Inviting Families into the Classroom: Learning from a Life in Teaching

by Strieb, Lynne Yermanock

• ISBN13: 9780807750827
• ISBN10: 0807750824
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-05-15
• Publisher: Teachers College Pr

Summary

Teachers need to read books by other teachers, yet there are few available on the important subject of parent-teacher relationships. Lynne Yermanock Strieb fills the gap with this engaging account of her 30-year career teaching children in urban classrooms. Drawing on an extensive archive of documents she kept as a first- and second-grade public school teacher in Philadelphia, Strieb captures the complexity and nuance of working with the families of her students. Readers experience how her teaching developed over time and gain access to the useful materials she created throughout her career, including a successful newsletter for parents. Her story also provides a unique example of practitioner research, showing how teachers can use a variety of data collected in the classroom to both enhance their own practice and to inform that of others.

Author Biography

Lynne Yermanock Strieb taught kindergarten, first-grade, and second-grade classes in Philadelphia public schools for 31 years.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Introduction	p. 1
I'm a Parent and a Teacher: How My Own Experiences Have Informed My Stance Toward Parent Involvement	p. 12
My Family	p. 12
Early Teaching Experience	p. 13
Parent Activism in Germantown	p. 14
Influence of These Experiences on My Teaching	p. 28
Learning About Parental Concerns, Interests, and Issues	p. 29
My Newsletter to Parents: An Invitation to Inform Me	p. 29
Parents' Communications to Me	p. 32
Comparing Documents	p. 58
Homework: The School at Home	p. 60
Why I Gave Homework	p. 60
Informing Parents	p. 62
Some Examples	p. 64
Parents' Responses	p. 67
My Current Thinking	p. 79
Children's Behavior and Parents' Reactions	p. 82
My Classroom and School	p. 83
Informing Parents About Behavior	p. 84
Parents' Reports About the Behavior of Other People's Children	p. 88
Parents' Varied Responses	p. 92
What I Learned, What I Wondered	p. 100
Opening the Classroom Door: Inviting Parents and Preparing to Work Together in Classrooms	p. 103
The Parent Scholar Program	p. 103
Why I Invited Parents	p. 104
My Newsletter: An Invitation to Work in the Classroom	p. 113
Preparing to Work Together	p. 115
Difficult Times	p. 119
When Parents Don't Enter the Classroom	p. 127
Bringing Home into School: Parent Work in the Classroom	p. 128
Doing What Needed to Be Done	p. 128
Participating by Bringing and Sending	p. 132
Learning from a Life in Teaching	p. 156
Authority and Trust	p. 157
What I Learned or Might Have Done Differently	p. 159
Principals, Administrators, and a Welcoming Atmosphere	p. 161
Teachers and Parents	p. 163
Some Further Concerns	p. 164
Final Thoughts	p. 164
Appendices	p. 167
Notes	p. 193
References	p. 203
Index	p. 205
About the Author	p. 213
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