Written by Amy Laura Dombro
Sponsored by: BAEYC Old Colony Chapter and Bridgewater State University
Facilitated by: Dr. Greg Nelson and Dr. Sue Eliason
PI's with Families or Staff
How could you communicate the
attitudes and techniques of powerful interactions to families or beginning
teachers? Do these techniques suggest ways to develop reciprocal,
respectful relationships with families?How do you develop relationships with difficult families or colleagues?
What have we tried or could we to try to develop a staff or family meeting
about powerful interactions?
At night and on weekends I work as a manager at a large retail store. We are always training our associates on "making connections" with our customers and even get a store score on it. I feel it's sometimes easier to know when you have had a powerful interaction with an adult. You often hear a compliment after or a heartfelt "thank you". This often happens with parents too. When you are working as a team to problem solve what is best for their child, you feel it. Sometimes there can be conflict before this happens. I always tell my parents that communication is a key part of a successful child/provider relationship. We have to remember to be flexible and make a parent feel good about the education of their child. I feel the interactions we have with our families are just as important as with the children at times.
One of the fisrt powerful interactions with parents is their first visit and orientation during this time we talk about our program and allow parents to tell us about their child. The person who does this first meeting is usually the first person to make a connection with a parent. After that drop of and pickup are daily chances to make powerful interactions with parents. This can be done by just a simple story about their childs day. Also sharing stories about my own experiences help parents feel connected. If I am having trouble connecting with a parent most of the timekeeper find I can have that powerful interaction at their three month assessment meeting. I find those parent that are imposable to confectioner with are few and far between and they usually don't last long at the school. It is as true with parents as it is with children that trust is an important part of powerful interactions. Sometimes a powerful interaction can build trust and sometimes a lack of trust can prevent any powerful interactions.
By the time I arrive at work most of the children are already there so I don't always have an opportunity to interact with the parents. The owner does a terrific job of handling the interactions and needs of the parents but I do have to say when I get the opportunity to talk with a parent I feel that I have had some powerful interactions with them, when they voice a concern, even if it is just letting them know that something their child is doing is ok and will pass or letting them know how I handled a situation with my own kids as an idea for them to think about. I always hope they walk away feeling a little better about their concerns. I feel that if we can have powerful interactions with the parents that they will know we are also doing the same with their children and hopefully these powerful interactions will spill over to how they handle situations at home.
I think that "connection" with a parent is so important as the child's educator. Letting the parents understand that working as a team will best benefit their child. Each day, I try to make that connection, whether big or small, with the parent about their child's day. I have mostly seen parents very receptive, and pleased to see the care and support that the teacher gives their little one. There are the few that may seem like time is a factor, and aren't really looking for much "connection". At parent conference time, those are the parents that finally get to see the whole picture on their child's growth and development. I think it's the small, daily things that parents appreciate.
I send a daily email to my parents that includes the food we ate at each meal and snack and highlights of the day. I often include a story that highlights what one child did or said that day. I make sure that I talk about each child within the week. I use my IPhone to take pictures each day and send them, last week it was making snowmen in my backyard. I have a digital frame that I use for groups of pictures and have it playing on different days for parents to see. I also text with all of my parents as I find it a quick and easy way to update when someone is running late or even send a quick message reassuring a parent after a rough drop-off. The internet has made our jobs easier in terms of curriculum and ideas for special days. We even use youtube for dance breaks and other things. I have a tablet that the kids area allowed to use at special times with educational apps on it.
I spend alot of time and effort communicating with our families. Oh, we all know the frustration of getting an important point across 3 or 4 different ways and still see those blank looks "Oh, what are we doing today?" People are busier than ever so we try to hit all the learning styles. We do the monthly packet with calendar, newsletter and any special events once a month by paper delivered in their child's mailbox. We also do a business facebook page now. I agonized over this for a long time! I was so worried about one of our children's image being in the wrong hands. I find I am really good at placing pictures of the classroom showing only the child's back to protect privacy. It seems to work well and the pictures of what they are doing are still great. The parents particularly love the Important Dates Ahead: section. They find it easy to quickly reference from wherever they are. Mobile communication is where it's at. Just because I am not of my preschool parent's generation, doesn't mean I can afford to ignore how they communicate!
