As classrooms merge with homes in the new normal, parents are taking an active role in the education of their children. In many households, while juggling between work from home and household duties, parents are taking turns to sit with their children, especially the younger ones who need handholding during classes.
Learning from home is a big change for most students and parents who are used to the traditional face-to-face learning setup. In face-to-face classes, students have their classmates, friends, learning centers on campus, teachers’ office hours, and tutors to help them with their various learning needs. These resources guide them, clarify and reinforce the material, and allow them to succeed in their education. Teachers understand the value of these resources and forms of support, hence they try to provide similar alternative opportunities to help students thrive.
Even without a physical classroom, teachers can check that students are engaged and progressing. There are numerous ways by which we teachers can connect with learners and their parents, like email; live chats through Messenger, Zoom, and Google Meet; text messaging, and snail mail.
Teachers can make it easier on learners if they maintain an open line of communication with them and their parents. In her blog on the five ways parents can help their kid thrive amid remote learning, Megan Leonhardt shares, “Working in tandem with parents allows teachers to better monitor progress and identify areas for improvement to keep students’ learning on track.” During this fragile time, collaboration is crucial. With our new reliance on parents and caregivers to support student learning, the urgency to be more welcoming to families as partners has become far greater.
In Baguio City National High School, principal Brenda Cariño tells teachers to stay in contact with learners. She is never amiss in reminding her teachers of the importance of constant interactions with students and parents. “We do not simply give the modules without followup on all our learners,” she posted in our employees’ group chat.
She added even amid this pandemic, schools should render learners the best service. Those conversations can be about more than just assignments. If parents are seeing some new behavior patterns at home, they can reach out to let teachers know about it. That extra communication is helpful, especially that teachers are not seeing the students everyday like they used to. — Rose Marie C. Vinluan
April 20, 2024
