Shouldn't every parent be a teacher's greatest asset and ally in nurturing and educating all students? Shouldn't every teacher actively include and empathetically engage with all parents, especially those who seem the most clueless, careless, or cantankerous? TALENTED TEACHERS, EMPOWERED PARENTS, SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS! provides educators with a wealth of creative strategies, practical solutions, and professional development activities to transform teacher-parent relationships into pleasant, productive partnerships of mutual trust, respect, and collaboration. The author's twenty-five years of classroom experience in meeting the needs of a diversity of students at large, urban Title I schools (including teaching gifted and special needs students, as well as English Language Learners) ensure his advice is teacher-friendly and timely-and actually works! Affordably priced to fit within any teacher's or school's budget, this inspiring book empowers educators of all grade levels and in any school environment to: - MOVE PARENTS FROM INVOLVEMENT TO INVESTMENT with easy-to-implement techniques for keeping every family engaged with weekly classroom updates and individualized student progress reports. - WIN OVER EVERY PARENT by treating them as the experts they are with a variety of activities that honor their insights and elicit their input on what is best for their child. - TRANSFORM PARENT COMPLAINTS INTO AFFIRMING ENCOUNTERS that leave the parent more satisfied than if there had been no conflict at all! - EMBRACE A WHOLE-CHILD APPROACH that values the core needs of each student and puts parents and teachers on the same page in moving each child forward-socially, emotionally, soulfully, and academically. - ACQUIRE POWERFUL, RESEARCHED-BASED TEACHING TECHNIQUES to cultivate a classroom of willingness, wisdom, wonder, warmth, and worth so parents gain the confidence that their child is in caring, capable hands while at school. - GROW FROM THE INCLUDED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES AND BOOK STUDY QUESTIONS that inspire and equip teachers and parents to work together, as well as to become the best adults they can be for the children they both care for and care about. Every parent wants their child to succeed in school, and most are willing to do their part-as long as they feel invited, informed, and equipped to do so. Teachers who provide parents with the reassurance, recognition, and resources offered in this book are certain to form the strong home-to-school bonds that allow every child to realize their full potential.
About the Author: Robert Ward is an enthusiastic educator, author, and champion for children who is currently in his twenty-fifth year of teaching English to a wide diversity of students at public middle schools in Los Angeles. His book for educators, The Firm, Fair, Fascinating Facilitator, and its companion workbook, The Teacher Tune-Up, empower teachers to attend to the needs of the whole child. Robert extends his holistic approach to nurturing children in his third book, A Teacher's Inside Advice to Parents: How Children Thrive with Leadership, Love, Laughter, and Learning, published by Rowman and Littlefield. In addition to his award-winning Rewarding Education blog, Robert's articles for educators and parents are regularly featured in Edutopia, Education Week, ASCD, NCTE, the U.S. Department of Education's "The Teacher's Edition" newsletter, and the International Literacy Association. Robert has also mentored over two hundred teachers at various stages of their careers. His additional leadership roles include a two-year appointment by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to the Student Learning Subcommittee at the California Department of Education and graduate level teaching experience at California State University, San Bernardino as an adjunct instructor in the College of Education. Robert lives in the historic View Park neighborhood of Los Angeles with his husband of twenty-two years and their two incredibly cute doggies. You can read more about Robert at www.RewardingEducation.com.