Welcome to 2nd Grade Post Cards

Sending your students a welcome letter or post card prior to school isn't a brand new idea. It's something I've done for the past 2 years, and today I want to share a story about the impact this little thing had on one of my students. 

I was getting a student that I knew was going to give me a run for my money this year. He had a 1:1 aide for his behavior, and was always seen around school crying and giving his aide a hard time. I kept an open mind since kids can grow up a lot over the summer, and a fresh start may just be what the doctor ordered. 

Well, a lot happened to this little one over the summer, and not the type of things you would hope for. The family wasn't sure if he was even enrolled anywhere, and the post card I sent out was a huge relief for them - it was one less thing to worry about!

But, that's just the tip of the iceberg. On the first day of school -- they got the postcard after Meet the Teacher Night -- he came up to me and very politely said "Thank you so much for the card, Ms. Corrigan. I really enjoyed reading it, and I'm so excited to be in your class!".

He still gave me a run for my money while he was in my class, but because that postcard started the year off right with him. I was able to build a positive relationship with him and his family. His behavior improved drastically, and he no longer required an aide for behavior. 

It's a small gesture, but it can make a big difference! What do you send home before the school year starts?

Family Engagement

One of the things I really encourage in my classroom is family engagement. This could be volunteering in school, attending events at school, but really what I want the, to do is work with their child at home. I've seen students make a tremendous amount of growth in all areas when families are engaged in their child's education and work with them at home, and I just wish they all knew how important it is! Do you scare them into helping? Gently encourage them to take a greater interest? Bribe them? #justkidding

What I've found from teaching in a Title 1 school with a high percentage of poverty is that families don't know what to do to help, and don't have the self confidence to do anything either. Regardless of the reason, things army getting done at home. So how do we change that?

This picture does not reflect the time and energy invested in this event. I was running super behind setting everything up, and this was the only picture I managed to take of the evening. I guess it shows that these things are time consuming, but absolutely worth it!

I've decided to host little "parent nights" to bring parents together and hold a class to teach them different ways to work with their child at home. I'm going to give you a list of tips to get the most out of your parent night, and if you have any other ideas leave them in the comments below!

Getting parents to attend the event:

1. Sending home flyers is great, but to get even more success I recommend calling parents to personally invite them. You might not have to do this for all parents, but this is a good idea to get the parents that really need to come nut are reluctant for whatever reason.

2. Send home reminders on the date of the event! Tie the note to a backpack, make  a paper bracelet, write it in permanent marker on their child's forehead, whatever you have to do to remind them to show up!

3. People love food, especially if your holding the event during dinner hours. Don't spend your own money - get the food donated! I've held several of these events and we've had donations from Macayos and Little Caesers with plenty of food.

4. Parents are motivated to do things that are important for their child. So, get the kiddos really invested in bringing their parents to the event! Entice them with a little reward such as lunch with the teacher the next day, or my personal favorite - door prizes!

5. Raffle off door prizes. Again, don't spend your own money! Reach out to local businesses and see what donations they would be willing to contribute! I reached out to our church contact at school and asked if she could assist with getting donations, and wow she is amazing! She was able to get 10 $25 gift certificates to Bookmans, so we were able to put together a ton of gift baskets, as well as raffle off gift cards at the end of the event!

Getting the most bang for your buck at the event:

1. Prepare resources. Parents are much more likely to use resources with their child if they have experience using the resources themselves. You can't have experience using something if it isn't prepared, so enlist the help of as many people as you can get to help get everything ready. I would check with the PTA, local church groups, any helpful parents, or student organizations like Student Council or NJHS.

Sample resources:

1st grade to 2nd grade

1st grade to 2nd grade resource bag. 

Sight word game. 

Addition flash cards

Money game

Fluency practice passages - both groups received this, just different leveled passages.

2nd to 3rd grade resources

2nd to 3rd grade resource bag.

A peek inside 

Math games

Place value cards for games

Multisyllabic word game

2. Do the activities and give parents feedback. It can feel strange teaching parents and adults when we're used to working with young ones, but if they've done the activity before there is a greater chance that they will do it again with their child at home. We followed an I do, you do format. My team mate and I would model how to do a running record or play a math or reading game, and then we set the parents free to do the activity with their children. We had a lot of positive feedback with this because parents were able to ask questions if they didn't understand and they could see how the activity was supposed to go.

