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Showing posts with label Title I. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Title I. Show all posts
Friday, December 8, 2017
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Title 1 Presentation: "Partnerships Matter"
Please review this presentation and if you haven't, stop by the computer lab to sign the log.
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Title I Communicating with Parents
As an
early childhood educator, parents are entrusting you with their precious
babies. In doing so, you are expected to wear many hats– a coach, a mediator,
and a teacher to name a few. But probably the most important role you have is
as a communicator. You need to be a good communicator with your students and
peers, but maybe most importantly with parents. While this can be a daunting
task, approaching communication through a variety
of avenues is manageable and makes all the difference in
strengthening your partnership with parents.
Beginning of the Year Parent Communication
Letter of introduction – This
may be the simplest one, but is often overlooked. Before school starts, send a
letter to your students families introducing yourself and welcoming them to
your class. What is your teaching experience, your teaching philosophy, your
expectations of students and parents? Share a little about your personal life
too—your family and hobbies are a good place to start. Include a picture if
possible. Putting a face with a name will help ease those first day jitters.
Home visits – If you
have the time, home visits can be the most powerful way of getting to know your
students and families and laying the groundwork for good communication. Offer
the option to families so you can meet on “their home turf.” Optimally this
would occur before school starts, but some families may be wary about inviting
you into their home before they have established a relationship with you. There
shouldn’t be an agenda for the brief visit (under 30 minutes), but you might
ask the child to show you his/her room and consider taking a family picture
during your visit which can be used in the classroom later.
Meet the Teacher/Orientation
– Most schools offer some sort of meet the teacher before school
starts, but my favorite is having separate ones for the parents and the
children. Invite parents for their own orientation during the evening. If
they’ve already received your letter of introduction, this is the optimal time
to go more in depth about the curriculum, schedule, and goals. Make sure you
include expectations for communication! How can they best reach you? Should
they expect daily, weekly or monthly written communication from you in the form
of a newsletter? How quickly should they expect an email response from you?
Remember, they are entrusting their babies in your care and they want to know
everything!
In
addition to an orientation for parents, an orientation for children is a MUST!
If possible, schedule small groups to come visit the class during small time
blocks varying with age. Given them a tour of the classroom and then let them
explore or interact with the other children. During this time, you might also
have a special art activity or the give them the opportunity to pick their
nametag or cubby.
Phone Conferences – After
the first month or so of school, share a phone conversation with the parents of
your students. You have been observing and getting to know their children and
this is a good time to share some early observations. It is a great time to
listen to the parents; to find out how their goals for their child for the
school year. Certainly, these types of conferences can (and should) take place
anytime through out the year, but I’ve found this early one to be instrumental
in building the parent-teacher
relationship.
Parent Communication Throughout the Year
Newsletters – Newsletters
have always been a great form of communication and nothing has changed there.
What may have changed is the avenue through which you share your newsletter. Remind
parents of upcoming events, share parenting tips, and include pictures of
children at school. Rarely do I print newsletters anymore. Now, they
are emailed and posted to the website. What a great way to save time, money,
and the environment!
Class or School Website – In the
21st century, the first place we head for information is our electronic
devices. Having basic information available online is a great way to
communicate with parents while also marketing yourself and your school to
prospective parents. If you share pictures of students, make sure you have
parent permission and refrain from using last names if you have captions.
In addition to our school
website which has basic information for the community, our main communication
tool is MemberHub.
This is the one, secure place teachers and parents can find everything for our
school. From the calendar to newsletters to class photo albums, you name it
it’s here. I can also send short announcements (via email or text message) to
parents reminding them to turn in picture orders or bring in show ‘n tell.
Notes or Calls Home – Have
you ever received the dreaded note home from school? Sometimes you have no
other choice to share an issue with parents. When you must do so, make sure you
sandwich the not so good news with something positive both before and after.
And even better yet, is to get into the habit of sending positive notes home.
If you are in the practice of communicating with parents through “just because”
positive notes, then if you have to share the negative news the parents might
be more receptive to hearing it. When you only communicate bad news, parents
tend to tune out!
Social Media – While
you may occasionally find a family without a computer or email address, this is
definitely the exception rather than the norm. In this information age, you
have to meet parents where they are. Take advantage of the technology and communicate
with parents via Twitter, Facebook and blogs.
End of Year Parent Communication
Conferences – While
fall phone conferences help build rapport between parent and teacher and we
might communicate electronically on a frequent basis, face-to-face conferences
are still a must. This is a great time to share your observations along with
student samples and suggestions for home activities to support the child’s
growth an development.
Thank You Notes – Why
should you be thanking parents? You might think it should be the other way
around. Thank parents for the opportunity to learn and grow with their children.
Even for those challenging students (and sometimes especially for those
challenging students), a note of thanks goes a long way.
