Be an A+ Helper: How Parents Can Support Teachers

This month, students and teachers return to the classroom. Prepare for the best school year ever by encouraging learning and working with your child’s teacher to create a fantastic partnership.

Practice respect and healthy habits at home.

Establish an appropriate sleep schedule, eat healthy meals, work on communication as a family, and monitor media consumption. Work on independent skills, reinforcing routines and moving from task to task in an organized manner. Teach your child how to manage his time.

Be a role model. Speak respectfully about your child’s teacher. Encourage healthy learning habits by restraining from calling or texting your children when they’re in class and supporting homework or tutoring needs.

Donate supplies.

Many teachers have to pay out of pocket for supplies.

“Teachers spend so much of their own money on their classrooms, so even donating a small grocery item for a craft or activity is appreciated,” says Emily Wurzel, an itinerant teacher for the Cobb County School District who has taught for 11 years.

Shop a teacher’s Amazon Wish List. When buying school supplies for your own child, consider buying extras to donate to the classroom.

“Colored pencil and markers are often the first supplies to run out, and they are essential for many classroom activities,” says Stephanie Postell, who has taught for 10 years and works for the Cobb County School District. “When flu season hits, having an ample supply of Kleenex and paper towels becomes crucial for managing spills and runny noses. Provide cases of water or snacks. You might be surprised at how many students get hungry throughout the day and need a little something to hold them over until lunch. Coming from a Title I school, I often find myself funding most of these supplies, which are primarily for the students’ benefit. These gestures of parental support, particularly for their child’s homeroom teacher, can make a significant difference.”

Volunteer.

Volunteering can be a huge help for teachers.

Volunteer activities vary from school to school. Volunteers may help with tutoring, supervising field trips or recess or working one-on-one with a student. Check your school district’s requirements for volunteering. Join your school’s PTA or PTO for more opportunities to help.

Maria Nelson, a teacher at Marietta Center for Advanced Academics, has taught for nine years, and she remembers when a family volunteered to help prepare for an overnight field trip. “They collected snack donations from families and assembled a snack bag for every child to take on the trip. They also prepared a craft for the kids to do on the bus on the way there. Donating their time like this saved me hours of work and helped our field trip, an inherently complicated day, run smoothly.”

If you’re able, let your child’s teacher know you’re willing to dedicate your time.

“I love knowing what a parent’s expertise is, and if it’s related to anything we’re doing throughout the year. Students enjoy listening to other people,” says Cori Panyard, lead teacher and special programs coordinator at hybrid school Learnwell Collective and a teacher for 13 years. “Kids love seeing their parents in the classroom, and it goes a long way to creating class culture and excitement.”

Write thank you notes.

A small token of appreciation can make a huge difference.

“Being a teacher can be a thankless job sometimes. Notes – at unexpected times, not just during Teacher Appreciation Week – can mean the world,” Panyard says. “Once, every week, a student recorded something he loved or appreciated about our class or me, and he gave the notes to me as a book at the end of the year. Tokens of appreciation can help teachers remember the purpose and joy of what can sometimes be a tedious job.”

“I’ve received lots of nice gifts over the years as a teacher, but the ones that have stuck with me the most are the handwritten notes or emails from parents showing appreciation and telling me the impact I’ve had on their child,” says Sheena Bush, who has taught for eight years and works at John Robert Lewis Elementary School. “I keep those notes in a box and read them occasionally, especially on those hard days.”

Make communication a priority.

At the beginning of the year, consider introducing yourself and your child to the new teacher to start a connection. “What has been helpful has been information about my new student, like a report on things the student likes and doesn’t like, responds well to and doesn’t respond well to. This can be especially helpful in teaching situations where you don’t always get feedback from prior teachers,” Panyard says. “Because kids are different, they can really benefit from a teacher who can understand them and how to approach them.”

Meeting teachers at the beginning of the year and establishing communication can make a difference throughout the year.