I have tried to used blog spot to give daily updates for the children and their day. I found that it was not assessed very often and then switched to a Facebook account and had the parents sign release forms to use pictures and kids names and such. I had one family who did not want to use Facebook so, I got away from doing that and now I email a monthly newsletter with our plans for the upcoming month, highlights of past activities, important dates, etc. I just got scrapbook software in which you can create a page with pictures and journal options that you can email or print and post.
In the past, I have used Creative Curriculum Gold on-line to communicate with families not as a group but individually. That program allowed me to share information with them about their child's day via video, photograph, documentation or just a note. It also allowed me to send them progress reports electronically prior to meeting with them so that it could be reviewed and then discussed. It was very well received at that time and many of my parents were elated to be able to see what their child was doing during the day just by logging into their account. I understand the appeal of Facebook because it is free! This "blogspot" website that we are currently using for teh discussion group is another source one could use and Wordpress is another. There are features in the set up of these blogs that can be used to ensure privacy such as only allowing certain email address/users to be a part of the "group" that can see the blogs. Technology is booming and it is not going to be going away - and it is a wonderful way to communicate with a parent during the day to give them the assurance that their child's day is going well!
I often send parents text messages with a photo of their child. Whether its reaching a goal, completeing a task, being kind to a friend or just having fun. I let the child know I have sent the picture to their Mom and/or Dad. At pick up time the child and the parent often share the experience by discusing what the photo was about. It's a nice way to stay connected through out the day. I also post a lot of photos on facebook ( with permission ) of the children doing activities. It's a nice way to share ideas with other providers and also get the point across to family and friends that I'm not just " babysitting. "
We use facebook. The teachers have seperate facebook account the we use for communicating with parents who choose to participate . The parents send us messages or we can respond to them. We aslo have a closed parent group where we can share photos and reminders of upcoming events. It also has come in handy to inform parents of school closings.
"It takes a village to raise a child,"By Hillary Rodman Clinton When Stephanie and I gather to plan our curriculum each month. We are present and connected with each other to validate each other and extend the learning in the classroom for all the individual learning styles in the classroom. I invite my parents and grandparents to Come and Play all the time. A student of ours is from China and America. I asked his grandmother "Po Po" to teach me about the Chinese New Year. She was delighted and brought in Chinese music, chinese dumplings, a horse calendar,and a money envelope for the children for good luck. I also orderd Chinese food for lunch, we had a feast. Her grandson was delighted that his "Po Po" came to lunch with us. At the end of the lunch she thanked me. I looked at her, she had tears in her eyes of joy. I said, to her I did nothing, you were the one who brought so much joy into are lives and the classroom. The grand mother also told me that they would not be celebrating at home with their only grandchild the Chinese New Year. That was a purposeful interaction I as the teacher will never forget! When parents and grandparents are part of the curriculum that is how I gauge our progarm that is validation.
My staff are taught very early on while working for me that my expectations are that they nurture the parents as well as their children.It's true in many schools parents are on site for maybe 5 minutes at drop off and 5 at pick up. It is important to look for opportunities to do an act of kindness during this time.We love to hold the babies to give a parent a quality moment with their preschooler as they say good-bye. We take turns to stand outside at drop off and pick up to allow parents with babies in the car to leave them safely while they go in with their preschooler. Many of our closest parent relationships have started with adversity. Maybe there was a death in a family and we all sign a sympathy card and gather books on grieving from our parent library. Any of us that have been parents themselves having an overwhelming day, know the value of a kind word from someone. I feel our parents love and need to hear from us what a great job they are doing and how glad we are to have their child here. I never forget to work this in to a conference. Maybe it's even the first time it has been said. That's a P.I!