I’ll leave you with a few
final words of advice: be positive (you get more of what you focus on), think
before you speak (take a deep breath before speaking or writing when upset)
and be careful with email (great for a quick
response or update, but also easy to be misinterpreted). While doing all of
these may seem daunting at first, pick and choose what works for you and you’ll
be on the way to completing the puzzle of effective parent communication. It
will ultimately make your job easier and parents will appreciate it too!
About the Author
This is
a guest blog post from Beth Dickinson. Beth spent five years teaching primary
grades in public school before having children. She has spent eight years as a preschool
director including the last six years as the Director at Hayes Barton Baptist
Preschool in Raleigh, NC.
Friday, March 3, 2017
Classroom Management Tips!!
5 Ways to Decrease Disciplinary Issues in the Classroom
Many educators indicate that mastering classroom management is one of the most difficult parts of the profession. Teachers who struggle with poor classroom management skills will never get their students to learn at their highest potential. Their students are seen off task, talking to their friends, defiant, and disrespectful. These students are often assigned consequences for their actions that do little to change their behavior. These consequences include benching students at recess, after-school detention, parent/teacher conferences, sending students to the office, and Saturday school. The goal in these situations is to change the behavior, not to continuously battle for power with a child in the classroom. Sending them out of the classroom only gives in to what some of them ultimately want.
Here are five ways to decrease disciplinary issues in the classroom.
- Know The Home Environment of Your Students
It is important to know your students on a deeper level than just their existence in your classroom. You might see a particular student for an hour or two a day if you are a secondary teacher, and up to eight hours per day if you teach a primary grade level. A lot happens to a child throughout the rest of the day. It is important that you know about the environment they go home to at the end of the day. A child who goes home to an challenging home environment might not get a lot of attention from their parents, get little sleep because they share a room with their siblings, and likely comes to school without a good breakfast or breakfast at all. This child will have trouble staying on task and following directions due to environmental control outside of the teacher’s control. Punishing that student won’t change anything. We need to get to know them on a personal level. We need to show empathy, caring, and understand. That connection can change everything.
- Get Students to Respect You, Not Fear You
Never confuse fear and respect. Students, who are compliant in the classroom out of fear, do not have respect for their instructor. We often tell students that respect is earned, but don’t hold this notion true for ourselves. We must earn the respect of our students, not expect it from day one because we are their teacher. Respect is earned from getting to know your students on an individual basis and showing that you respect them. Show them you care about them and not look down upon them. Never use power to command respect. Chances are, they have enough people in their world that do that already.
- Set Clear and Concise Classroom Expectations
Long behavior contracts or classroom rules with complicated language will due little to quell disruptive behaviors in the classroom. Make your expectations simple and clear. I believe that the follow three rules encapsulate most expectations for a classroom:
- Treat others as you would like to be treated
- Respect other people and their property
- Be responsible for your own learning
There is no need to over-complicate this process. When a child breaks a rule, let them know which rule they broke, why it is important, and how they can make a better choice in the future.
- Address Student Behavior Individually and With Discretion
During the course of the day, teachers will have to redirect students and address behaviors that are in conflict with the expectations of the class. Instead of addressing the misbehaving student in front of the entire class, pull the child to the side of the room when appropriate or go up to them and address their behavior in a discrete manner. Addressing them in front of the entire classroom will only humiliate them and make them angry with you. Remember, you want them to respect you, not fear you. Above all, never make a child call their parent from the classroom phone during class in front of everyone. Humiliation at this level will only make their behavior worse in the long run.
- Create an Engaging, Innovative Classroom Environment
The best way to decrease off-task behavior is a good offense. Instead of always focusing on consequences, create a classroom environment that they want to be a part of. Students who are excited about learning are likely to be on-task, respectful, and will rise to your high expectations. Instead of having students sit quietly and listen to a lecture or work on individual tasks, create a learning environment of collaboration, project-based learning, and instructional technology. Many disruptive behaviors will disappear when you allow them to move around the classroom and engage with other students. This is even more important at the end of the school day when children have been sitting in desks for hours and hours already.
Dr. David Franklin, CEO of The Principal’s Desk, is an experienced school administrator, education professor, curriculum designer, and presenter. Dr. Franklin has presented at national and international education conferences as is available for school and district professional development sessions. He can be reached at david@theprincipalsdesk.org or at www.principalsdesk.org.
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Did you know you're a Title I School?
Are you a Title I
school?
Title 1 funds aim to
bridge the gap between low-income students and other students. The U.S.
Department of Education provides supplemental funding to local school districts
to meet the needs of at-risk and low-income students.
- What's it All About?
Most educators,
parents and community members have heard the term Title 1 School thrown loosely
around, but what is it? Title 1 is the nation’s oldest and largest federally
funded program, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Annually, it
provides over $14 billion to school systems across the country for students at
risk of failure and living at or near poverty. In fact, over the course of the
20015-20116 school year, federal funding through this program was used by over
56,000 public schools nationwide in order for struggling students to meet state
standards in a variety of subject areas.
