Tonight I was driving home from work while talking on the phone with my wife. We were simply rehashing our days when the house phone rings in the background. My wife went over and noticed that it was my son’s school calling and instantly said, “I wonder what he did wrong now.” She then hung up on me to take the phone call from the school.
Now, I should explain that my son is…well my son. What I mean is that if he is anything like I was in school, we will be getting many phone calls from the school. That’s not to say I was “bad” kid, but I certainly made sure all my teachers earned their paychecks. I knew once I had two sons, that my wife and I were in for a fun, wild and sure to be long ride. In fact, we’ve already had a few phone conversations with his teacher and assistant principal. Yes, he is only in kindergarten but I did say he was my son. 🙂 Back to the phone call…
As I walked in the door my wife was still on the phone with his teacher and gave me a “thumbs up” sign. After hanging up, she informed me that the phone call was to let us know how well our son was doing both behaviorally and academically. She even went so far as to say he was a good leader in the classroom and a great role model to other students. Needless to say I was a proud father.
I instantly walked over to my computer to email his teacher thanking her for the call. The positive parent communication is something I do as a teacher and now have been on the receiving end of it as a parent. Too often parents only hear when things go wrong or if there is a problem. My own wife instinctively thought something was wrong when she saw the caller ID. This phone call from my son’s teacher reaffirmed my belief in the value of positive phone calls and emails. As a parent now, I can clearly say it is a great thing to receive and I wish all teachers would do this as often as they can. Mark it in your calendar or put it in your planner but commit to calling a designated number of parents a week to share good news.
I agree positive phone calls are great. It always seems that teachers only talk to you about your child if there is something wrong. My son is only two but the only time I hear from his teacher at daycare is when she is telling me he stuck his hands in his pants again, he put is hand in the toliet, or he won't ever sit a group time or do art projects. I would love it if they would walk up to me and tell me he had a great day.
Just found your blog and wanted to let you know I've added you to my blog roll.
I agrre that positive calls is a great way to build a teacher parent bridge. I work in an elementary school and I see that some teachers threaten students(do not make me call your mom, or dad..). Teachers should more often call or email with good news. I believe that our students mostly do more good that bad and they have to be recognized and praised for the good that they do.
I receive phone calls from my 13 year old school and I think the same thing, what did he do now, why is he getting a detention. He's a social person who likes to talk (I have no idea who he inherited this from :)). After a frank conversation from his teacher who had not given out a detention in 5 years and talking with my son, the relationship has improved tremendously and she emailed about the positive change and improved grade of my son. Everybody loves to hear positive feedback about their children and I believe the children should be told about the positive feedback. Hopefully this will be incentive for your child to keep up the good work.
Josh, I definitely agree with you that every teacher should make positive phone calls to parents. There are many articles out there that support the use of positive phone calls home. In her article, Susan Graham-Clay shows the impact of positive phone calls to parents. http://www.adi.org/journal/ss05/Graham-Clay.pdf
At the beginning of the year it is a great way to develop communication with parents. I would rather have my first call to a parent be a positive conversation as opposed to calling a parent for the first time when their child is behaving poorly in class. I work with high school students with special needs that need a lot of positive in encouragement. I have observed multiple times that the day after a positive phone call was made to a parent, the student came to class more motivated.
Having parents in the classroom during the school day might be beneficial in elementary school and early on in junior high, but I do not think it would be a good idea for teachers that work in high school. I usually agree with your blogs, but I kind of have to disagree with this one. I work with a lot of students with special needs who have over bearing parents. I feel like the parents would be critiquing my every move, or that their child would act differently. Students might also act differently in class when their parents are there. For example a student who is very opinionated and talks a lot might be quiet and not participate when their parent is in the room. I think that parents can show involvement in their child’s education by regular communicating with teachers, attending curriculum nights and parent teacher conferences, and supporting their child at home with school work on a nightly basis. Overall I think it might put more pressure on both the teacher and student. Thanks for the blog.
I completely agree with you. A call from school has become dreadful for students and parents alike. My parents never recieved a call home from school that was positive. I was never much of a trouble maker so they never recieved any negative calls either. Aside from report cards and parent-teacher conferences, my mother and father were oblivious to my school life. In high school, the teachers told me that my parents shouldn't come to parent-teacher conferences unless I was performing poorly; my parents were even further in the dark.
