Lorena Falasco Mission Statement

Three new ideas from the book that I am interesting are in chapter 2. My job is working with families and building a positive relationship with the whole family. Connecting with the families is very important. Curtis and Carter suggest that “Providers and teachers with relationship at the center of their thinking create an embracing social emotional climate where people are seen, heard, and acknowledged for whom they are”, (Curtis & Carter, 2008, p. 24). Instead of busy with paperwork, staffs should welcome families and connect with the families at their first encounter. This is an opportunity for parents get to meet staffs and learn about the program. Parents want to know if they will be welcome and if staffs will value their difference.

In all my life, I’ve never had a commitment that required so much of me as track and field, both physically and mentally. Towards the end of my high school career, track and field for me meant having to push through a difficult physical condition known as tarsal coalition, a condition that causes inflammation in my feet. With help from my coaches, I had to learn to endure past physical limitation and strengthen my faith in my abilities. By doing so, I became more confident in myself and I was able to help lead other team members to do the same. Not only did track and field teach me to lead, but it also taught me how to be a part of a team. I learned the value of teamwork through building relay race teams. In all relay races, I was either the

When Initially planning a parent/ carers teacher conference concerning a child’s performance in the classroom. It is essential to be prepared and show sensitivity towards parents and children. As a kindergarten teacher and mother of 1, I understand the anxiety parents feel in regards to their children and their achievements. We as educators need to address professional standard 3.7 Engage parents/carers in the educative process this can be achieved by describing a broad range of strategies for involving parents/carers in the educative process (AITSL, 2010).

Probably one of the most important issues when it comes to Family/Community Partnership is trying to get the families/community involved in what we are doing. By engaging parents, it will help us to see what we are lacking and what we need to do in order to have our families fully engaged. I feel that if our families/communities are not engaged in our program then we need to reevaluate in order to encourage their participation. By reevaluating our program we can further access what we need to work on. If parents/communities feel that they are not valued as part of our team, they won’t engage in our program. Both the parents and the community play a big role in the education of our children. Parents are their first teachers and the communities have valuable resources for the children.

First of all, most are aware that there is a very large absence of sports that Kihei Charter School offers to its students. Although there is a lack of a variety of sports to be involved in, cross country is one of the many quality teams we have at our school. Among the many perks of this sport, becoming a more socially active with other athletes is a very important one. There are a few hundred students at Kihei Charter School who barely even know their peers. Since the cross country team is open to all grades at any skill level, there is a wide variety of people who run with

Parent involvement is key to a child’s academic success; this can be accomplished through the parent’s participation in an advisory council. A parent-teacher organization meets regularly to discuss the workings of the school and the parents that take part in the meeting are rewarded with a voice to make suggestions and give active feedback to the school. This enables parents and teachers to discuss matters dealing with the education of their child. Another council that advocates the voice of parents is the Mississippi Read

Academic scholars have noted that students who are thoroughly engaged are high academic achievers (Fullan, 2016). However, the subject of parent involvement has been introduced into the discourse over the past decades and now most educational leaders agree “ the closer the parent is to the education of the child, the greater the impact on child development and educational achievement” (Fullan, 2016, p. 158). As a result, the Ontario Ministry of education created Parents in Partnership: A parent engagement policy for Ontario schools. This policy is directly aligned with the ministry’s goal of creating and maintaining a welcoming and inclusive education system. The policy identifies parents as key individuals in education as they contribute to the work of educators, schools, and the community (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2010). An investigation into the framework of the policy reveals the main actors, which are the parents; who are defined as caregivers, guardians, and parents, the government, school boards, teachers, principals, students, and the

For 2 years I was a member of the Central Toronto Athletic Club. CTAC is a competitive middle distance running club that trains its athletes to compete in track and field and cross country events. It is a year round athletic club that is a platform for talented people of almost all ages to train and to focus on their self-progress as an athlete. At CTAC I was encouraged to push myself to test the limits of my speed, endurance and strength and to discover what my body is truly capable of. Running was a very satisfying sport because my achievements were directly proportional to the amount of work that I put in. At CTAC, I learned discipline, dedication and perseverance. I had to balance my schoolwork with daily practices or workouts, I ran six

Recently, I read an article by Jen Orr called “Raising Our Teacher Voices: A Call for A New Generation of Leadership”. Ms. Orr is a teacher in nearby Fairfax County who was chosen as a 2013 ASCD Emerging Leader. Consequently, she was asked to serve as a panelist at ASCD’s 2014 Whole Child Symposium.

