The presence and influence of technology in today’s generation of students seems to grow with each passing day. Why not utilize it in the classroom?
This is just the start in a book filled with tips, tools and strategies for K-12 teachers written by Patricia Edwards. Published through Teachers College Press in May, “New Ways to Engage Parents: Strategies and Tools for Teachers and Leaders, K-12,” examines approaches to welcome and engage with parents.
“Teaching is a science, a profession and an art,” said Edwards, professor of teacher education. “A one-size-fits-all approach to teaching students and connecting with parents just doesn’t work. Teachers need to understand the landscapes of who they are dealing with. If you want to learn the environments from which your students come, you need to do your research.”
Edwards delves into how educators and administrators can find and utilize community demographics to determine what best strategies may be used to partner with parents, and with students. It is through learning more about who you’re teaching that you can become a more effective teacher, she argues.
Additionally, Edwards covers strategies on how to bring parents and students together for meaningful activities and overcoming negative histories or perceptions in the community.
Read more about Edwards’s research and book in the Spring/Summer 2016 New Educator Cover Story.