Tips on Communicating With Difficult Parents

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:38:19 +0000

Communication with parents is one of the most difficult challenges a new teacher will face. The student teaching experience doe not adequately prepare new teachers for parental interaction and certainly does not prepare new teachers for the difficult parents.

Difficult parents are everywhere in every school district in every location of this country. Of course, you will run across the supportive parents, but the difficult ones will require some extra effort on mastering communications. Mastering the art of interacting with difficult parents means your first year of teaching will be a lot less stressful.

Here are a few survival tips on communication with difficult parents:

Listen Attentively

Event the most unreasonable parent wants to be heard. If a parent is berating you, respond in a manner that indicates you heard what they said. Calmly use comments like, “so, you are angry” or, “I understand why you feel that way, but….” Do this in a calm tone of voice and then listen to what happens to the parent’s tone of voice. In most cases, you will find the parent backing down.

Do Not Argue

Do not argue with an angry parent because this will send the message that the parent can push your buttons and that you are easy to control. As frustrated as you may be, maintain a calm tone of voice and you will find this will neutralize the situation rather quickly.

Do Not Accuse

Whatever you do, never accuse a parent of anything. You may be tempted to do this when dealing with the enabling parent who expects you to do everything for their child to the point where the child is no longer making an effort. State your case in a calm tone of voice and set specific boundaries that indicate where the teaching accommodation ends and the child must take responsibility.

Expect Respect

As much as you may not want to, respect the difficult parent and insist that they respect you in return. If the parent continues to be verbally abusive, remain silent and walk away, or suggest they return at another time when they can talk to you in a civil manner.

Maintain Eye Contact

Make sure you are eye level with the parent and do not hide behind any structural object during the interaction. This will send the message to the parent that you are not intimidated by the situation and you are confident in who you are and what you do.

Be Silent

A difficult parent is usually one who thrives on exerting power over others. If you react in the same manner, you are fueling the fire and further aggravating the situation. Remaining silent to their attacks is like denying a fire the air it needs to thrive; it will weaken the flame as well as deny the parent the attention they seek.

Remember that as a first year teacher you still have rights not to be treated as the rookie. In addition, your well being is essential to the success of what will be the most stressful year of your career.

By: J.C. Sprenger

New Teacher Tips – How to Set Up a Special Education Classroom

admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:07:01 +0000

If your child is in a special education class, it is imperative that several things should be in order in order to maximize the learning conditions and subsequently their achievement.

In order to facilitate the learning, the classroom should have a special desk arrangement. Desks should be arranged in rows in order to minimize the amount of distractions caused by group and paired learning.

Another way to cater to the various levels is to set up a learning center around various stations that allow for hands-on fun or educational experiences depending on the educational background of the student. Learning centers should also provide a variety of activities and themes which ultimately makes the learning purposeful.

An additional set-up arrangement is to put the teacher’s desk in front of the class which allows for individual eye contact and body language.

In some special education classrooms, restroom facilities are located within the classroom. However, not all special education are set up in this way. However it can be a consideration should other arrangements be unsatisfactory.

As a new special education teacher, you’ll want a classroom setup that encourages an effective engagement with minimal distractions. With children who need to deal with special learning adjustments, try for a new setup that is not too overwhelming for him/her to function. You’ll want to also maintain control with the rest of the class as well.

Consider the kinds of activities that are systematic enough to help these kids thrive under a minimal number of classroom arrangement. Kids do not thrive well under too many unanticipated situations.

So what are you waiting for? Try it!

By: Dorit Sasson

Special Education » New Teacher

Tips on Communicating With Difficult Parents

New Teacher Tips – How to Set Up a Special Education Classroom