Why not make a Positive Phone Call Home?

If this strategy of a positive phone call home benefits the students academically why are educators not using this tool on a more regular basis?  That is a question worth extra research.  Why do teachers not want to spend the time making these positive calls when the effort to do it can completely change the atmosphere of the classroom in a positive way?  How much time does it really take to make a positive phone call?  What incentive can be used to encourage teachers to make positive phone calls?  How many positive phone calls does one student need to receive for a teacher to reap the benefits and see behavioral changes in the classroom?  How do we change the mindset of teachers so they will try a positive phone call home in their classroom?  The questions for research could go on and on.  So again I ask the question, if a positive phone call home can improve a student’s behavior, academics, relationship….why are teacher’s not using this strategy to better their classroom?  All the information I researched points in the same direction of building relationships and how it encourages a positive classroom/school climate where students are engaged in their learning.  How better can we do this as educators than with a Positive Phone Call Home? 

E.T. PHONE HOME!!!!!  Excellent Teachers Phone Home!!!!!

Building Relationships through a Positive Phone Call Home

Through a positive phone call home the goal is to have a classroom environment that has engaged students with a positive attitude about themselves, their classmates, and their learning.  Teachers who communicate positively with students and their families build relationships between the home and the school.  With this built relationship it is possible to see improved academic achievement and social development within the students.  Yune Tran (2014) states the importance of improving communication with families using positive news, enhancing the home/school relationship and impacting the learning of students.  In a study discussed by Yune Tran (2014) positive telephone contact, prepared notes, and conferences giving tips to how to help your child succeed were strategies explored.  These strategies motivated the students and the families showing a more positive relationship between home and school with added parental involvement.  It is up to the schools to increase the home/school relationship and a positive phone call home can be part of this equation.  Crucial to this equation is “accepting families as equal partners in the educational process of their children’s schooling along with positive communication are key strategies to successful family and teacher partnerships” (Tran, 2014).  

Teaching at two schools I am not able to call every parent of every student who is making good choices every evening so, I send Good News Notes home with students.  I learned about these Good News Notes when I went to a professional development for music teachers.  Here is what my “Good News” note home looks like, the kids love them and so do their parents.  J

_________________________________________________________________________

Good News!!!!!

To:  Parent/Guardian, 

Just a quick note to let you know how happy I am that:  

Your child did a great job today of staying focused and ready during music class.  AWESOME!!! 

Teacher:  Mrs. Roush

At the beginning of the year I send home a letter and in the letter it explains what the student needs to be doing to receive a Good News note.  I use colored paper and put four notes to a sheet of paper cut with a paper cutter and then everyone is happy…including me!!!!

To receive a GOOD NEWS NOTE your student should follow classroom expectations.

·         Respect one another

·         No talking when teacher/classmate is talking

·         Raise your hand/Don’t call out

·         Play instruments only when told

·         Keep hands to self

·         Be kind

Treat others the way you want to be treated. 

Follow this link from Edutopia for:

Twenty Tips for Developing Positive Relationships with Parents

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/20-tips-developing-positive-relationships-parents-elena-aguilar 

If you want to read more from these educators here are the places I retrieved the information:

Tran, Y. Addressing reciprocity between families and schools: Why these bridges are instrumental for students' academic success. Improving Schools, 17, 18-29. Retrieved May 19, 2014, from http:///imp.sagepub.com/content/17/1/18.refs.html

 

A Positive Phone Call Home and School Wide Positive Reinforcement Programs

Positive phone calls home should be used in tandem with behavior management plans such as Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) by Fred Jones and (CHAMPS) A Proactive and Positive Approach to Classroom Management by Sprick, Garrison, & Howard all experts in the field of classroom behavioral management. 

