GSU Blogger - Dr. Sauers
Sunday, October 25, 2015
To Be or Not to Be.....Involved?!
November is Parent Engagement Month and I'm thinking of sending this video out to our parents. Parent Involvement Matters. Parent involvement is one of the key components of our existence as a Title 1 school. As the Parent Involvement Coordinator (or PIC), I am constantly looking for ways to get parents into our school and to get them actively involved. I gave out surveys last spring where parents indicated that they would like more information on technology and how to help their child with math, among other things. So I set out this fall to give our parents what they had asked for. I set up a technology workshop where parents could come learn how to log on to Infinite Campus (access to their child’s grades) and some of the other technology sites that could be used at school or home. I have a database of over 450 parents who receive electronic messages and newsletters from me every week. I thought for sure that I would have a great turnout. I offered it in the morning and in the evening. We had 11 parents total in attendance! The second workshop, “How to Math with your Kids”, was set up through our local Mathnasium business partner. We really tried to hype it up with door prizes, childcare, flyers, and emails. The speaker was awesome and she gave some great tips for working with children in math. Total attendance….16 parents. Several people assured me that this was a good number for a weeknight and for Title 1, but I’m still challenging myself in this area. I want to do something that will really make our parents want to be there. We did a Mystery Math Night last year that was a huge success (over 400 people attended) and we plan to do that again this year. However, my question is how do you get parents involved for the input/feedback/stakeholder portion of a child’s education? Parents come out when their child is participating in something like a play, chorus, or a math night, but what if I really need their input and need to discuss aspects of our school with them? What is a PIC to do??
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Kim, We have had a similar problem at my school. The one thing that really made a difference for us was the institution of Student Led Conferences (SLC's). Prior to SLC's our parent involvement was abysmal. We were lucky if even one parent attended our trainings for parents. My first year here, I did a help your child with math night and only students showed up and they were "forced" to attend. Our first SLC day, we had over 80 families attend their child's conference. I might suggest trying to run your sessions along with SLC's and parents can attend a session before and/or after their child's SLC.
ReplyDeleteYou all hit the nail on the head! If students are somehow involved, the parents will come. Maybe have student math work on display or have a few student groups present what they are learning in math and how they learned it. Even student led workshops or a student group perform to open the meeting. Just a few suggestions from what wee have discussed at our school as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tim and Patrice - involving the students with the activities (delivery and/or practice) would be an incentive for the parents to come; it could even open a dialogue that will take their relationship beyond -
ReplyDeleteParent/Guardian: "What did you learn at school today?"
Child: "Nothing"
I really like the idea of involving the students. Could you involve a large number of students in the planning and delivery of the sessions? Food and giveaways are also always great incentives :)
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of involving the students. Could you involve a large number of students in the planning and delivery of the sessions? Food and giveaways are also always great incentives :)
ReplyDelete