3. Set a SMART goal. Encourage parents to set a SMART goal for using the resources with their child, or for their child's performance. SMART goals should be Short, Measurable, Academic, Realistic, and Timely. Take fluency for example. If a child is reading 10 words a minute, in 6 weeks it's unlikely that they will be reading 100 words a minute. Something more realistic would be 30 words a minute. You don't want them to set a goal too high because they'll likely be discouraged when their child doesn't reach it and may not be as willing to help again in the future. Which leads to...

4. Follow up with families to see if they met their goal. Following up with families at a later date is another critical part of successful parent nights. Depending on the time of year, it can be a little tricky to do. I did a night for my students going into the next grade, and I probably won't follow up with them since they will no longer by my students next year. However, I will tell the 3rd grade teachers to follow up with the families so they can share successes or concerns they still have.

What should I add to my list? Share your ideas in the comments!

Parent Night

The first round of conferences the past few years have driven me INSANE! I mean, I absolutely love meeting with my students families and learning more about them. It really is an eye opening experience. The reason it makes me crazy is that I answer the exact same question at conference after conference after conference.. 

after conference..

after conference...

What can I do to help my child at home?

At some point I feel as if I should record myself and just play the prerecorded response to keep my sanity. 

Do the homework, read 20 minutes every day, memorize math facts.. 

Don't get me wrong - I am so happy that parents want to be involved in their child's education and help their child achieve success. The frustrating part is saying the same thing over and over and over and over again. 

Well, I am a problem solver and tried to figure something out. I want the parents to have their questions answered, but I don't want to repeat myself 15 times in one night. I realized, we don't do an open house where I can talk about these kinds of things. Well, why NOT do one? If I have to stay late one night and answer parents questions then it'll hopefully save me from answering the same question over and over and over again in one night.  Soo.. I got one of my team mates on board and out came 2nd Grade Parent Night!

I wish I had time to make a cute cover. It's on the to do list for next year! The pictures in this post are of the handouts we gave the parents. 

We opened the evening up to all of the parents at the grade level and had a great turn out - my room was completely PACKED! We had to grab chairs from other classrooms. It was a GREAT turnout!

P.S. - We had food donated from Macayos. People LOVE free food, and businesses love to donate to education. If you need a good turn out - make sure you offer free food! A big thank you to Macayos for feeding me the parents at Parent Night!

Suggestions for parents to help their child. Click the image if you want to download this freebie from www.teacherstakeout.blogspot.com

I still get nervous speaking in front of  group of adults, especially parents. I guess I have a hard time telling them things to do with their child at home and offer parenting tips since I don't have kids of my own. Once I got started talking about the content though I was good to go!

We discussed the reading, math, and field trips for the year. We went over the goals, expectations, common errors students make at this age, and ideas for activities to do at home. It wasn't anything too fancy, but a lot of parents have said that it was a great event. They said they thought all grade levels should have one, and they were disappointed that the grade levels where the siblings were didn't have something like this.

I think this is a great visual to show the importance of reading 20 minutes at home. It is in English and Spanish on the opposite side, and I cannot remember where I got it. If this is yours please please PLEASE let me know so I can add your link!

Dolch Word List

This is a game that comes with my math curriculum. It's really good practice with money, and it can be made more challenging or easier depending on the age and ability level of the child.

Similar to Collect 25 cents, but the subtraction version. 

This sheet included the field trips for the year with the cost per student and chaperone. We did not collect money from anyone at this time, but since I teach at a Title 1 school it is easiest to give the families plenty of advance notice when we are asking for money.

I'd LOVE to hear from other teachers about what you do for your Open House/Curriculum Night/whateveryouwanttocallit. What activities do you do? What do you give the parents? I'd love to hear all of the wonderful ideas out there to add to my list for next year.

P.S. - I had to take pictures of the handouts from home. I completely forgot to take pictures of how we set everything up. I promise I will remember the pictures next year, or even later in the year if I get to host a Reading Night! 

The Corriganite Nation

This post is all about The Corriganite Nation.

Well...

What IS the Corriganite Nation?

What IS a Corriganite?

I'm glad you asked!!

This idea comes from my amazing mentor teacher. She came up with the word "Corriganite", and if I get married then I'll have to go back to her to come up with the new name. Anyways, it is all about building community! I tell my students that my room is "The Corriganite Nation" and that they are all members of The Corriganite Nation. I am the leader, and they are my Corriganites! 

Last year I had a student tell me that he wanted to be a Minion instead of a Corriganite. My answer to him was NO!! He grew to like the idea, and at the end of the year he was proud to be a Corriganite. :)

How do you set up your classroom community and get the kiddos to "buy in"?