For a teacher, one of the things that is key in determining the scholastic success of a child is making a connection with their life outside of school. That means getting to know the child, finding out what his or her interests are, and making a connection with his or her parents / guardians. Parents are the first, the longest, and the most influential teachers of their children, and if they can be brought into the classroom (virtually and physically) their children will be more likely to view learning as an important part of their everyday lives rather than an isolated, school- and teacher-driving imposition.

As you can likely tell, connection with parents is important to me. I try to make it in a variety of different ways, from notes home (about the good as well as about the problems!) to Twitter, to this blog, to the Remind101 service that I’m trying out this year. I want the parents of my students to be involved in their school life.

However, I teach grade seven (which, if you are in a different school system, is the last grade of elementary school). I have the opportunity to meet some parents on occasion, but it’s rarely a common thing. And when we have an Open House, as we do every year at my school (when I was a kid we called it Meet the Creature), I generally have only one or two parents show up. Open House for me usually ends up being the time to get caught up on my marking before the weekend.

Now don’t get me wrong, getting my marking done before Saturday is pretty cool, and I like having time on the weekend. But I would give it up in a second in order to meet more of the people in my students’ lives.

This year … I don’t know what changed. I don’t know if it was the fact that we extended the Open House for another hour, going later into the evening so that parents who work could more easily attend. I don’t know if it was that I had fewer siblings in my class this year. I don’t know whether it was the students themselves who wanted the connection. I have no idea what happened.

Over two-thirds of my parents came to the Open House this past week. It was phenomenal. I had the opportunity to talk to them about what I wanted to do this year with Genius Hour and inquiry projects. I could share with them my feelings about the negative impact grades can have on learning if they are seen as the be-all and end-all of progress. I learned that some of the students were excited to be in my class and some were apprehensive; while some had “just had a feeling” that they were going to be in my class, even though nothing was finalized until the second week in September. I had parents talk to me about their desire for their children to be challenged, and others share their concern that their children sometimes become overwhelmed.

I know there are a lot of reasons parents might not come into the school. Sometimes parents simply can’t make it because of scheduling conflicts. Every family has different commitments with different time constraints. Other times, perhaps the parents haven’t had the best experience at schools themselves. They may be anxious going in to meet the teacher, feeling that he or she is more likely to dictate than listen. (I’ll let you in on a little secret: some teachers – and I am one of these – are anxious when parents call in for a meeting as well, waiting for the bomb to be dropped and trying to figure out what the problem might be before the meeting occurs. Parents aren’t the only ones with that particular knot in their stomachs before a meeting.)

I am not upset that some parents couldn’t come in for our Open House; I am thrilled that I had so many who could and did. It was incredible, and it left me feeling wonderfully energized for the school year. I can’t wait to work with these kids, I can’t wait to share their individual excellences with their parents, and I am so psyched to get started continue to innovate, learn and explore the world with them.