This topic really hits home with me since it's on what I want to do my AR project. I think the parent involvement with my students is best summed up in what my mentor said after proposing the idea of parent involvement. She said, "You know, it might be hard. The kids wouldn't be where they are now if the parents had been involved."
It's sad but it's so true. These kids don't have the strong parent involvement that is needed in order to excel at school. To be honest, some of these kids don't even have parents and even more so, some don't even have a steady guardian. For example, one girl transfered foster homes mid-semester and technically is now zoned for Karns (but we got to keep her). It's absolutely appalling how uninvolved the parents are and it was blatantly evident at open house. In a class of 30, we had about 4 parents show up (one of which was a couple, so only 3 students were represented). It's really sad to see the lack of parent involvement because I know if the parents even showed some investment in their student's education, the students wouldn't be struggling nearly as much.
And what's worse, there's a rumor about which parents are sweet and understanding and which parents think their kid can do no wrong. It's those parents who have the problem children and it's those parents who need to be the most understanding and involved. Quite honestly, we're too afraid to contact those parents because it seems as if it will only get us in trouble for "not doing our jobs right."
After reading everyone's blog, it seems that we are all surprised by the number of parents that seemed involved. I would have expected more parental involvement at your school.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I wonder what is the ideal example of parent involvement in schools. For example, in movies they always have PTAs etc. I don't even think Fulton has a PTA and the PTSO we are making into a contest to hopefully get interest. What about at your school?
DeleteWe have a PTSO but they don't do a whole lot to interact with the T part of PTSO. We do, however, have different "task forces" that we were supposed to sign up for. My 2 mentor teachers got assigned to be the leaders of the parent involvement committee. On Friday we'll be having a meeting to come up with an action plan of how we can get the community and parents more involved. I'll let you know what we come up with!
DeleteI also would have thought there would be more parent involvement at your school along with mine because of the communities the schools are a part of.
ReplyDeleteI am really interested in if you find a way to help encourage parents to get involved through your action research.
ReplyDeleteSome of these kids have awful "home lives." One of my students lives on her own. Another one of my students has 21 absences because she stays at home with her sister and takes care of her sister's baby.
ReplyDeleteSo, you seem to have the range of parental involvement/support at your school. Do you think it is our job to inform parents of math teaching, quality math teaching, and issues like CCSS that are coming along?
DeleteI think we need to be open with our parents about what we're doing in the classroom and why we're doing it. I think that encompasses all of those things you listed off. I believe this because sometimes it's hard for parents to ask questions for get involved if they don't know where to begin. We need to at least provide them with a way of finding out information.
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