Sistemas de información y comunicaciones (I)

You should, but may not always be able to, depend on students’ parents to help secure students’ cooperation. Often you may want to discuss formative evaluations with parents to help them understand what you’re trying to get their children to accomplish and how parents can contribute to that goal. Sometimes communications are thwarted by parents, who think all teacher evaluations are summative. In Case 4.55, Mr. Perkins attempts to gain Rolando’s mother’s cooperation. To do so, he must assertively steer the conversation away from summative and toward formative evaluations.

Fostering Parents’ Cooperation 131

CASE 4.55

Mr. Perkins does not have the time to confer with his fifth graders’ parents as frequently as he would like. He does, however, maintain contact by routinely phoning one or two parents each school day. In this way, he is able to speak with a parent of each student at least once every 3 weeks. It normally takes two conversations before parents understand that Mr. Perkins’s intentions are to inform them about what their children are doing, not to praise or criticize students. Here is an account of Mr. Perkins’s first telephone conversation with Rolando Michot’s mother:

Ms. Michot: Hello.

Mr. Perkins: Hello, Ms. Michot. This is Sal Perkins, Rolando’s teacher. I hope you are doing

well.

Ms. Michot: Oh, yes. And what about you?

Mr. Perkins: Just great! I’d like to take 5 to 6 minutes to let you know what Rolando’s working

on in fifth grade. Is this is a convenient time for us to talk?

Ms. Michot: I can talk now, but what kind of trouble is that boy giving you?

Mr. Perkins: Rolando is not giving me any trouble. I want to let you know about some things

Rolando is working on in school.

Ms. Michot: I’m glad he’s not troubling you. Is he going to pass? How are his grades?

Mr. Perkins: We’re just beginning a lesson on how to use mathematics to find the best prices

when shopping.

Ms. Michot: That’s interesting. Do you think he’ll learn it?

Mr. Perkins: Yes, and he should improve both his reading and mathematical skills as we start

examining newspaper ads.

Ms. Michot: It’d be good for him to do more reading. He’d rather watch TV. I’m always telling

him, “Turn that off and go do some reading.” But he just keeps staring.

Mr. Perkins: You’ve just given me an idea! Let’s use his affinity for TV to build his interest

in relating mathematics and reading to shopping. I’ll assign Rolando to make a record of price-related information that is communicated in TV commercials. We’ll use his notes during our mathematics lessons.

Ms. Michot: I’ll make sure he has a pad and pencil with him when he’s in front of the television.

Mr. Perkins: That’ll be a help. Thank you.

Ms. Michot: Anything else?

Mr. Perkins: He’ll be working on expanding his writing vocabulary and using dictionaries for

another week.

Ms. Michot: How’s his writing?

Mr. Perkins: Each day this week, I’ll give him a list of between 5 and 10 new words and for

homework ask him to write sentences using them. It should take him about 20 minutes each night to look up the words in his dictionary and write the sentences.

Ms. Michot: I’ll see that he does it.

Mr. Perkins: Thank you. I’ll call again in about 3 weeks, and we can further discuss what Rolando

is doing in school.

Ms. Michot: That would be very nice. Thank you for calling.

Conferences

Conferences between parents and teachers are more common in elementary schools than in secondary schools. It is quite common for elementary schools periodically to

devote entire school days to parent conferences. This practice is less common for secondary schools, but secondary teachers must also find time for conferences with parents. Consider the following suggestions whenever you plan a conference with one of your students’ parents:

1. Prepare an agenda for the conference that specifies (a) the purpose of the meet- ing (e.g., to communicate summative evaluations relative to achievement of learning goals for the previous 9 weeks or to develop a plan to increase the rate at which the student completes homework assignments), (b) a sequence of top- ics to be discussed, and (c) beginning and ending times for the conference. 2. Except for special situations, invite the student to attend and participate in the

conference. (Healthier, more open attitudes are more likely to emerge when the student is included.)

3. Schedule the meeting in a small conference room or other setting where dis- tractions (e.g., a telephone) are minimal and there is little chance for outsiders to overhear the conversation.

4. Provide a copy of the agenda to each person in attendance. During the meeting, direct attention to the topic at hand by referring to the appropriate agenda item and using other visuals (e.g., material from the student’s portfolio).

5. During the conference, concentrate remarks on descriptions of events, behav- iors, and circumstances. Focus on needs, goals, and plans for accomplishing goals. Avoid characterizations and personality judgments.

6. During the conference be an active listener so that you facilitate communication and thus increase the likelihood that you (a) get your planned message across and (b) learn from the others at the meeting and pick up ideas for more effec- tively working with the student.