Reflection # 10

"Building Collaboration Between Schools and Parents of English Language Learners: Transcending Barriers, Creating Opportunities" helped me see all of the positives in my current teaching assignment.  I work in a small school and we have a parent liaison to help with all family communication with our Spanish-speaking community.  Before the hire of our parent liaison, however, my job was much different; I was pulled from class to translate for behavioral problems, parent meetings, and to help with the simple task of paying a lunch bill.  I rarely made it through a class without being pulled for some other task, having nothing to do with teaching English.  As you can see, this isn't a very efficient way to run things, and the addition of our parent liaison has been essential in improving communication with families.  Additionally, I am able to communicate well with my parents, as I speak Spanish, but could not imagine the struggles with communication in larger schools and multiple home languages.

Through this article I also thought of many things I can implement in the future to increase communication with families.  I have already asked for a bilingual parent who would be willing to serve on our accountability board and act as a liaison to Spanish-speaking parents with any concerns.  I would also like to implement a once monthly brunch or breakfast in which parents can come in to check in on their student's progress and ask any questions they may have.  This type of monthly meeting could also update parents on the schedule for the coming month (to take the place of weekly emails).