response to mike promp 5

I agree with Mike when he says that getting the parents involved is extremely important. Some of the difficulties he listed include lack of transportation, lack of time due to long hours at work, racial, ethnic and language differences. Others include a cultural gap, and a prior negative experience with a former teacher. I mentioned both the language differences as well as the economic challenges that many families face. Both of us mentioned using an interpretor when necessary.

I agree with his use of Johnson that we are part of the social system by the mere fact we are here. We can only choose how to be involved: whether to be part of the solution or part of the problem.

I also like his idea of encouraging the parents to join a PTA or to start one if none is available. Also, parent teacher conferences are a great idea as well as sending work/tests home to give the parents feedback. I would suggest having the parents sign the work as proof that they actually saw it. That's what we do with my daughter's work, tests and report cards.

Both of us agree that encouraging parental involvement is very important. We also need to keep an open mind regarding those parents who either can't or don't want to get involved in their child's education.

We both agree that the parents have great input to give us reguarding their children's education, and thus are a crucial resource we need to take advantage of.