When an Individuals is invested in the well-being and success of a school and the students who are attending the school, they are considered a key stakeholder. Parents and family expect their child to receive a challenging and successful education. They want the education system to benefit their child's academic needs. As a future teacher, It will be my job to create a strong and positive communication with the student's parents and family. Our positive relationship will allow me to encourage them to integrate an at home learning environment. It will encourage them to speak to me about any issues. Allowing me to address them and help provides a fun and engaging learning environment inside and outside of school. Creating this bond will affect

My running has been a big part of my life ever since I was younger and saw my dad lace up his running shoes to go out for his daily run. I ran cross country and track for La Crescent every year since seventh-grade and have been fortunate enough, through dedicating myself to thousands of miles of training, to see great success during my time here. Last fall, I ran my final season of high school cross country. Ending the season, I was able to achieve my first state championship which brought me a sense of accomplishment no words could ever describe. I was overjoyed to see all my hard work pay off. The most interesting aspect of that whole experience was how the La Crescent community received the news. The night of the state meet, and the days that followed, allowed me to talk with friends, teachers, and community members alike. Through these interactions I noticed that winning state brought a great sense of pride not only to me but to the La Crescent community as a whole. Everyone felt a part of the accomplishment and it seemed that we accomplished something together. I’ve often heard criticism about La Crescent athletics, but I’ve come to understand, and others have to, that we aren’t as bad off as it might seem. In three years, we’ve had three people win state: myself, Zack Emery, and Clair Shepardson. A vast majority of schools can’t say that. I’ve noticed

Although it is important for families to be involved with their child’s school, school personnel should also strive to create a positive interaction with families of students. Carl Dunst (2002) states that school and parent collaboration is necessary, and if schools take on a more family-centered approach, it will help create a supportive environment and help to strengthen a family’s capacity to enhance and promote a child’s development and learning.

In the beginning of the interview I had believed that the Hernandez family was a middle-class family who had no great monetary issues, I also believed that the family needed more persuasion to be involved in school programs since in the past Janeth Hernandez the mother to the child Jenny Hernandez shared she had never participated in her child’s school as a volunteer, and I also believed that one involvement plan fit all families. However, after completing the interview on the Hernandez family my beliefs on this specific family where greatly influenced I realized that not all families will fit the same involvement plan because every family has different day to day activities, so it is important as a teacher to communicate with not only the children but the parents too. I also learned to be understanding that although a family might look like a family ignoring their child’s academic development what really might be happening is that they can’t afford or are having difficulties completing school requirement with no help. Finally, I learned through the interview that it is important as a future teacher that

According to Michael Seville, a writer for Eutopia Magazine, “… parental involvement is a key ingredient in how well a student learns.” The idea of parental involvement in their school is not a concept exclusive to charter schools. There are many traditional public schools that are launching programs to do just that. In Saratoga, California, an elementary school has made it mandatory for parents to volunteer and attend a seven-session STEP (Systemic Training for Effective Parenting) class. This class is designed to help improve the parent’s usefulness when they appear in class. According to the principal of the McAuliffe Elementary, Michael Kalb, even single working parents are able to find a few hours a month to help out, even if it is in the evening. Since the inception of this program, teachers have noticed more cooperative behavior of their students and a willingness that was not present before. These types of programs could be and should be incorporated into any traditional public school in any part of the country and would create a synergy within the school of parents, teachers, and students.

Many schools want to incorporate a powerful and positive parent involvement community, yet face a challenge in how to implement effective strategies to involve parents in helping students reach academic achievement. I believe parents want the very best for their child, even if they do not know how to go about helping their child reach success. Students come to school with countless attributes that I may or may not acknowledge, yet parents know the many accolades about their child that I must embrace. As I build a partnership with families, we become a partnership in their child’s education. We begin to collaborate to ensure the student maximizes