I recently was a guest blogger on Raki's Rad Resources. I posted this entry there. If you haven't checked out her blog, please do so...right now!
Raki's Rad Resources
Home
Visits: Making Connections with Students
and Their Families
One
of the most powerful strategies a teacher can use to make connections with
students and their families is by making home visits. Over my past few years as
an English as a Second Language teacher, I have made several home visits. I have found that they take extra time and
effort, but the eventual results are worthwhile. In fact, I believe the “payoffs” are huge!
One
of my students was struggling to access an online student reading program. After trying several notes back and forth
with the child’s mother, I offered to make a home visit to see what I could do
to help. When I arrived, Mother and the
three children welcomed me to their home.
They offered me a tray of traditional sweets and pistachios along with a
cold can of Pepsi. I sat and chatted
with Mother for about 20 minutes before I began to work on their home
computer. It took me more than an hour
of tinkering with several possible solutions to figure out why they couldn’t
access the online reading program, but finally, it worked! Hurrah!
We celebrated and then I waited while my student completed one of the
online lessons. I wanted to make sure
she was successful before I left. Mother
observed how the online lesson was supposed to work so she could help her
daughter in the future. While we were
waiting on my student finish her lesson, Father called on his cell phone. He couldn’t be there in person to meet me,
but he wanted to talk with me and to thank me for visiting his home and helping
his child.
Another
time I visited a family who lived in an apartment complex housing many families
from the same country and culture. As a
teacher colleague and I along with our school district interpreter walked
between buildings, a cry arose of “Teachers are here!” Suddenly, doors opened and children streamed
out. They were excitedly yelling at each
other in their first language while interspersing their conversation with the English
words, “Teacher, Teacher!” We were
quickly engulfed by a crowd of children hugging us and saying our names. As we
made our way to the apartment, we must have looked like a small parade to any
onlookers! The children of the family we
were scheduled to visit thrust themselves importantly to the head of the group
and led us to their home. They escorted
us into their apartment and sat down cross-legged on the floor. We greeted Mother and Auntie and started our
meeting. During the visit, other children
kept peeking in the open door of the apartment.
They giggled, whispered and waved to us as we talked with the adults of
the family.
I’ve
met many families and found that every one of them appreciated the time I’ve
taken to visit their homes. I’ve eaten a
variety of food such as Latin American candy,
Middle Eastern pastries and cookies, spicy Asian hot wings and Somali
sambusis (triangular shaped fried pastries filled with a spicy ground meat,
onion and peppers mixture). I’ve sipped
hot tea, spiced chai, assorted soft drinks and unfamiliar fruit juices. It seems to be a universal gesture from all
of the families I’ve visited to offer the teacher a treat or drink. I always try to accept graciously even if I
don’t care for something because I know it’s important to my students.
Home
visits have made a difference for me in how I relate to my students and their
families. Parents are always more
comfortable communicating with me after they have hosted me in their homes. I find now that mothers, fathers, “aunties”
and others make the time to stop in my classroom when they come to school for
Open House nights or when they come to pick up their children during the school
day. I see them at district meetings and
cultural events and, yes, sometimes even at the grocery store, hardware store
or the mall! Without fail, they greet me
with a smile, a handshake or even a hug (from the women). If you have not tried home visits with your
students, I suggest you try. You may be
pleasantly surprised at the positive results.
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