Here is my vlog on my thoughts about this semester and the different modules that we have learned about.

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Part 1~

Family Engagement

Ideas for getting started: Article (1)

The Beginners Guide to Connecting Home and School

As mentioned in the article it is important to have a connection between home and school as this supports success for students academically and can improve the way they think and learn. If a student is having a hard time with their home life they aren’t going to succeed as well in school. It is important to incorporate assignments and or homework that students are able to make connections with at home as well as in school. This will help students feel more motivated and that there is a purpose to completing their work and they will have a positive mindset when it comes to such projects as well as assignments. Another way to connect home and school as mentioned in the article would be creating real life connections and or lessons to help students really picture and understand why they are learning what they are being taught. Helping students create more meaningful connections after going home from school is important because as an educator you need to see what the student is capable of completing outside the classroom but it also lets the student think on a deeper level when surrounded in maybe a more comfortable environment being their home.

Teacher-Tested Strategies and tips Article (2)

3 Ways to Make Meaningful Connections with Your Students

After reading this article and hearing that this teacher likes to take the first few minutes of class to connect with their students unrelated to school and just talk to them about things they like to do or if they have anything planned for the weekend. Not only is the teacher connecting with their students but they are also able to tell which students struggle more with their home life and love to come to school as they can tell by the way they answer questions. This allows the teacher to build more meaningful relationships and let her students know that she is there for them and not just to teach constantly. This allows the student to form a connection with their teacher and make it more exciting for the student to want to go to school when maybe they didn’t before. Listening to a student’s personal lives and thoughts also as mentioned in the article lets the teacher know that they feel trust because she took the time to listen. Another idea mentioned in the article was to attend students’ extracurricular activities as it will make them feel seen as that they matter. This is also a great way to interact with students’ parents and keep them updated if any concerns come up. Being a teacher is not easy, and of course everyone has busy lives but showing up to something like that means the world to them and shows them that you’re available if they need. 

Article (2) Effective communication is key 

It is important to have a mutual understanding when it comes to teaching/parent relationships and of course you want the teacher and parent to be on the same page when it comes to the student and or child. With all of this new technology and new advancements to communication, it is actually making it harder for the parents as this is all new to them and they didn’t grow up in this era so it is taking some time to get used to. That is why it is important that when meeting parents at the beginning of the year it is crucial to let them know what is going on so they are not thrown off at any point or unaware of how their child is doing in the classroom. Also keeping parents in the loop to keep them comfortable with everything going on.

Board of education meeting:

Overall the meeting was very informative as there were different aspects to it as they covered different topics and had students from the elementary school present. There is a lot that goes on in a board of education meeting so it is important to go and I will be attending more to get a better idea of what topics and things they discuss to better the school and prepare students for achieving new learning skills

20 Tips for Developing Positive Relationships With Parents

It is important to maintain positive relationships with parents and some ways to show that you care as mentioned in the article are to know parents’ names and when you see them address them properly as this shows respect to the child and parents. Another way to increase positive relationships with parents is to communicate frequently and make sure if there’s a translator needed that one is provided as that will improve communication greatly as well make the parents feel more comfortable speaking about any concerns they might be having. Speaking about the way we communicate, it is important to not assume about anyone’s family situations. Making sure as an educator that you’re asking questions about the child to the parent as well also shows that you care and are there for that student. 

Building teacher-parent Relationships~ ELL Parent Involvement

It is definitely important for English Language Learning parents to be involved with their child’s school work as it is learning a new language for the both of them and they want to see them succeed as it is not easy transitioning to new material in a whole different language. Students having their parents involved in their academic life can impact them tremendously and see better results in their studies overall.

Part 2

~The plan for communicating with parents:

I am hoping to teach Kindergarten, first, or second grade, and with the younger students I want to have a clear understanding of what expectations are and how communication will be throughout the school year so that if any parents have concerns they know they are able to come talk to me. As mentioned in some of the articles above, it is very important to have good relationships with students as if anything is going on at home and they happen to tell you, you are able to see if help is needed and understand if the student isn’t performing as well in the classroom as they normally would. I also agree that it is important for teachers to have good relationships with their students’ parents as well as  remembering things parents have brought up about their child to the teacher and knowing what can be done if action is needed. I also think the way someone talks is important and so being mindful of how we speak to parents is also very important as well. Making sure parents are on the same page with the teacher is also important as they should know what is going on with their child.

References

Dell’Angelo, T. (2014, December 10). The Beginners Guide to Connecting Home and School. Edutopia., https://www.edutopia.org/blog/beginners-guide-connecting-home-school-tabitha-dellangelo

Provenzano, N. (2014, February 24).  3 Ways to Make Meaningful Connections with Your Students. Edutopia., https://www.edutopia.org/blog/make-meaningful-connections-with-students-nick-provenzano

Stephens, D. (2014, September 11). Back-to-school night: The ultimate conservation starter for a successful school year. Edutopia., https://www.edutopia.org/blog/back-to-school-conversation-starter-darri-stephens

Aguilar, E. (2011, September 23). 20 Tips for Developing Positive Relationships with Parents. Edutopia.,https://www.edutopia.org/blog/20-tips-developing-positive-relationships-parents-elena-aguilar

Borovoy, A. (2011, April 16). ELL Parent Involvement, Youtube., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_-aLWOk9Og&list=PLvzOwE5lWqhRPzheyprYHcA8SZl9Qvnpz&index=4