We spend so much time with our staff, it would be good to focus in more on how to make our interactions more powerful with them. The classroom is a busy, dynamic environment. We often go through the day on auto-pilot without too much thought. I know I would like to improve in this area. I’d like to be more aware of what I say and how I interact with my colleagues. The same applies to the families in our school. As a mom first, I always try to weigh my words with thought and caution. I understand, (hope!) that I am speaking to someone about the person they treasure most in the world, and I want to be sensitive to that, and have my interactions be as positive and meaningful as possible.
We give parents newsletters 1 time per month and I can write a little description about the book discussion myself and my collegue took over the winter. I can offer the parents to borrow the book. Also, hopefully, when this concept becomes implemented in our classroom, the parents will notice a change in their children and if they convey this change with us we will be able to explain the new concept of PI we are using with their children. We,also, have monthly parent meetings and monthly site meetings with staff. It would be great if someone could come and talk to parents and staff about PI or perhaps I could give them a brief overview of the book and results we have found since implementing these strategies. Also, we have upcoming parent/teacher coferences. This is a great time to explain to interested parents the concepts learned from the book and share with them how we are implementing them in our class. We are currently keeping journals on each child's progress and we will be journaling P.I.'s. all need reminders about what happens in our busy classroom and notes on PI's can then be conveyed to parents.
In some programs, the staff are as needy or more so than the children. The educators may come from disfunctional families, are single parents, not well educated and are making low salaries. These individuals need "powerful interactions" to build their self-esteem and to build their classroom skills as much as the children need those moments. As Dorothy mentioned, we are sometimes so rushed, we go through the day on auto-pilot and forget the people involved. If we can have just one powerful interaction with one staff per day, it can make a huge difference in the climate of the classroom. It only takes a few minutes to truly focus on that individual to provide what they need at that moment. It may be that extra hand, a comment or a question, instead of an announcement or direction. What types of interactions do others find our helpful in mentoring and validating other staff or colleagues.
I'm not sure how to model for busy families our approach to children. There are some hints in the comments above, and I'm sure technology and documentation are contributors, but it's difficult. We have done simulated classrooms in the evening, where the families bring their children and we have a work period where they for a while simply observe, and then are free to engage with their children in their work. Those were always powerful. I wanted to emphasize I think setting the stage for PI's with families is to make sure the communication and ideas are flowing in both directions. It's not just a matter of keeping families informed, but actively finding ways for them to contribute to the program's offerings in ways that fit. Some good examples of that are given above.
Here is an example of how I am getting the parents involved this week. Our theme is Our 5 Sences. I am sending home a paper bag that says : Please put one or two items in this bag for our touchy feely box and return it on Fri. SSSHHH....dont tell your child what it is. Some parents are putting a lot of thought into this !
I agree with you that it would be great to have more of a flow in both directions as far as communication goes and in finding more ways in which we could have families contribute to our program. In the past, we have asked parents to come in for an "orientation" with their child as an introduction to the Center. During the school year, we invite parents to come in to read stories, share a hobby/talent, or accompany us on field trips. We have had family nights and "art shows" with potluck dinners and picnics. I think it is a great idea to have an evening classroom where they can observe or work with their child! Even better would be a scheduled day in the year for a family day.... how wonderful would it be to have one day out of the year where we would require/strongly encourage parents to take a day to spend in the center with their child and teachers! That would be so very insightful and precious to teachers, parents and most valuable of all to the children! How powerful would it be for them to see both family and teachers connect throughout the day - and so full of PI's! Another advantage of day over night would be less tired/hungry children and more attendance by teachers. I would love to see this happen within our center!
We send out emails to families when we want to communicate with them during the day since they may not be available to answer the phone at the time. We do call them when their child is ill or if there is an issue that we want to privately discuss with the parent. We use newsletters, calendars (which is also posted near the sign in book) and the white board to inform parents of the day's events and activities. But I find that just making sure I speak to them at drop off or pick up and mentioning that special luncheon or share day helps too. They either say..."Yes, I already know that." or "Thanks for reminding me. I forgot." The director encourages family and staff to use email to communicate because it can be forwarded to whomever needs to be informed and everyone received the same information.
