Role of Family: Critical considerations for Beginning Teachers to consider when working with families.

For this assignment I spoke with a mother of a former student who has Aspergers. She is very involved in the life of her son, his education and the school community. I also used my experience as an academic advisor at the boarding school where I work. For the past four years I have been the primary contact between parents and teachers for six boarding students who have been identified as exceptional learners. 1. Communicate with parents early and often and share both the positive accomplishments and areas for growth. If teachers and parents work together to coach and reinforce the behaviors they would like to see at school and at home it provides consistency for the student. The mother I spoke with said that it takes her son two to three weeks with constant coaching for a behavior to change. A quick email at the end of the day following an incident was all it took for this mother to jump into action to assist the teachers at home. 2. Dont judge a family based on how their children preform/behave in the classroom. The mother I spoke to often reminded me that her other sons were Head Boy of the school, and excelling at University etc. She wanted others to recognize that her sons behavior in the classroom was a result of his exceptionality and not his up brining. As teachers we have to be sensitive to the fact that most parents work very hard to assist their children and help them meet with success. They sometime need positive reinforcement as much as the students (and teachers!) do as it can be an exhausting and often thankless job raising children with an identified exceptionality.