Many research articles discuss school wide positive behavioral plans, but if a classroom is managed poorly no school wide plan will work.  Reinke, Herman, & Stormont (2012) state that students where management is poor receive less academic instruction and are more likely to experience long term negative academic, behavioral, and social outcomes.  They discuss the importance of praise in the classroom and that there should be a ratio of four positive comments to one negative.  Research, however, shows “that teachers do not use behavior-specific praise at high rates...when teachers increase their use of praise, their use of reprimands decreases” (Reinke, Herman, & Stormont, 2012).  Teachers feel exhausted and the addition of making a positive phone call home could send them straight into burnout, but as Elena Aguilar (2012) shared in her article on the Edutopia blog, making a positive phone call home could be the difference between an unmanageable group of students or an easy group.  Follow this link to a blog for better behavior in the “special’s” classes (art, music, physical education) to get some ideas for behavior management.  http://firststeppforbetterbehavior.blogspot.com/

Since teachers struggle with the four to one ratio of positive comments to negative here is Randy Sprick explaining a three to one ratio of positive interaction with students in this YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dbi_gsDGk8w

As I have stated a Positive Phone Call Home can be part of a school wide positive reinforcement program.  This YouTube video shows a school and how it is implemented.  Positive Reinforcement Breeds Good Behavior https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNW05PRpPUY

This YouTube video can help remind educators about the importance of praise.  Teacher Praise and Student Behavior https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlBmUan3bqE 

If you want to read more from these educators here are the places I retrieved the information:

Aguilar, E. (2012, August 20). [Web log message]. Retrieved from www.edutopia.org/blog/power-positive-phone-call-home-elena-aguilar

Reinke, W., Herman, K., & Stormont, M. Classroom-Level Positive Behavior Supports in Schools Implementing SW-PBIS: Identifying Areas for Enhancement. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 15, 39-50. Retrieved May 19, 2014, from http://pbi.sagepub.com/content/15/1/39

"Parent Talk"

While driving through Macon, Georgia on the way to Florida I ended up staying at a hotel. I began talking to a lady who worked at the hotel and of course the conversation moved to her kids and school.  I wish I had picked up my phone and recorded her voice or videoed her…she was quite passionate about her kids and school.  She had been a teenage mom and on her own since seventeen.  She now has three kids and works hard to provide for them.  She stated that she continually communicates with teachers.  She calls teachers and checks on her kids just to see how they are doing.  If she gets a call from the teacher stating that things are not going well she stops by the school and checks in. 

She said she can’t believe parents that never show their face at school.  “Parents need to stay involved.  Teachers cannot do it alone.  Teachers are there “at school” to teach.  It is up to me, the parent, to make sure my kids do what they are supposed to”.

My comment to her was, “But some parents work and some have had a bad experience at school and really feel uncomfortable.”  Her response, “So, you became a parent.  You are responsible for another human being.  You still need to check on your child make sure they are doing what they are supposed to do while they are at school so that they can be successful.  It’s up to the parent not to the teacher to make sure my child succeeds.”

She continued, “Parents who drop kids off the first day of school and you never see them again until the last day of school are not taking care of their children’s education.  Then you have the parent who doesn’t come in the school EVER and when their child’s grades are bad they are at the school cussing out the teacher.  Where have they been before that bad grade?  The teacher can’t do it all, you have to be involved.  My kid’s make good grades because I am strict and I am involved.  Bed time 8:00, dinner together, and we go through homework nightly.  If I have questions…I call the teacher….I stay involved.”

She explained, “There are many ways to be involved at my kid’s school.  There are lots of programs and of course there are government programs ready to help….use it!!!! Our school has programs for parents all the time and they don’t come.”  I asked her, why she thought parents didn’t participate in these programs.  “Because they are comfortable where they are, they know nothing different, and they can’t see the “big picture” of what is available for them…..We try to educate them, but they don’t want it.  You don’t know what you want when you don’t know what there is."

"I am going to stay involved, check on my kids, call the teachers, and help my children get an education.  It is not up to the schools and the teachers…..it’s up to me." 

This parent is involved, she is communicating with the teacher and the school, but what about all the other parents out there that are not?  Make a Positive Phone Call Home and hopefully make a difference in a child’s life.

What some parents shared about a Positive Phone Call Home.