I think the best way to communicate the attitudes and techniques of powerful interactions is to use them every time you speak to a parent or co-worker. I think that by modeling the techniques in everyday conversation shows others that you are respectful of their feelings, ideas, and comments. I have worked in a center where there were several challenging families. It was difficult to establish relationships with them no matter what I tried from greeting them in the morning or at pick up time, asking them how they were, how was their weekend, or sharing a special story about their children. But nothing work. I just continued to respectfully greet them and share stories about their children if they chose to listen. I also had difficulty with several co-workers. We tried meetings to air the difficulties and to find possible solutions on how to get along, but, without the other's cooperation, it was useless. Needless to say, I no longer work there and have found a program that encourages co-workers to communicate and solve problems together. Families are very friendly and eager to chat about their children, family life, etc.
I agree that a good relationship with the parents of a child is vital to helping a child reach his or her potential. Often parents want to learn and discover new avenues of helping their children but don't know where to start. I appreciated the tip from another member of this forum when she said that she made all reading materials that she obtained through trainings available to the parents of her students. Allowing and encouraging access to our course materials is such a simple way to provide share knowledge and show parents new approaches to different situations. It also shows families that we are actively learning and growing ourselves, and that we all want each individual child to succeed.
I have had the opportunity to work with many new teachers coming into the field but also teachers who come to work for our agency from other settings. The procedures, regulations and expectations of staff in our agency can be overwhelming for new staff members. It’s really important to create a time in the day where you can review the day and check in with each other. During these conversations PI’s are happening where you can reflect on what is working and what needs to change and why we do things the way we do. I feel we all have patience for children in new surrounding but don’t always extend that patience to our peers. I find that continually trying to improve communication skills between teachers creates a productive environment. In our center communication is an ongoing challenge.
At night and on weekends I work as a manager at a large retail store. We are always training our associates on "making connections" with our customers and even get a store score on it. I feel it's sometimes easier to know when you have had a powerful interaction with an adult. You often hear a compliment after or a heartfelt "thank you". This often happens with parents too. When you are working as a team to problem solve what is best for their child, you feel it. Sometimes there can be conflict before this happens. I always tell my parents that communication is a key part of a successful child/provider relationship. We have to remember to be flexible and make a parent feel good about the education of their child. I feel the interactions we have with our families are just as important as with the children at times.
ReplyDeleteOne of the fisrt powerful interactions with parents is their first visit and orientation during this time we talk about our program and allow parents to tell us about their child. The person who does this first meeting is usually the first person to make a connection with a parent. After that drop of and pickup are daily chances to make powerful interactions with parents. This can be done by just a simple story about their childs day. Also sharing stories about my own experiences help parents feel connected. If I am having trouble connecting with a parent most of the timekeeper find I can have that powerful interaction at their three month assessment meeting. I find those parent that are imposable to confectioner with are few and far between and they usually don't last long at the school. It is as true with parents as it is with children that trust is an important part of powerful interactions. Sometimes a powerful interaction can build trust and sometimes a lack of trust can prevent any powerful interactions.
ReplyDeleteBy the time I arrive at work most of the children are already there so I don't always have an opportunity to interact with the parents. The owner does a terrific job of handling the interactions and needs of the parents but I do have to say when I get the opportunity to talk with a parent I feel that I have had some powerful interactions with them, when they voice a concern, even if it is just letting them know that something their child is doing is ok and will pass or letting them know how I handled a situation with my own kids as an idea for them to think about. I always hope they walk away feeling a little better about their concerns. I feel that if we can have powerful interactions with the parents that they will know we are also doing the same with their children and hopefully these powerful interactions will spill over to how they handle situations at home.
