The Sacred Profession

There comes a moment for all teachers when we realize both the power and absolute horror of parent-teacher conferences. Jonny is misbehaving, we meet with his mom and the next day he is a delight – no problems ever again. Alternately, Jonny is misbehaving, we meet with his mom and completely understand why he is the way he his – Jonny’s behavior does not change and we are traumatized from the meeting.

This past Friday there was a great blog post at Education Week about how to have more meaningful parent-teacher conferences. The article is geared more towards elementary teachers but is well-worth reading even if you teach secondary students. But let’s be honest – the game changes when you have 130+ students instead of 30. Below are my top 5 tips on meeting with and leveraging parent relationships:

1. Start off on the right foot: Identify 30 students who you know will either struggle with academic performance or behavior in your class and as soon as you possibly can call home with a positive message. Build your relationship with these parents by continuing to call home or send brief, positive notes home when things are going well. This way, you build up positive capital for when the time comes you need to make a phone call asking for a change in student behavior. Actually, I’ve often found that by building a positive relationship with parents I actually end up never having to make a difficult call because the student is so grateful to me for calling home with good news that they always behave and do their work in my class.
2. Send home a classroom newsletter: Take a couple of pictures of your students doing something neat (a lab, performance, debate, presentation, etc.) and add to it a caption explaining what when on in class. Include upcoming test and project due dates as well as possible discussion questions to ask students (i.e. “Ask your student about what happened to Japanese-Americans living in the US during World War II”). The newsletter could be as short as 1/2 a page and could even be printed out on the back of weekly grade reports. If you really wanted to save time, assign a student the task of writing the newsletter for extra credit and then rotate the job from month to month.
3. Physically meet your students’ parents: This should happen beyond just the traditional Back To School Meet the Teacher night. Some good ideas include: home visits, hosting an event at school like a concert or art show, attending sporting events and meeting the parents in the stands and after the game, and loitering around the pick-up area after school to see if you can stick your head in a car window or two and make a strategic connection.
4. Hold individual parent-student conferences as a grade team: Some of the most transformative, positive meetings I’ve ever been a part of took place with a student, her parent/guardian and all 5 – 8 of the teachers she had in class. “Come on Abby!” you say, “When the heck do you do this?!?!” Great times are during lunch (because the meeting can’t go longer than 25 minutes) and right after school so the parent can take the student home afterwards. Here is one agenda the meeting could follow: every teacher goes around and quickly says something positive about the student, then one teacher sums up the 1 – 3 issues the student needs to address, the student is then given time to reflect on the root causes of these issues, the parent then comments on what she sees as the root causes, then the teachers, parent and student collectively agree on concerte steps everyone will take to ensure there is change. The meeting ends with one teacher agreeing to email and/or print notes from the meeting that summaries the issues, steps each party will take and a time/place when one or two teachers will follow up (either in person or on the phone) with the parent. I love group parent-teacher conferences!!
5. Bring parents in to the classroom: Either literally as guest presenters, volunteers, observers or through take-home surveys. Surveys can be very helpful ways to gather information about students’ study habits as well as parent’s expectations for your subject.

What else can we do to ensure positive and productive parent-teacher relationships?

In the era of high-stakes exams, our students must develop the ability to sit down, focus and perform on exams under timed conditions. I don’t know about you but I personally find test taking to be an incredibly intimidating task. Our students take exams with real implications for their promotion, their future college prospects, their placement in various academic tracks, and for college credit. It is no wonder many develop a tremendous, and often crippling, anxiety around testing.

I decided to tackle test anxiety after the first year I taught Advanced Placement World History to 10th grade students in La Joya, Texas. When students who passed our practice exams ended up getting scores of 2 on the real exam I was baffled – what the heck happened?!? I KNEW they knew the information and had the skills to be successful. “I just got so nervous Miss,” one said. “I couldn’t think straight and when I looked up I’d wasted 30 minutes so I just gave up,” said another. In my reflection and personal research that summer I dug into test anxiety causes and solutions. Here are some ideas I’ve used in my classroom in the 5 years since to help students reach their top performance on high-pressure exams:

• Develop a pre-exam relaxation routine: (see picture above) Before every exam and/or quiz I would lead students through the routine listed on the poster. We began by standing up and stretching in order to 1) get the blood flowing and 2) activate both sides of the brain by doing some cross body reaching and moving. The next part involves success visualization which is a strategy used by world class altheles like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. It involves seeing yourself be successful at whatever task you about about to do (ex. make a free-throw or putt a ball into the hole) and mentally accessing a place of calm (often mocked as “going to your special place” but it works!). Breathing is also a key part of successful relaxation and is closely linked to posture. I teach students to sit up straight and take deep breaths as they take an exam. This way, they are fully oxygenating their brains by breathing with full lung capacity. When you slump or slouch you sort of crumple or fold your lungs which hinders your ability to take a full breath.
• Practice using real testing conditions: If the exam is timed then time almost everything else you do in class. Use the paper, font and headings (if you can) that the exam will use – make your practice exams look as close to possible like the real exam.
• Teach students the procedural part of the exam a least a month before testing day: What will happen in the morning when they arrive at school? What forms will they need to fill out? What does the answer document look like? Often it is during the time right before the exam when students work themselves up – empower them by giving them a very clear idea of what will actually happen before, during and after the exam. This allows students to feel like they know what’s going on even before their knowledge is being tested.
• Give them a strategy for what to do if they become frustrated: I have students stop and breath as well as check their posture. Another good idea is to take a drink of water from a bottle (if allowed) or pop in a mint or piece of gum. Draw a star next to the confusing question and come back to it after a few more questions or at the end.
• Constantly send and reenforce the message “If you work hard, you can do this.” Students need to believe they have what it takes to be successful in order to even attempt to study or learn material. I explicitly teach my belief that the brain is like a muscle – if you work out you get stronger – if you stick with something difficult, you will understand it better in the end. I teach lessons on role models who showed resilience and I cover the classroom in quotes that underscore the importance of working hard. However, it is also important to teach students the difference between trying hard and effective effort.

What do you do to help students with testing anxiety?

I want to send a huge thank you to Laurie Calvert, the Teacher Liaison at the Department of Education, for recommending The Sacred Profession in today’s Teaching Matters newsletter. This newsletter is a great source of information about education and you can sign up here if you don’t receive updates already. Also, welcome to those of you who have jumped over from Teaching Matters!

Student motivation is one of the trickiest pieces of teaching. Building a dynamic classroom culture where all children are delighted to be in your room and are eager to learn is often extremely difficult; however, creating a compliant classroom can be straight forward. The quickest way to an on-task classroom is to give clear instructions. Here are some tips for giving clear directions I’ve put together from various sources including Lee Cantor, Fred Jones, and my own experience of various classroom disasters:

• Before class, write critical instructions on the board: This can include directions for what students should do when they first come in, step-by-step directions for what they should do during practice time, instructions for what you want them to do when they finish an assessment, etc. Then when you verbally give the instructions, point to what you have written on the board. This way, students who have zoned out are at least watching you point to what you want and will know where to look when they are trying to figure out what they need to do.
• Provide a visual of what you want next to your written instructions: I always tape an extra copy of the handout we will use on the board or if we’re using our notebooks I’ll draw the notebook page on the board and write in the heading, page number, and other formatting details I want students to be sure to include in their own notebooks.
• Wait for perfect silence and 100% attention before you begin giving directions: For pete sake do not talk over children. This is a good way to lose your voice and become really frustrated.
• Deliver your instructions in the front of the class with your shoulders squared, your feet grounded, and your chin titled up: This is the moment to look like the boss. Colleagues, don’t judge me but I remember reading The Dog Whisperer by Cesar Millan when my crazy Australian Sheapard (Jack) was totally out of control and he kept talking about the importance of the quiet authority you needed to project with your body posture in order for your dog to accept you as the alpha. Needless to say I had, as Oprah says, an “aha moment” with lasting positive effects for both Jack and my students.
• Speak loud enough to be heard but do not yell: This I learned from the brilliant Martin Winchester who said when he really wanted to make a point he lowered his voice to just above a whisper. Don’t misunderstand me, there is a real place for using your “teacher voice” but try the power of the almost-whisper when you really want to drive your point home.
• Begin instructions with “I am going to give you instructions now. Wait until I say “go” before you start moving.”: Lee Cantor correctly identifies how if you don’t tell students (or a room full of adults) to wait until you are finished, they will stand up, start talking, get out their supplies, etc. and miss the rest of your instructions.
• Give sequential instructions: Use words like “first, second, third” or “now, then, after” so it is perfectly clear what students should do and in what order. This is also a great moment to use the written instructions on the board so students can follow along visually.
• When finished, ask if students have questions and pause: When I say “Does anyone have any questions?” I always spread my arms wide and smile. Then I count to five in my head while holding the “I want to hug you all!” pose. I found students are more likely to ask for clarification if I spread my arms, smile and wait. Something about that combo . . .
• Release students to the task and narrate behavior: Say “go” (or whatever your signal is) and then begin to narrate the behavior of students who are doing what you have asked. “Raul is opening his binder, Janet is getting out her pen, Sarah has begun annotating the poem . . .” This is classic Lee Cantor but holy cow narration works! It give students who have zoned out another chance to hear what they need to do without getting in trouble. Narration should be neutral and not attached to praise “Good job Raul! You opened your binder!”
• Immediately circle the room or go up and down your rows 1 – 3 times: This lets you make sure all students are following instructions. You can also continue to narrate as you walk. It also gives the impression to the students that you are everywhere – you are physically near all students in the exact moment they need the most incentive to follow instructions. Physical proximity is a great corrective tool that is non-confrontational but certainly puts some physiological pressure on reluctant students.

Ok teachers what have I missed? Other tips for giving clear instructions?