Originally, the idea of Title 1 was enacted in 1965 under the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This policy committed to closing the achievement
gap between low-income students and other students. The policy was rewritten in
1994 to improve fundamental goals of helping at-risk students. With the
implementation of No Child Left Behind, schools must make
adequate yearly progress on state testing and focus on best teaching practices
in order to continue receiving funds.
- What is the Purpose of Title 1 Funding?
According to the U.S.
Department of Education, the purpose of Title 1 funding, “is to ensure that all
children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high
quality education and reach, at minimum, proficiency on challenging state
academic achievement standards and state academic assessments."
The basic principles
of Title 1 state that schools with large concentrations of low-income students
will receive supplemental funds to assist in meeting students' educational
goals. Low-income students are determined by the number of students enrolled in
the free and reduced lunch program. For an entire school to qualify for Title 1
funds, at least 40% of students must enroll in the free and reduced lunch
program.
- How are Title 1 Funds Used?
How to use Title 1
funds rests with each school. Title 1 funds can be used to improve curriculum,
instructional activities, counseling, parental involvement, increase staff and
program improvement. The funding should assist schools in meeting the
educational goals of low-income students. According to the U.S. Department of
Education, Title 1 funds typically support supplemental instruction in reading
and math. Annually, this program reaches over six million students, primarily
in the elementary grades.
Types of students
that might be served by Title 1 funds include migrant students, students with
limited English proficiency, homeless students, students with disabilities,
neglected students, delinquent students, at-risk students or any student in
need. Students can be classified as at-risk for numerous reasons. A few reasons
they might be classified as at-risk students include: low academic performance,
being held back a grade for one or more years, or being homeless. There are
other criteria that may place students in an at-risk category as well.
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Title I Sponsored Building Better Relationships Between Teachers and Parents
Building Parent-Teacher
Relationships
Effective communication
is essential for building school-family partnerships. It constitutes the
foundation for all other forms of family involvement in education.
Parent Benefits
Positive parent-school communications
benefit parents. The manner in which schools communicate and interact with
parents affects the extent and quality of parents' home involvement with their
children's learning. For example, schools that communicate bad news about
student performance more often than recognizing students' excellence will
discourage parent involvement by making parents feel they cannot effectively
help their children.
Parents also benefit from being
involved in their children's education by getting ideas from school on how to
help and support their children, and by learning more about the school's
academic program and how it works. Perhaps most important, parents benefit by
becoming more confident about the value of their school involvement. Parents
develop a greater appreciation for the important role they play in their
children's education.
When communicating with
parents, consider your remarks in relation to the three categories that
influence how parents participate. For example, are you communicating about:
Student Benefits
Substantial evidence exists showing that parent
involvement benefits students, including raising their academic achievement.
There are other advantages for children when parents become involved — namely,
increased motivation for learning, improved behavior, more regular attendance,
and a more positive attitude about homework and school in general.
Teacher Benefits
Research shows that parental involvement can free
teachers to focus more on the task of teaching children. Also, by having more
contact with parents, teachers learn more about students' needs and home
environment, which is information they can apply toward better meeting those
needs. Parents who are involved tend to have a more positive view of teachers,
which results in improved teacher morale.
Good Two-Way Communication
Good two-way communication between
families and schools is necessary for your students' success. Not surprisingly,
research shows that the more parents and teachers share relevant information
with each other about a student, the better equipped both will be to help that
student achieve academically.
Opportunities for two-way
communication include:
Communication Strategies
Personal contact,
including conferences, home visits, telephone calls, and curriculum nights or
open houses, seems to be the most effective form of communication and may be
among the most familiar. However, the establishment of effective school-home
communication has grown more complex as society has changed. The great
diversity among families means that it is not possible to rely on a single
method of communication that will reach all homes with a given message. It is
essential that a variety of strategies, adapted to the needs of particular
families and their schedules, be incorporated into an overall plan. Some
strategies to consider include:
Effective communication strategies involve:
Surprise a Parent
Parents are not accustomed to hearing
unsolicited positive comments from teachers about their children, especially in
a phone call from the school. Imagine how you would feel, as a parent, if you
were contacted by a teacher or the school principal and told that your son or
daughter was doing well in school, or that your child had overcome a learning
or behavior problem. When you make calls to share positive information with
parents, be prepared for them to sound surprised-pleasantly surprised.
Research shows that school-home communication is greatly
increased through personalized positive telephone contact between teachers and
parents. Remember, when a phone call from school conveys good news, the
atmosphere between home and school improves. When you have good news to share,
why wait? Make the call and start a positive relationship with a parent.
Phone Guidelines
Sometimes, as a new
teacher, it's difficult to make the first call to a parent or guardian.
Preparing for the call will make it easier. Before making a call, write down
the reasons for the call. One reason can be simply to introduce yourself to the
parent or guardian. Here are several guidelines you can use as you prepare:
American Federation of Teachers, (2007). Building
Parent-Teacher Relationships. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of
Teachers.
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