Guided Response: In education, families are a crucial component of supportive home-school relationships. Review your classmates posts and respond to at least two of them.

Suggest at least two ways educators can help to best meet the needs of today's families so that they may be involved in school. In your guided response be sure to make a connection to something they said in their initial discussion.

PEER 1

What the phrase by John C. Maxwell means to me that parents and different people working in the community as well as the center or school you work at, will not know how much you care for the children and the job you are doing until they see firsthand how much you love your post. This phrase resonates with the classroom that I have been working in for the past two years. Working in the Head Start classroom, parents are usually nervous or uneasy leaving their child with a stranger at the beginning of the school year. It is not until they see how you care and love for their children that they start to open up and feel more comfortable.

This quote supports the case study in the way that Mrs. Ashland was able to connect with her parents on her consistent communication each morning with both parents and students. This allows parents and children every morning to know precisely what they should do and what is expected of them. Having a set routine gives her students stability that will reflect on how the rest of the day will do. Mrs. Ashland also makes sure to connect one on one with a parent who speaks another language by handing them a flyer filled with information that they may need to be translated in their home language.

Creating a family partnership is essential for the students social-emotional, behavioral, and academic development. Parents and teachers working together as a team will allow students to progress knowing that they are back by a solid team who is working together in their best interest. Mrs. Ashland supports social-emotional development by welcoming in Janes mother to volunteer because she knows that Jane is having a difficult time letting her mom go in the morning.

When dealing with Caleb's father that morning, she demonstrates how she deals with difficult behavior not just from her students but parents as well. He suggests that his child not be allowed to play in a particular center but Mrs. Ashland calmly asking to speak to him after school. Finally, Mrs. Ashland helps her children succeed in the best way by having all the materials set up in the morning that they will need throughout the day, setting them up for academic success.

PEER 2

In my opinion this statement means that knowledge is not as important as passion. I have seen teachers who are educated and have years of experience, but the teacher who cares and builds knowledge on their passion they are viewed as better teachers. When a well-educated teacher doesn't care about the children they are not viewed positively and no one really cares about their education. An educated teacher who is smart, kind, caring, and shows affection has a better view and impact on the children and families.

I am currently a teacher and have been in this field for 13 years, I have gained a lot knowledge and only 4 months away from my BA Degree but I pride myself on being a teacher that is welcoming and loving. I take what I do very seriously and I am very conscious on what impact I leave on every child and their families. It is my goal to make a positive difference in each life I encounter while getting them period for a successful educational path. This case study supports the statement because Mrs. Ashland is positive and available for the children and the parents. I like that she arrives early to prepare for the day.

Being prepared allows Mrs. Ashland to greet each child and family as they arrive. She even does something I do, she gets down to the child's eye level to give them direct eye contact and security. She even takes time to ask parents if they need anything and listens to any concerns or questions. One thing I would like to do that Mrs. Ashland does is sends home newsletters so that the parents know what is happening in the class. Children deal with all kinds of things and as teachers we need to be aware of those situations that can cause them to misbehave and negative impact the relationship with peers and staff. In most cases the child's behavior is not their fault, they simply don't know how to handle stress or anxiety.

As the teacher it our jobs to teach these skills and practice them with the child while still being sensitive to their needs. Collaboration is important among teachers and partnerships with families and the community is important as well. I think family members should be invited to assist in the classroom. This shows the children that the home and school are on the same page and working together. I work with toddlers every day and my classroom focuses on developing positive social-emotional behavior. Some children are harder to work with than others but that makes the reward greater.

A teacher needs to have patience. From my experience I have noticed that having parent involvement makes things a lot easier. The example from the case study I want to use is Jack and his temper. He has a bad temper and thinks its ok to do whatever he wants, and expects to get whatever he wants. He has tantrums and hits other people. Mrs. Ashland can help this by re-directing him, give him praise when he does something positive, and a parent-teacher conference could help. The conference could be just to inform the parents of what is going on in class and receive some insight from them that could help him at school. Mrs. Ashland can also share some strategies that she is using to advance his social-emotional skills.