The most important thing for a new teacher to do is to start communication with parents as soon as you get your classroom list. Send home a note card introducing yourself, welcoming the student to your classroom and including contact information. This will communicate to the parent that you are interested in the student and open for communication at the very beginning of the school year.
Parents will want to know about you and your experience. Keep in mind when meeting new parents that they come with their own teacher experiences through their own lives or the lives of their other children. They may have had some good and bad experiences with teachers and may be mistrustful or even intimidated by you at first. Also recognize that if you are a different race or religious background than the student, the parent may feel protective and want their child to receive the same care from you as other students receive. Understand this and work to overcome it through your consistency and communication.
Find common ground. As a new teacher, I remember experiencing this with a parent. She obviously wanted and deserved the best education for her son. She was concerned that her son would be too independent and not want help from me. I listened to her and found that when her son needed to be independent, I let him. Listen to the parents about their children, they know them best! I also took some time to personally explain to this parent our curriculum and how I teach it. We quickly established common ground as I found out that she worked for a children's television corporation. This same parent, at first mistrustful, cried at Kindergarten graduation, because she did not know if her son would ever have another teacher like me. Building a relationship with parents takes time and the benefits of good communication will last all year long and even beyond.
Sometimes misunderstandings occur even in the best of relationships. Listen before you respond. What is the parent trying to tell me? Reiterate what he or she said and make a plan. More importantly always remain positive. Keep a professional attitude at all times, even if you feel defensive. Always maintain your composure. Remember, you both have the best interest of the student at heart. That is, a healthy and happy student is the goal. Parents will appreciate your trustworthiness and the reward you will receive will be a great reputation within the school. Remember, parents talk to one another and to your administrators. No one wants to be known among the parents as, "the other Kindergarten teacher," if you know what I mean.
In the next article in the series, we discuss creating welcome packets and using web-pages for ongoing communication.