I spoke to some parents about teacher contact and positive phone calls home and was told that the teacher’s only called when there was a problem.  I asked if teachers contacted them before school started to say “Hi, I am your child’s teacher.”   These parents said, “No, the only time I am contacted is when my child is in trouble.”  I asked if they had received a “good phone call” and was told, “No”.   A few parents stated that they initiate contact with the teacher and keep it going by coming in the school and talking to the teachers or by phoning, texting, and emailing.  The parents who initiate contact and keep the communication channels open are few and far between in the urban setting where I teach.  As an example, I am the music teacher at two schools and see about 800 kids in a week and I only have one parent out of the 800 who will text me weekly checking up on his child’s behavior in the music room.  Granted, if all 800 parents began texting me weekly, I would probably not be able to keep up.  Making sure students and parents receive positive phone calls is imperative.  We want to build a positive relationship between home and school and making a Positive Phone Call can help as these educators share in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UikIaBdxeDg  Making Positive Phone Calls Home.  Here are some suggestions and a worksheet that may help when making a Positive Phone Call Home from A tool kit for New Mexico School Communities:     http://www.cesdp.nmhu.edu/toolkit/improving-communication/positive-phone-calls.asp

 

What do other educators think of a Positive Phone Call Home?

Eva Boster, Tennessee Department of Education Teacher Ambassador (2014) shares information about a middle school in Tennessee where teachers are required to make three positive phone calls home per week and how the practice has encouraged the amount of parent engagement at the school and that teachers now feel that they have a better relationship with students and parents.  The plan has created a win-win situation at this school.  The benefits of a positive phone call home outweigh the time spent making them is the opinion of Laura Brader-Araje (2004).  Positive phone calls home will head off any problems before they occur and “creates a positive impression of the school and bridges the traditional gap between teacher and community” (Brader–Araje, 2004). 

The Reading Rockets webpage shared the American Federation of Teachers (2007)   article about effective communication stating that there are positive effects for parents as well as for students.  Parents become more involved in their child’s education and students are more motivated to learn, have improved behavior, attend school more regularly, and have a better feeling about homework and school.  In this article it is mentioned that parents are not prepared for a positive phone call about their child and that school-home “communication is greatly increased through personalized positive telephone contact between teachers and parents” (Federation of Teachers, 2007).  One study where daily phone calls were made during a summer program found that “frequent teacher-family communication immediately increased student engagement as measured by homework completion rates, on – task behavior, and class participation” (Kraft & Dougherty, 2012).  Here is a link to a YouTube video where a principal discusses why she has her staff make five positive phone calls a week…it works!!!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu5HjAW_AIE

If you want to read more from these educators here are the places I retrieved the information:

Boster, E. (2014, March 25). The Power of a Positive Phone Call Home - Classroom Chronicles. Classroom Chronicles. Retrieved from http://tnclassroomchronicles.org/the-power-of-a-positive-phone-call-home/

Brader-Araje, L. (2004). Calling Home: Keeping in Contact with Students' Families. Calling Home: Keeping in Contact with Students' Families. Retrieved from http://www.nctm.org/resources/content.aspx?id=9372

Federation of Teachers. (2007). Building Parent-Teacher Relationships. Retrieved May 14, 2014, from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/19308

Kraft MA, Dougherty SM. The Effect of Teacher-Family Communication on Student Engagement: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness. 2013;6(3):199-222. Retrieved from http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mkraft/files/kraft__dougherty_teacher_communication_jree.pdf

 

 

Why am I interested in a Positive Phone Call Home?

The positive phone call home came about because of a few students in the schools where I teach who disrupt the learning for all through unacceptable behavior such as running out of the classroom, yelling at other students, starting fights, and seemingly doing anything to cause a ruckus.  These same students are doing what I described in all areas of the school setting not just the music room and my plan is to help these children change and have a better attitude about school and learning through positive communication with them and their families.  What I try to do is call home when the student has been in music class and has done a good job.  The student’s love these calls and parents do too!!!! 

This year I did this with one particular student to see if it could improve the child’s behavior.  The child was excited to receive a positive phone call and the parent was happy also.  This worked like a charm for this student.  He would raise his hand, answer questions, and was a model student.  He loved the outcome and so did I.  When I asked the child if he liked receiving a positive phone call home he smiled ear to ear and said, “Yes”.  This student also expressed that his parent was very pleased when I called to say things were going great in the music room.   The positive phone call home can increase the likelihood of parents telling their student that they did a good job and that they are proud of them.  The more encouragement the student gets from home the better the student performs in school.