#ReflectiveTeacher Day 3: Observations and Evaluations

I feel like one of my weakest areas for teacher evaluations has been parent contact. I love working with parents, and eagerly team up with them when they reach out and want to see their child doing better in my class or in school in general. But I have struggled with reaching out to parents as much as I feel I really should. There are many reasons (excuses?) as to why. 

Time: Most years I prep for 4 different classes, and have mandatory remediation time after school. That doesn't leave a lot of time for phone calls or emails. 

Hard to reach parents: Many of my students and their families have insecure living situations, leading to frequently changing addresses and telephone numbers. It can be tough to track down the best way to contact home, or to be sure of who the adult caretaker is.

Insecurity: Even as long as I have been teaching (its been... a while :) ) it is still nerve-wracking sometimes to make that phone call home to a parent, not knowing how they will react to new about their child, good or bad. Or sometimes you DO know how they will react, and that can make you less the eager to call home as well.

Solutions! This is the important part. 

First, I am going to carve out time weekly to make phone calls home. I am putting it on my calendar, putting a sign on my door, and making it happen!

Second, I hopped on VistaPrint, and made myself some postcards just for mailing quick notes home. I'm hoping this will relieve some of the insecurity part of phone calls home, and let me keep in touch with parents for good news and not-as-good news!