As a teacher it is very important to know your students. And the sooner you understand something about their background and skill set the sooner you can get to authentic learning. One way I would use to get to know students family is an informal newsletter to the parents. It would introduce me to them, offer them ways they can reach me with questions. In the letter I would provide a basic form for parents to fill out about themselves and their child. It would be an ice breaker, questions would be about favorite foods, holidays, books, and music. I know not all parents would fill out the form, but it would be a good place to start.
More formally, I would want to have a parent night within the first two weeks of school. At that time I would set up individual meetings with parents over the course of the next week. This is a good way to open communication with the family as a whole.
On a day to day basis I would have my kids draw or write about themselves thru various prompted journal quick writes. I would start the first day of class with various work that was both educational and observational assessment. Like Putting a big word on the board and seeing how many new smaller words the kids can find. Maybe do some math drills about basic counting.adding/subtraction in teams. Maybe have the kids pick books from the in class library and take turns reading to each other.
I teach Pre-k at church now and try to sy hi and how are you doing to each parent as they drop their kids off. I don't always know the kids in my class but I try to learn their name within two Sunday; and hopefully their personalities. Already I am applying various things to my class, such as the newsletter.
The more I learn, the better I hope to be at teaching my kids-now and in my future class.
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