Ppo Meeting Reflection

I learned valuable information through this interview process. The parent I had the pleasure of interviewing was the PTO president, whose son is in my classroom. Interviewing my mentor teacher and principal gave me a different insight into how the school operates. The principal spoke about the make-up of the school, while my mentor teacher and the parent talked more about how they felt about it as a community. When asked about parent involvement, my principal and mentor teacher talked about the different events and opportunities for parents to come into the school, including, family fun night, dad and mom days, and open house. While the parent talked more about the involvement of parents in the PTO. When asked about the vison of the school,

When asked about parent’s knowledge and input being respected, the PTO president talked about how regardless of the situation, she tries to be respectful of everyone she comes into contact with. My mentor teacher said that she feels that the parent’s respect the teachers and the teachers try to accommodate their opinions, but some teachers have different opinions. My principal discussed the different ways that he receives parent input which is through surveys and parent teacher conferences. When asked about how to build on the strengths of the children, my principal said that he just gets to know each and every student, but the teachers are the ones that truly build upon the strengths of each individual. My mentor teacher said that she pairs the children with their strengths in mind, so the children can all help each other out. The parent mentioned that she has seen her children’s teachers differentiate the instruction based upon their level in a subject by giving them more difficult work if they were excelling or simplifying it if they were

I have noticed the teachers differentiating instruction based on each student’s needs. My mentor teacher tries her best to relate the lessons to the children’s interests, but this is an area that could be strengthened. I feel that the parent involvement is not at the level of parent engagement. According to Debbie Pushor (2012) parent engagement is the, “expression of a mutual desire by educators and parents to be in relationship with one another and with children, reflecting and enmeshed or webbed sense of their care and commitment for and with one another” (pg. 469). While the parents are invited to classroom parties and to observe in the classrooms, I feel that they parents are not truly engaged at my field site. My principal mentioned handing out surveys to the parents, and my mentor teacher mentioned her trying to accommodate the parents suggestions, but they do not work together to include the beliefs, values, or traditions of the families into the curriculum. Slowly integrating this into the curriculum, the parents would be engaged in the children’s learning, which in turn will be more meaningful for the