I think positive calls home can be motivating for the student as well as nice for the parent. It is high time that teachers make it a point to create positive relationships with parents. I think positive relationships make the hard calls less stressful for both sides because a collaborative dynamic has been established.
I agree that this is a great thing to do. So often parents only get a phone call when their child has done something wrong and not when they do something good. My kids are still young and only in preschool, but I have to say I love when I pick up my son and his teacher has something positive to say. Even when his school work says that he followed directions well, my respect for the teacher increases because she has taken the time out to say something positive. This is something that I will take into consideration as a teacher and remember that praise goes a long way and can really make a child and parent feel good.
I couldn’t agree more that teachers should be making an effort to make an equal amount off calls home that are positive as well as to discuss areas that require some additional improvement. Particularly parents that have children in the educational system who have not been successful, either for behavior reasons or academic reasons, may begin to dread having to talk to school staff and teachers. It is imperative that teachers have a good report with students and families, as to cultivate a positive relationship with them. This will ensure a better learning environment for the student, as well as engage the family with the student’s learning progress.
I agree. Positive communication not only reduces sinking that feeling when the school shows up on the caller ID, but can translate into student achievement in the classroom and ease the lines of communication with parents. Also, when the dreaded phone call home has to be made, it could be taken as a more serious issue.
I think that calling parents to give positive feedback has so many benefits and unfortunately is not done enough by most educators. A positive call home can be a great way to begin an effective relationship/communication with the parents and it can also gain "buy in" from the student that you are a teacher who genuinely cares about their well-being and wants to see them succeed. As a result of the positive attention the student will recieve at home, he/she wil probably be even more willing to give their best effort in your class and maybe become a leader for other students to follow. Overall, I believe there are several reasons why positive phone calls home to parents should be a more often occurance.
While I do agree that making positive phone calls to parents is an activity that teachers should be engaging in, I also understand why many teachers do not always do this. Most of the time, teachers just have too many students in their classes to make a phone call about every good thing that a student did that day. Which is why many teachers only make those negative phone calls. However, I do believe that teachers should make a conscious effort to make those positive phone calls, then we would have much happier parents AND students!
A simple phone call can make a huge difference in a house hold. I was in a middle school last year dealing with a student that had some behavioral problems in the past. I got to know the student and got to work with him one on one and I was pleased to say he was a great kid, just made some bad decisions in the past. I called his mom just to say that he was doing well in class and how much i liked working with him. She had the same reaction when she answered the phone, "what did he do now?" The next morning when I saw him, he actually brought me some homemade cookies and was grateful for the phone call.
Giving parents positive feedback is very important in teacher/parent communication. As you previously stated, the majority of parent phone calls are made to discuss bad news regarding a student. Teachers often forget that it is just as important to receive positive phone calls regarding their children’s progress in class. Personally, I have watched my own mother receive many negative phone calls regarding my thirteen year old brother. He has ADHD and since he was in about 1st grade has often acted out in class and has not always completed homework assignments. Every time my mom saw the school name on the caller Id she would assume it was bad news. Finally, when my brother reached 3rd grade he was officially diagnosed with ADHD and started taking medication. His 3rd grade teacher called my mom simply to tell her that my brother had shown a lot of improvement in the 2nd quarter and that he was participating more in class and finishing all of his assignments. That one phone call made my mom feel like all her effort to help my brother do better in school was finally paying off. I remember that she said she was so proud of him, and she was beaming from ear to ear.
A positive phone call home also boosts the student’s self-esteem because usually the parent will boast to the other parent, family members, or friends about how wonderful their son/daughter has been doing in school. The student will hear how proud his/her parents are and it will encourage them to continue doing well in school. Positive re-enforcement is an extremely important motivator in both children as well as adults. This is why it is very important for teachers to take just a little time out of their week to make those positive phone calls to parents/guardians. I guarantee it will brighten their week.
I don't think that teachers realize the impact of positive feedback. I think that all students have strengths and these can be pointed out to parents in the beginning of the school year. It's a great way to establish open lines of communication with parents, which is imperative in developing a cooperative support network for students. I think that postcards home are another way to do the same thing that may be easier for parents with hectic schedules.