ReplyDeleteI think that "connection" with a parent is so important as the child's educator. Letting the parents understand that working as a team will best benefit their child. Each day, I try to make that connection, whether big or small, with the parent about their child's day. I have mostly seen parents very receptive, and pleased to see the care and support that the teacher gives their little one. There are the few that may seem like time is a factor, and aren't really looking for much "connection". At parent conference time, those are the parents that finally get to see the whole picture on their child's growth and development. I think it's the small, daily things that parents appreciate.
ReplyDeleteGreetings,
ReplyDeleteI enjoying reading your ideas for family involvement. Do any of you use technology as a tool to communicate with families? If so, how?
Sue
I send a daily email to my parents that includes the food we ate at each meal and snack and highlights of the day. I often include a story that highlights what one child did or said that day. I make sure that I talk about each child within the week. I use my IPhone to take pictures each day and send them, last week it was making snowmen in my backyard. I have a digital frame that I use for groups of pictures and have it playing on different days for parents to see. I also text with all of my parents as I find it a quick and easy way to update when someone is running late or even send a quick message reassuring a parent after a rough drop-off. The internet has made our jobs easier in terms of curriculum and ideas for special days. We even use youtube for dance breaks and other things. I have a tablet that the kids area allowed to use at special times with educational apps on it.
DeleteI spend alot of time and effort communicating with our families. Oh, we all know the frustration of getting an important point across 3 or 4 different ways and still see those blank looks "Oh, what are we doing today?" People are busier than ever so we try to hit all the learning styles. We do the monthly packet with calendar, newsletter and any special events once a month by paper delivered in their child's mailbox. We also do a business facebook page now. I agonized over this for a long time! I was so worried about one of our children's image being in the wrong hands. I find I am really good at placing pictures of the classroom showing only the child's back to protect privacy. It seems to work well and the pictures of what they are doing are still great. The parents particularly love the Important Dates Ahead: section. They find it easy to quickly reference from wherever they are. Mobile communication is where it's at. Just because I am not of my preschool parent's generation, doesn't mean I can afford to ignore how they communicate!
DeleteI have tried to used blog spot to give daily updates for the children and their day. I found that it was not assessed very often and then switched to a Facebook account and had the parents sign release forms to use pictures and kids names and such. I had one family who did not want to use Facebook so, I got away from doing that and now I email a monthly newsletter with our plans for the upcoming month, highlights of past activities, important dates, etc. I just got scrapbook software in which you can create a page with pictures and journal options that you can email or print and post.
DeleteIn the past, I have used Creative Curriculum Gold on-line to communicate with families not as a group but individually. That program allowed me to share information with them about their child's day via video, photograph, documentation or just a note. It also allowed me to send them progress reports electronically prior to meeting with them so that it could be reviewed and then discussed. It was very well received at that time and many of my parents were elated to be able to see what their child was doing during the day just by logging into their account. I understand the appeal of Facebook because it is free! This "blogspot" website that we are currently using for teh discussion group is another source one could use and Wordpress is another. There are features in the set up of these blogs that can be used to ensure privacy such as only allowing certain email address/users to be a part of the "group" that can see the blogs. Technology is booming and it is not going to be going away - and it is a wonderful way to communicate with a parent during the day to give them the assurance that their child's day is going well!
DeleteI often send parents text messages with a photo of their child. Whether its reaching a goal, completeing a task, being kind to a friend or just having fun. I let the child know I have sent the picture to their Mom and/or Dad. At pick up time the child and the parent often share the experience by discusing what the photo was about. It's a nice way to stay connected through out the day.
DeleteI also post a lot of photos on facebook ( with permission ) of the children doing activities. It's a nice way to share ideas with other providers and also get the point across to family and friends that I'm not just " babysitting. "
We use facebook. The teachers have seperate facebook account the we use for communicating with parents who choose to participate . The parents send us messages or we can respond to them. We aslo have a closed parent group where we can share photos and reminders of upcoming events. It also has come in handy to inform parents of school closings.