“Read emails from teachers, keep children accountable for their work and behavior at school, and make sure to ask the teacher if you have any questions. One of the biggest obstacles between teachers and families is a breakdown of communication,” says Rachel Ramsey, a Lovinggood Middle School teacher who has taught for 11 years. “It’s in everyone’s best interest to keep the lines of communication open.”

Open communication can also make it easier to address concerns when they arise.

“Not being afraid of communication when you need to have it can help carry the relationship forward,” Panyard says. “Let teachers know when things are going on at home that might impact students.”

Stay informed.

Check communication channels regularly.

“Pay attention to school-wide and classroom communication,” Wurzel says. “Teachers and admin spend a lot of time compiling this information, and while it may be a lot to digest, it’s important. Whether it’s daily/weekly information from your child’s teacher or from the school, make sure you are marking this information on your calendar, so you can stay abreast of important information.”

“The best way to help teachers this school year is to stay informed,” Nelson adds. “Teachers and schools send out newsletters or other forms of regular communication about what’s going on at school to help you. Parents that stay informed are able to send their kids to school prepared, whether that’s with a sack lunch for the field trip that day or reviewing material for a test the night before. When teachers can avoid putting out all these little fires each day, we have more time to meaningfully interact with our students.”

Provide the correct contact information to your child’s teacher at the beginning of the school year to make sure any changes in behavior or classroom performance are notified to you.

Engage in your child’s learning.

Making it clear that you support education at home will help your child thrive in the classroom.

“I think the best support parents or families can give to teachers is to show interest in their child’s education,” Bush says. “Ask them what they’re learning about, sit with them and review their homework and/or graded papers. I’ve found that students become invested in their work when they see or know that their parents care.”

Providing your child with the help she needs as she works through homework will help her feel supported. This doesn’t mean completing her homework for her but providing assistance. Make sure she gets her homework done – don’t tell her it’s optional.

Meet your child’s teacher at the beginning of the year to get acquainted and show your interest in education. Throughout the year, attend parent-teacher conferences and keep in touch. Your child’s teacher likely knows your child’s biggest educational struggle, but they might not be sure how much you want to hear. Try using language that implies teamwork, such as “Are there any areas of his behavior we can work on at home?” or “What would you say is his biggest challenge with reading?”

“Parents should keep in mind the parent/teacher relationship is a partnership,” Bush adds. “We are working together on the whole development of their child.”

Remember the Golden Rule.

Treat teachers the way you wish to be treated. Teaching can be a job that does not always get the level of respect it should. Trust in a teacher’s professionalism and expertise the same way you’d trust another professional.

“Give your child’s teacher some grace. Education has changed immensely in the last five years and the expectations for teachers have increased in ways we couldn’t have imagined,” Wurzel says. “Teachers are meeting these demands while also meeting the demands of being spouses, parents, caregivers, friends and more. Everyone is just doing the best that they can, and we all should give each other a little more grace.”

Communication can also help you understand any classroom dilemmas you may become aware of.

“Parents and families can support teachers through open communication and trusting that the teacher is there to help your child. We are in the classrooms because we love working with children,” says Meggin Rosner Sussman, a teacher at FCS Innovation Academy who has taught for 26 years. “I love when parents reach out and ask how they can support learning in the classroom. In addition, if there is a situation in the classroom, please ask the teacher for their side of the story before escalating the situation. More often than not, there can be a quick resolution that satisfies everyone.”

Through respect, teachers and parents can create a meaningful relationship that ultimately benefits the student.

“Parents want what’s best for their child, which often lends itself to a defensive stance, but we are on the same side,” Nelson says. “Teachers want nothing more than for their students to succeed; it’s why we do what we do. The best advice I can give is to presume positive intent. Teachers make thousands of decisions a day, all based on a myriad of factors. If you don’t understand one of these decisions, ask, but presume that the teacher had good intentions in the decision they made.”

– Emily Webb