In the documentary, Plugged in: The true toxicity of social media we can see how there is a lot of talk about how phones and social media have become more addictive to young adults as well as teenagers and adults. So many of these people have mentioned in the documentary how it impacts such a big part of their life as many aspects take place when using the phone and going on social media. There are people who judge others and then it becomes a negative place where people can enter really dark places in their mind and unfortunately it becomes too late to help them. This is why there needs to be a limit on social media and how much one should be using their phone in a day. It becomes very addictive and you may pick up your phone out of habit because it is just something that everyone has become used to. This is not only horrible for our minds but affects the way we perform in all aspects of life. When it comes to school, especially for elementary school students that are old enough for phones, this can become a problem as students are still young and may not know their rights and wrongs when it comes to phone responsibilities. Too much screen time can also lead to other problems with children’s concentrations as we have read back in previous blogs that too much screen time can lead to ADHD and other mental delays that children may face in school. As students Get older it may become more of a problem when it comes to social media this is the main way that students get bullied online as it continues into school many teenagers like to compare themselves to things that they see on social media that may be fake or just unrealistic and it sets a standard that for some people may feel like it is impossible to achieve when it is totally okay to just be yourself. there is so much influence out in the world that is at the fingertips of every individual with a phone or a computer so it is important to let these people know that they can be who they want to be and to not let anything go to their head as it can lead to suicide and other negative factors that occur when technology and social media take over

Personally when it comes Technology for Elementary School students no phone should be allowed out obviously depending on the grade 5th and 6th graders might have phones  as they might walk to school and walk home. the use of Technology of course will be incorporated into lessons for the students but I think bringing up to the students to seriousness of how technology and social media can affect someone is important to do I do think that it is hurting a lot of teenagers homemade being in middle and high school and it can really damage a person so it’s really important to make sure that everyone is aware of all the possibilities when it comes to this topic. 

For the article The Scientific Debate Over Teens, Screens, and Mental Health, there is definitely important information in this talk that we can listen to on this website about how important it is for teenagers to be aware of how time-consuming phones are and what it can do to someone’s Mental Health over long periods of time. a lot of people always say that they’re not on their phone that much and they’re not addicted to it but whether they realize it or not they have become addicted to their phone because so many people don’t realize that they literally can’t function without it. 

In the article Tips For Healthy Social Media Use: For Parents and Teens There are a bunch of tips listed for parents on what to provide for their kids on how to use social media appropriately. some of these tips include that parents understand the apps that you are letting your kids use when you give them their phone make sure that you are having conversations with your child and keeping up to date and making sure that they are okay, make sure that if your child needs to talk to you about something that you are there and ready and open to listen if you yourself as a parent have social media make sure you are modeling positive behavior so they can follow, lastly make sure that they don’t overstep and there are boundaries and they have limits and can only use social media for a certain amount of time and when they get to a certain age.

References

Willett, R. (Director). (2019). Plugged-In: The Toxicity of Social Media Revealed. [YouTube Video]. Brick in the Wall Media. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHzwMLx-rKc

Kamenetz, A. (2019, August 27). NPR’s The Scientific Debate over Teens, Screens, and Mental Health. National Public Radio. https://www.npr.org/2019/08/27/754362629/the-scientific-debate-over-teens-screens-and-mental-health?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20190901&utm_campaign=ed&utm_term=nprnews&utm_id=25646263(2023, January 20) Tips For Healthy Social Media Use: For Parents and Teens. University Health of Utah. https://healthcare.utah.edu/healthfeed/2023/01/tips-healthy-social-media-use-parents-and-teens

The lesson that I chose was Lesson 4, Stress, Coping, and Wellness. It is very important to have good coping methods to deal with stress and mental health issues as it is very common for students to feel overwhelmed while in school. Having a lesson dedicated to coming up with different ways to cope with positive and negative stress is such an important lesson to have as some students may be struggling and not even know it. Overall this would be a great lesson for older elementary school students, maybe grade 5 and 6 as it would be a bit confusing for younger students and not enough information for older students as they are exposed to more. There were honestly a lot of great aspects about this lesson and the information it has, as well as the pre lecture and post lecture. The assignment that can be done at home is also a great opportunity for students to get a chance to practice mindfulness meditation at home, in a space they are most comfortable with and really feel it. The lesson identifies the different aspects of stress and how if not handled properly it can lead to drugs and poor decisions. The lesson also gives a scenario of 2 girls talking about their friend Sarah who is dealing with the loss of a close family member and is coping with it poorly by choosing to vape. The friend that suggests trying to talk to her again and maybe seek help from an adult is using a positive coping method by trying to help her friend express the way she is feeling.  The lesson is able to explain the causes and effects of what stress can do to the body and how you can cope with it properly. One way that I might improve the lesson if it were in my classroom would be to simplify it a bit as I want to teach kindergarten through second or third grade students and this lesson might be to complex for them to understand, but I still want them to get an idea of what stress is and how they can deal with it the right way. As I said earlier the lesson is really good but I definitely think it is targeted more at older students who maybe have a little bit more background knowledge on what stress may actually feel like. 

Reference:

(n.d)., Halpern-Felsher REACH Lab., Lesson 4, Stress, Coping, and Wellness https://med.stanford.edu/halpern-felsher-reach-lab/preventions-interventions/Safety-First/safety-first-lesson-4.html