ReplyDelete"It takes a village to raise a child,"By Hillary Rodman Clinton
ReplyDeleteWhen Stephanie and I gather to plan our curriculum each month. We are present and connected with each other to validate each other and extend the learning in the classroom for all the individual learning styles in the classroom. I invite my parents and grandparents to Come and Play all the time. A student of ours is from China and America. I asked his grandmother "Po Po" to teach me about the Chinese New Year. She was delighted and brought in Chinese music, chinese dumplings, a horse calendar,and a money envelope for the children for good luck. I also orderd Chinese food for lunch, we had a feast. Her grandson was delighted that his "Po Po" came to lunch with us. At the end of the lunch she thanked me. I looked at her, she had tears in her eyes of joy. I said, to her I did nothing, you were the one who brought so much joy into are lives and the classroom. The grand mother also told me that they would not be celebrating at home with their only grandchild the Chinese New Year. That was a purposeful interaction I as the teacher will never forget! When parents and grandparents are part of the curriculum that is how I gauge our progarm that is validation.
My staff are taught very early on while working for me that my expectations are that they nurture the parents as well as their children.It's true in many schools parents are on site for maybe 5 minutes at drop off and 5 at pick up. It is important to look for opportunities to do an act of kindness during this time.We love to hold the babies to give a parent a quality moment with their preschooler as they say good-bye. We take turns to stand outside at drop off and pick up to allow parents with babies in the car to leave them safely while they go in with their preschooler. Many of our closest parent relationships have started with adversity. Maybe there was a death in a family and we all sign a sympathy card and gather books on grieving from our parent library. Any of us that have been parents themselves having an overwhelming day, know the value of a kind word from someone. I feel our parents love and need to hear from us what a great job they are doing and how glad we are to have their child here. I never forget to work this in to a conference. Maybe it's even the first time it has been said. That's a P.I!
ReplyDeleteWe spend so much time with our staff, it would be good to focus in more on how to make our interactions more powerful with them. The classroom is a busy, dynamic environment. We often go through the day on auto-pilot without too much thought. I know I would like to improve in this area. I’d like to be more aware of what I say and how I interact with my colleagues. The same applies to the families in our school. As a mom first, I always try to weigh my words with thought and caution. I understand, (hope!) that I am speaking to someone about the person they treasure most in the world, and I want to be sensitive to that, and have my interactions be as positive and meaningful as possible.
ReplyDeleteWe give parents newsletters 1 time per month and I can write a little description about the book discussion myself and my collegue took over the winter. I can offer the parents to borrow the book. Also, hopefully, when this concept becomes implemented in our classroom, the parents will notice a change in their children and if they convey this change with us we will be able to explain the new concept of PI we are using with their children. We,also, have monthly parent meetings and monthly site meetings with staff. It would be great if someone could come and talk to parents and staff about PI or perhaps I could give them a brief overview of the book and results we have found since implementing these strategies. Also, we have upcoming parent/teacher coferences. This is a great time to explain to interested parents the concepts learned from the book and share with them how we are implementing them in our class. We are currently keeping journals on each child's progress and we will be journaling P.I.'s. all need reminders about what happens in our busy classroom and notes on PI's can then be conveyed to parents.
ReplyDeleteIn some programs, the staff are as needy or more so than the children. The educators may come from disfunctional families, are single parents, not well educated and are making low salaries. These individuals need "powerful interactions" to build their self-esteem and to build their classroom skills as much as the children need those moments. As Dorothy mentioned, we are sometimes so rushed, we go through the day on auto-pilot and forget the people involved. If we can have just one powerful interaction with one staff per day, it can make a huge difference in the climate of the classroom. It only takes a few minutes to truly focus on that individual to provide what they need at that moment. It may be that extra hand, a comment or a question, instead of an announcement or direction. What types of interactions do others find our helpful in mentoring and validating other staff or colleagues.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how to model for busy families our approach to children. There are some hints in the comments above, and I'm sure technology and documentation are contributors, but it's difficult. We have done simulated classrooms in the evening, where the families bring their children and we have a work period where they for a while simply observe, and then are free to engage with their children in their work. Those were always powerful.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to emphasize I think setting the stage for PI's with families is to make sure the communication and ideas are flowing in both directions. It's not just a matter of keeping families informed, but actively finding ways for them to contribute to the program's offerings in ways that fit. Some good examples of that are given above.
