Education Connection

BE A PARTNER WITH YOUR CHILD'S TEACHER

There are several ways you can stay in contact with your child's teacher:

Notes to school

At the beginning of the year:

• Communicate your willingness to do whatever is necessary to make sure it will be a successful year for your child.\
• Provide a phone number where you can be reached for phone conferences and in case of an emergency.
• Ask for ideas on how you can help your child at home with skills they learn at school.
• Tell the teacher about your child's interests.
• Tell the teacher that you are available to visit the school and that you are interested in helping in the classroom. Let the teacher know that you are willing to share your hobby, collections, or career for a short presentation in the classroom.

During the year:

• Send a note of appreciation to the teacher about something your child has learned or an experience he/she particularly enjoyed. Send the note with your child and tell him/her what you have written.
• Let the teacher know when something happens at home that could affect your child's success in school: i.e. death of a pet; death or illness in the family; a marriage, separation, or divorce; someone moving in or out. Also, be sure to let the teacher know if your child will be away from school longer than 3-days because of illness, a trip, or some other circumstance.

Phone calls

• Call teachers before or after school, not during classtime. If he/she can't be reached, then leave a message. Include in your message a brief reason why you want to talk, and where and when you can be reached.

School visits

Visiting your child's school and classroom sends a powerful message to your child and his/her teacher that school is important to you.

• Schedule any visits. For safety reasons, most schools request that you call to schedule a time to visit. An appointment also helps ensure you'll see the school, classroom, and students in action. Check in at the office when you arrive.
• Check with the teacher. Ask the teacher if he/she has visitor guidelines. Are you allowed to walk around the room and visit with the children? Or should you sit in a particular place? How long can you stay?

Students, Parent, Teacher Partnerships

"Back to School" Nights give you the big picture of school at the beginning of the year, but you'll also need a personal conference with your child's teacher to get a close-up view of your child's school experience.

THE SEP/SEOP PROCESS

Begin a pattern in the elementary school years of meeting with the teacher at least once or twice a year. Parents who make an effort to stay in touch with their child's teacher will build a better partnership with the teacher. Take this booklet with you for guidance during the SEP/SEOP meetings or parent teacher conferences.

Most of us are familiar with traditional parent/teacher conferences. Your school may be using the parent/teacher conference format, or it may use the new state endorsed SEP/SEOP process. Student Education Plans (SEP) are for elementary students and Student Education Occupation Plans (SEOP) are for junior high and high school students. These plans are cooperative efforts between the student, parent/guardian, and teacher/counselor.

SEP: The Elementary School Process

In elementary school, the traditional parent teacher conference is being replaced by the Student Education Plan (SEP).

The new SEP process helps the student to identify strengths and weaknesses, helps the student to set goals, and tracks progress from one conference to the next. As a parent, you have a critical role in the SEP process in supporting your child's goals and progress.

• Teachers will send home a note inviting you and your child to the SEP meeting. Before the meeting, teachers will prepare your child to talk to you about his/her goals. You and your child will then review this information at home. You'll want to help your child further define academic, physical, social/emotional, career, and personal goals.
  
  
• At the meeting, you, your child, and the teacher will sit down together and discuss your child's strengths and weaknesses and solidify the goals he or she wants to accomplish. A realistic and obtainable plan is then outlined. This is the ultimate form of parental involvement because it gives you a clear outline of how you can help your child succeed.

Your Child's SEP Portfolio

As part of the SEP process, elementary teachers maintain a portfolio of your child's grades and work. Use it in the SEP process to discuss the following topics:

• What are your child's areas of strength and areas of weakness?
• What kinds of aptitude, achievement, or intelligence tests have been or will be given this year? What do the scores mean?
• Has your child regularly completed assigned homework?
• What can you do at home to help your child with school work?
• How does your child learn best — written instruction, verbal instruction, visual and practical application.
• How does your child get along with other children at school?
• Are there special programs or activities your child might be interested in that would help meet your child's goals.

SEOP: The Secondary School Planning Process

The SEOP (Student Education Occupation Plan) process expands the SEP to include career development. It's a primary planning strategy for monitoring and managing a student's education and career development.

• Students are involved in activities that help them identify their interests, talents, hobbies and academic achievement.
• The student is asked to identify a general career goal and the education and/or training needed to reach that goal. Early identification of a career goal helps students take full advantage of their junior and senior high school experience.
• The student, parent and educator will review student progress and make further plans for the student. Those plans may include proper course selection as well as graduation requirements. Although graduation is a long way off, it's never too early to help your child plan and prepare for job shadowing, internships, apprenticeships, on the job training, or further education.

In addition to reviewing your student's grades find out:

• If he/she is completing assignments within set deadlines?
• How is he/she participating in the classroom?
• How are his/her social interactions?
• Are there any upcoming assignments that you should know about?
• How can you find out about missed school work?

The following items are important in all meetings:

• What tips can smooth vital transition times: elementary to middle/jr. high and middle/jr. high to high school?
• What resources are available within the school, such as media/career centers, printed materials, and counseling services? For example, through the Internet you can access the Utah State Office of Education's home page and find UTAHLINK, which can connect you to SEP/SEOP information. If you're not involved in the SEP/SEOP process, tell your child what was discussed at the parent/teacher conference.

Remember, in all conferences, teachers can be more supportive and adaptive to your child if they know:

• What your child likes about school.
• What you are doing at home to help your child with homework.
• What works for you to get your child to cooperate.
• Any situations at home that may affect your child's learning at school. For example:
  • has someone new moved into your home?
  • is someone seriously ill or has there been a death in the family?
  • has someone in the home moved out?
  • has a pet died?
  • is a parent frequently away on business trips?

After Any Conference:

• After the SEP, put the goal sheet in a highly visible area in your home like the fridge or a place you'll see frequently.
• Follow-up on suggestions discussed at the conference.
• Write a thank you note to the teacher. Outline how the suggestions are working.
• Share the information with a parent/guardian who couldn't attend.
• As your student moves to the SEOP process, think of ways to enhance your child's goals. For example, a family vacation may include a visit to a college/university campus or a business/industry of interest.
• Share your own job experiences with your child. Take your children to your job setting and tell them about other careers at your work place.
• Discuss careers in the extended family setting. Discuss occupations of grandparents, uncles and aunts.

You May Need To Schedule Additional Meetings With Your Child's Teacher If You Notice:

• A dramatic change in your child's attitude toward school or school work.
• A dramatic drop in grades in one or more classes.
• Discrepancies in stories your child is telling you about school events, activities or assignments.
• Your child comes home from school upset, or has recurring stomach aches or headaches, and doesn't want to go to school.

Your Child's Teacher May Contact You For A Meeting If:

• Special testing by the school psychologist is recommended.
• There has been repeated fighting or problems on the playground.
• Your child repeatedly arrives late to school, misses school or classes.
• Your child feels the teacher doesn't like him/her.
• The teacher suspects your child has learning disabilities.
• Your child is not keeping up with school work and there is talk of having to repeat a grade.
• The teacher is not getting a response from you to repeated notes and calls to home.