My final post about the ways that teachers can develop confidence will be concerning the area of communication. A solid communication with the parents of your students and adminstrators in your school will only strengthen self confidence and relationships with those who surround you.
It is important we contact parents to let them know how their child is doing.. focus on the positives but their may be some problems you may need to discuss with them. While talking with parents, it is crucial we give them our full attention and let them know we are listening intently. We want the parents to know that we respect and support them. Along with this, we can not let their criticism get to us. You it in a constructive way but do not let it get you down!
I found a great site with ways to stay connected with parents of your students. Click here for the link.
I also think a great idea is developing a parent packet with valuable information for the parents to have at their disposal. Here is a site that lists things you could put in a parent packet. Click here.
I am currently working on putting together a parent packet for another class! I am including multiple resources for parents with special needs children. I think this is a great way to show you care about students in your classroom. Developing positive relationships and clear lines of communication with parents and students can bridge the gap between home and school. When your students know that you communicate with their parents, they are less likely to misbehave or play one of you against the other. When parents join you in supporting their side of the relationship triangle(student, parents, teacher), the parents and you help the students take responsibility for their own job of learning and growing.
Not only do we have to build positive relationships with our parents, but we also must create healthy relationships with our administrators too!
We must respect the people we work with. Gossiping and making unruly judgements are things that never should be done in the school. If problems are to occur between you and another colleague, you should a approach them away from others in a very cordial manner. It is again important to be a good listener. If you put forth effort in developing a strong relationship with your colleagues, you will be able to collaborate and create a support system for yourself!
Having people trust and respect you will help you to become more confident in your work!
I hope all that I have posted about will help you to develop more confidence in your teaching ability and overall in yourself. Thanks for reading!
I agree that commuication between home and school is vital to developing confidence. It is easy to see that in most cases students with engaged parents take more pride in their work and learning. Commuication with parents also shows students that you care about their life outside of school and them as a person. Parent commuincation also helps us as teachers to understand where each child is coming from and what "baggage" they may be bringing to school each day. Thanks for the great reminder.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this post. Communication is so important in many aspects of our lives. Not only is it important to have great communication with parents and administrators, but our students as well. By communicating with others, a teacher is able to build trust and rapport. Also, the more you communicate with others, the more they are willing to collaborate with you and help you when you're faced with a new challenge.
ReplyDeleteThis blog works perfectly for our portfolios in the tab focused on how teachers communicate with other professionals (or something along those lines). I think that in this profession you need to be confident in yourself and you need to have those lines of communication open. Not just to your colleges but also with the janitors in the school building because they truly do so much and I often feel like they dont get the recognition they deserve. I really liked the idea about the parent packets, I have never heard about them, so it was nice to get another idea for ways to open up communication with parents of our students.
ReplyDeleteThese resources are awesome! I definitely agree on the importance of parent-teacher communication. It is so important to keep your parents informed on what you are doing in your classroom. I know parents like to help their children at home with their homework, so it is important that they have the proper resources so they can assist them using the same methods you use in class. It is also very important because parents can be a great resource if you need classroom volunteers, chaperones, or materials for a project. If parents feel included and know whats going on they are more likely to help you out when you need it!
ReplyDeleteOne of the most important things for us as future educators is to understand the importance of teacher parent communication. Getting parents involved is a great way to help a students succeed inside and outside of the classroom. At the same time it is important we are sensitive to students with parents who can not help as much or are not as willing to communicate. For these students we need to try a little harder to understand the parents, or family life at home so we can help each student in our classroom.
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