BC Educators Standard #4: Educators value the involvement and support of parents, guardians, families and communities in schools
I believe that it is important to work closely with parents and guardians, which is why I decided to invite them to be a part of our community unit. As a part of our community unit in social studies, I sent a newsletter home asking parents if they would like to share about their job with our class, or invite our class to their workplace. Three parents responded that they would like to visit our class, and one parent invited us to his workplace. We had a coast guard captain, a paramedic, and a nurse come to our class to explain their job to the students and share why their job is so important in the community.
The students absolutely loved having parents visit our class. They were thrilled to see the parents in their work uniforms and see pictures and hear stories of what their job entails. I feel that having parents share about their work was a much more effective way of teaching students about these jobs than simply having me describe them. The students were interested in listening because they respected the parents and because it was a new and different experience for them. The parents did an excellent job at presenting the information at an age appropriate level for the students, and made the information relevant to them.
By inviting parents into the classroom to share with students about their jobs, I demonstrated that I value the role of parents and that they can be a part of our learning in the classroom. I communicated effectively with parents as arrangements for made for a day and time to visit, and I promptly responded to their emails. After each visit, I always ensured that a thank you card was created by the class and signed by each student, showing our appreciation for their visit. By communicating with parents, I built connections with them as I got to know them better. This whole experience proved to be very positive as I enjoyed working alongside the parents through their classroom visits.
Coast Guard Captain
Paramedic
Nurse
Amy, this artifact really speaks to your ability to plan. I can tell you worked really hard to bring in parents and community members to teach students about community jobs. I can really tell that you value parents as partner's in a child's education.
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