Empowering Parents

Presented by

Renee Christman& Kathleen Gorham

2014 ELL Symposium

Ideas to improve parent engagement in four areas:• Helping the classroom teacher

• Creating an ELL Parent Night

• Positioning the ESL teacher as a resource

• Promoting cultural awareness

Helping the classroom teacher

• The ESL teacher

shouldn’t be the

only one

communicating

with the family

• Share what you know

• Train staff how to use

interpreters and

translators

• Explain importance of

native literacy

• Clarify and simplify

Providing Suggestions for ELL Parents: Be sensitive to the cultural context of the family when making suggestions. Remember that the parents come from various backgrounds and they often have different expectations about school than your native language students. Build on the parents comfort level before you make suggestions.

Establish a routine for checking and completing homework.

Suggest that parents ask their children to explain what they did in school each day using their take-home papers.

Encourage parents to use their native language with their children. We want their first language to continue to develop as they learn English.

Encourage children to read regularly in their first or second language.

Offer various ways for staying in touch with your email, phone, or notes to school.

R. Christman - 2012 Baldwin-Whitehall School District

How to effectively use

Interpreters for Parent-Teacher Conferences

and other meetings

Baldwin-Whitehall

School District

• Assign a buddy

• Give classroom teachers ownership of parent contacts

• Provide information before unfamiliar holidays

• Encourage native literacywith both staff and your ELL parents

Parent Teacher Conferences

• Schedule with interpreters

• Give reminders

• Allow extra time

• Avoid educational jargon

• Explain what you expect of parents

• Ask parents questions about their concerns

• Facilitate other services & programs

At Open House:• Provide hands-on activities to complete

with students • Provide tasks for parents

• Feed back is always appreciated!

Creating an ELL Parent Night

• Pick an accessible site

• Involve your principals

• Provide interpreters

• Focus on immediate

needs

• Show how to access resources on the district website

• Explain the B and P on our lunch menus

B – Beef P – Pork

• Explain report

cards

& American

expectations of

parents

• The school nurse can explain procedures for medicine and sicknesses

• Again, encourage literacy in the language parents are most comfortable with

And…… provide food!

The ESL teacher as a resource

• The ESL teacher should empower the reg ed teachers by sharing her knowledge and tools!

• Share information

• Build library

collections

• Suggest needed professional development

• Make translations accessible

• Know the supporting agencies

• Provide interpreters for all events

• ESL field

trips build

background

• Check local museums and attractions for

scholarships and corporate sponsors

• Work with community partners

SHIM Family Center

Afterschool Program

• Share community resources

Great resources by Diane Staehr Fenner

Common Core for English Learners Equity Audit Consideration

Questions to Ask: To What Degree…

Strengths

Actions

Role of ESL Teacher

Are ESL Teachers working as experts, advocates, and consultants? Are they effectively collaborating with general education teachers in implementing the CCSS?

Instructional materials & curriculum

Are CCSS-based instructional materials and curriculum appropriate for ELs?

Professional development

Does PD focus on preparing all teachers to implement the CCSS for ELs?

Assessment

Are teachers aware of the demands of CCSS assessments for ELs? Do they adjust instruction accordingly?

EL parent outreach

Are EL parents aware of implications of the CCSS and CCSS-aligned assessments?

Teacher evaluation

Is teacher evaluation for all teachers inclusive of ELs accessing the CCSS?

Promoting cultural awareness• Go beyond the multicultural festival

• Storytellers from different cultures

• Open House provides opportunities to share food,

music or dance

Students are our best resources!

• “You may walk past me

in the hall every day but

do you know why I am

here?”

• Teach their language

• Students will also know what

talents parents can share

• Involve students in clubs and sports

• Share successes with school board

• Encourage classroom read-alouds that are relevant to ELLs in the room

• Find and suggest culturally relevant books to librarian

• Use community events to educate and strengthen school relationships

Make

parents

feel welcome

any time &

they will become

your allies in education!