School-Home (Dis)Connection

At Little Miami Intermediate School, we are well into our third full week of school, and if things are going correctly, you have gotten a ton of information from both the school and your student.  Our hope is that you have followed us on Twitter (@LMIntermediate), gotten a newsletter from the school, and from the teacher. Soon you will get information regarding Remind, Twitter, email lists, and Schoology.  From your student you have gotten excitement, stories about community building, goal setting, school procedures and maybe even a little content. 

For some, it will be a bit different.  Newsletters are stuffed in backpacks and forgotten; emails addresses are off by a letter or two, arriving in the inbox of strangers, and as for Remind and Twitter, what is that?  Students are “fine” and learned “nothing”.  If you are in this situation we will keep trying to connect because for this year to be successful, we need your support, feedback, and two-way communication regarding your student!

Many students, and parents, dread the idea of a call from the teacher.  The list of reasons that teachers call home or parents call the school is long, but unfortunately too many of them are made in frustration, desperation, or anger.  Problems that have gone on for many years have been talked about at home, but not shared with the school.  Issues at school are “worked out with the student”, but not communicated to adults at home.  Not enough calls are simply about a success at school that needs to be shared, or a success at home because of the work being done at school that can be shared.  As we all know, problems get attention while success is sometimes overlooked.

My challenge to all of you… let us celebrate the success and work together on the problems!  Below are a few items that may help with the School-Home Connection.

•  Share the best way to communicate!  Do you hate phone calls?  We can email.  Emails too long?  We can text.  Text and emails too impersonal?  We will make a phone call. 
•  Call or email when you have questions!  If you don’t hear back, give the person the benefit of the doubt and try another method of communication.  One incorrect character in a phone number or email means it doesn’t arrive, not that they are ignoring you. 
•  Be proactive about reoccurring frustrations.  Identify WHO is involved so that you can get them on the team and WHAT can be done to make a plan.
• Look for success.  It is there, I promise.  Your child and their teacher are making progress every day.  Train your child to share what has worked.
•  Celebrate success AND failure!  More importantly talk about failure being a beginning, not an end.  An attempt is just one-step towards success, and there is so much to learn from just trying.

Above all, remember that each one of us wants your child to succeed emotionally, socially and academically.  We want them to grow, learn, and love the time they spend with us.  We need to make sure that we are on the same page, and the same team, by communicating as much as possible!