Here is an example of how I am getting the parents involved this week. Our theme is Our 5 Sences. I am sending home a paper bag that says : Please put one or two items in this bag for our touchy feely box and return it on Fri. SSSHHH....dont tell your child what it is. Some parents are putting a lot of thought into this !
DeleteI agree with you that it would be great to have more of a flow in both directions as far as communication goes and in finding more ways in which we could have families contribute to our program. In the past, we have asked parents to come in for an "orientation" with their child as an introduction to the Center. During the school year, we invite parents to come in to read stories, share a hobby/talent, or accompany us on field trips. We have had family nights and "art shows" with potluck dinners and picnics. I think it is a great idea to have an evening classroom where they can observe or work with their child! Even better would be a scheduled day in the year for a family day.... how wonderful would it be to have one day out of the year where we would require/strongly encourage parents to take a day to spend in the center with their child and teachers! That would be so very insightful and precious to teachers, parents and most valuable of all to the children! How powerful would it be for them to see both family and teachers connect throughout the day - and so full of PI's! Another advantage of day over night would be less tired/hungry children and more attendance by teachers. I would love to see this happen within our center!
DeleteWe send out emails to families when we want to communicate with them during the day since they may not be available to answer the phone at the time. We do call them when their child is ill or if there is an issue that we want to privately discuss with the parent.
ReplyDeleteWe use newsletters, calendars (which is also posted near the sign in book) and the white board to inform parents of the day's events and activities. But I find that just making sure I speak to them at drop off or pick up and mentioning that special luncheon or share day helps too. They either say..."Yes, I already know that." or "Thanks for reminding me. I forgot."
The director encourages family and staff to use email to communicate because it can be forwarded to whomever needs to be informed and everyone received the same information.
I think the best way to communicate the attitudes and techniques of powerful interactions is to use them every time you speak to a parent or co-worker. I think that by modeling the techniques in everyday conversation shows others that you are respectful of their feelings, ideas, and comments.
ReplyDeleteI have worked in a center where there were several challenging families. It was difficult to establish relationships with them no matter what I tried from greeting them in the morning or at pick up time, asking them how they were, how was their weekend, or sharing a special story about their children. But nothing work. I just continued to respectfully greet them and share stories about their children if they chose to listen.
I also had difficulty with several co-workers. We tried meetings to air the difficulties and to find possible solutions on how to get along, but, without the other's cooperation, it was useless.
Needless to say, I no longer work there and have found a program that encourages co-workers to communicate and solve problems together. Families are very friendly and eager to chat about their children, family life, etc.
I agree that a good relationship with the parents of a child is vital to helping a child reach his or her potential. Often parents want to learn and discover new avenues of helping their children but don't know where to start. I appreciated the tip from another member of this forum when she said that she made all reading materials that she obtained through trainings available to the parents of her students. Allowing and encouraging access to our course materials is such a simple way to provide share knowledge and show parents new approaches to different situations. It also shows families that we are actively learning and growing ourselves, and that we all want each individual child to succeed.
ReplyDeleteI have had the opportunity to work with many new teachers coming into the field but also teachers who come to work for our agency from other settings. The procedures, regulations and expectations of staff in our agency can be overwhelming for new staff members. It’s really important to create a time in the day where you can review the day and check in with each other. During these conversations PI’s are happening where you can reflect on what is working and what needs to change and why we do things the way we do. I feel we all have patience for children in new surrounding but don’t always extend that patience to our peers. I find that continually trying to improve communication skills between teachers creates a productive environment. In our center communication is an ongoing challenge.
ReplyDelete