是你知道!’ I instructed them to give their parent/guardian the homework paper and explain that they needed them to complete it so they could earn homework points. I was cautious about assigning difficult homework because, 毕竟, parents were no longer in school and might cringe at the idea of having to complete anything after a hard day’s work.

Providing homework for parents was a unique way that I better connected with my 学生s and their parents. I always took the time to find out what type of learners my 学生s were so I could create projects that matched their learning style. An accompanying parent homework assignment was for 学生s to read an article to their parents about learning styles and have them discover whether they were an auditory, 视觉, 或者动觉型学习者. Some parents even learned they had a parenting style that was the opposite of how their child learned, 它还促进了更健康的交流.

在返校之夜或家长会议期间, parents would comment on how much they enjoyed the different assignments and were ecstatic that I thought enough of them to involve them in various activities. Including parents in the homework process is an invitation to build community and can help minimize behavioral issues in the classroom because of the connectedness between teacher, 学生, 和家长.

家长家庭作业的转折
Teachers can create assignments so unique it piques parent curiosity and invites them into the learning process. 为了提高家长的参与度, 考虑以下其中一个, 或者设计一个与文化相关的项目:

• Guess how many red skittles are in a bag or how many pepperonis on a pizza (graph data from all 学生s)
• Design an 8-page book from a brown grocery bag and illustrate the family tree, 历史人物, or parent’s employment duties (Smoosh Book: suitable for all subjects)
• Find out who can build the tallest tower using uncooked spaghetti and marshmallows

Teachers can methodically include parents by soliciting their opinion or seeking to understand how they learn or even inviting them to participate in class projects. 而有些人可能更喜欢躲在阴影里, 其他人会感激被包括在内, 即使是小的家庭作业. I believe that when teachers purposefully include parents in small ways, it can validate that they not only care about their 学生s but about the various contributions the parents can make in subtle and profound ways as well.

在加入LAUSD之前，Dr. Ashford was a long-term substitute for a private Christian school. Her tenure at LAUSD has included teaching middle and high school Algebra 1, Geometry, and Robotics. Dr. Ashford is a member of the Instructional Leadership Corps (ILC) and the Council of Black Administrators (COBA). She completed her doctoral studies at Concordia University and went on to obtain an administrative credential at Cal State Dominguez. She loves movies with her all-time favorite being Shrek.