The time of year has come when teachers and parents exchange information about children’s progress in school more formally through report cards and parent-teacher interviews. Although regular parent-teacher-student exchanges have been happening since the beginning of the year, this is a time for deeper reflection on how students are progressing in school.
Over the past few weeks I have spent a great deal of time in my school listening to teachers share feedback about their students’ progress. As a team, we have spent countless hours discussing, strategizing, and sharing. Although I have participated in meeting like this for many years, I am always touched by how much time and work teacher put into supporting their students. I have also had meaningful conversations with parents who invest time and energy into supporting their child with their academic endeavors. All of these exchanges remind me of how important the teacher-parent-child partnership is in a child’s success.
Research shows that positive relationships between teachers and parents contributes tremendously to a child’s overall success both academically and behaviourally. As a professional who works closely with both teachers and parents, I want to share with you some tips for effective communication between teachers, parents, and students.
1 - I recommend that parents listen carefully to what your child’s teacher is telling you. As a parent we often feel hurt or put off when teachers communicate their concerns. Remember that in most cases your child’s teacher has their best interest at heart. Pay close attention to key words or phrases such as “your child is benefiting from”, “further review of concepts at home”, or “I encourage him to use strategies”. These phrases are feedback for you to better understand how your child is learning, in what areas they have grown and where further growth needs to occur.
2 - I highly recommend that parents come prepared with questions about the feedback that has been shared on a report card. If you are unclear of what the comment means - because truly it’s a lot of terminology then ask! Teachers can explain it to you in a language that you understand. This will better position you to partner with the teacher and your child in their advancement and success. Questions can be related to both academics and the social-emotional well being of your child such as do they seem happy in your class? What kind of interactions do they have with their friends and classmates? How do they relate to you the teacher? Also take the time to share what you see happening when they come home from school. As a mom, we get plenty of feedback from our children both verbal and nonverbal. It could be quite helpful for a teacher to hear it.
3 - As educators, we have our feedback to share however we also need to be ready to objectively listen to parents’ concerns. A parent should leave a meeting or finish reading a report card with the feeling that we are all on the same team - Team “your child”.
4 - Equally important is how we share teachers’ feedback as parents with our children. Yesterday, as I looked over my son’s report card with him I realized is how important it is to discuss with my kids how to look at feedback, understand it and what to do with it moving forward. Feedback is for our growth and we need to talk to our children and students about that.
In my personal and professional roles I am constantly remind myself that we are all working towards the same goal. How we understand feedback and how we communicate to each other is a model for how our children will receive feedback and communicate with others.
As Jews our mission is to impart to our children that there is a greater purpose for all of us. Report cards and parent-teacher interviews are opportunities for teachers, parents, and children to reflect upon the skills that they are acquiring, what they have learned and how they can grow from where they are right now.
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