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Create 3-way conversations between parent, student, and teacher about progress & missed meetings or assignments. That way there are no misunderstandings about where we are and what the plan to catch up takes.

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Begin the quarter with "Take Care of Me Lists." We can share with students what we need from them to make the quarter successful, they'll share the same info with us. This allows us to build rapport with students and learn about what each individual needs. This should help build community and drive motivation.

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I've taught enough middle schoolers to know that setting the right tone in the classroom is the foundation of joyful learning. I want students to walk out of my classroom understanding one simple thing immediately: They matter. Their preferences, their individuality-I want all of it, and I want them to understand that their learning environment should represent a partnership between students and teacher.

Therefore, several years ago, I developed an assignment to invite trusting teacher-student relationships, an assignment I call the Take Care of Me List.

The Specifics

Students must fill a page with a list of specific things I could do as their teacher to take care of them as learners. I ask them to explain each item with a few sentences. I purposely don't restrict the types of responses so that each list will give me the true flavor of each student's personality.

I write my own Take Care of Me List, as well, that I share as a model. My list typically includes student behaviors and habits that I would hope to see on our very best learning day. Rather than going through a list of rules, this is a way for me to communicate that the way our classroom functions must support all of us.

I ask them to think back to a classroom in which they felt happy to learn. What did the teacher do to support them? What might a teacher do to help them learn in the best possible way? Then I give them some quiet drafting time in class-they complete the list for homework and turn it in a few days later.

Learning From the Lists

I read the lists carefully, sometimes making notes for myself in a separate document. Students never fail to be insightful. Sure, I get my fair share of items like "Give me candy" and "Don't give homework," but even those types of responses reveal aspects of my students' personalities and what is motivating to them.

Most of the time, there are several gems buried in a list that tell me things about my students' preferences that I can easily address, whether regularly ("Please don't call on me without warning") or on a random day ("I challenge you to a Bananagrams match!").

Sometimes students want to share with me things I shouldn't do that are based on unpleasant classroom experiences in their past. Every year I read lists that include "Please don't yell at me or the class when you're upset." These responses give me a clue about the type of attitude they may have about school and/or learning. They show me kiddos who might need a little extra TLC in the teacher-student relationship department.

I take the lists seriously and work hard to address the requests in class when possible. I allow my practice and classroom routines to bend to accommodate each class, depending on what they tell me they need. I find that students feel safe in and respect an environment that seems to be responsive to them and not simply a reflection of a teacher's preferences.

The Key to Success

Perhaps the most important part of this assignment is that I write a short response to each student. Because it's the first personal feedback I give students, I make sure that it shows gratitude for their work, acknowledges something specific from their list, and expresses genuine excitement for getting to know that student this year.

This is not the time to correct spelling or critique the quality of responses. I see this as my opportunity to have a solid, positive first interaction with each child before the school year gets going. I notice many students tucking my notes away in binders or lockers, and it's not uncommon for me to see the notes still lingering in February or May.

I file the students' lists away for future reference. They're handy later if a student seems unreceptive in class because they give me some strategies from the students themselves. Sometimes the temporary cure to getting us unstuck is a Jolly Rancher on the desk (because usually the harder-to-reach student has written "Give me candy" on his list).

Finally, I return the lists to the students in the last week of the school year-partly to remind them that taking care of them was a year-long endeavor, but also to show them that telling future teachers about their needs as learners and people can help them be successful.

The benefits of the Take Care of Me List need not be confined to the classroom. Asking parents to write a Take Care of Us list about their family may provide a teacher with valuable information about what families need for educational success. And perhaps administrators could strengthen relationships by asking their staff to write lists of what they need to work best. The point of the Take Care of Me List is not about asking for and responding to a list of demands. The point is asking at all.

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I've taught enough middle schoolers to know that setting the right tone in the classroom is the foundation of joyful learning. I want students to walk out of my classroom understanding one simple thing immediately: They matter. Their preferences, their individuality-I want all of it, and I want them to understand that their learning environment should represent a partnership between students and teacher.

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I would like to do more preemptive work with families, in a form of a weekly email or video describing the work that will be happening in the next week.

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1) Create a shout out portion in my seminar block so students can cross talk and celebrate each other.

2) I will push students to identify a make up plan whenever they miss a session or deadline instead of "waiting for the next opportunity."

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I will share out catch-up documents with parents as soon as I make them.

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1. Contact all families at beginning of quarter 2. Record parent communication 3. Have a parent meeting at beginning so that people can see me

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I will try to dedicate student time to share about themselves and the things that are relevant to them (aka listen).

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Intro meeting/email to parents; cc parents in weekly work progress emails; additional calls to parents when there's a significant change in student work progress (+/-)

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I may change my 1-on-1 schedule with students to be more sustainable and relevant to student needs. I hope this will lead to less missed 1-on-1s and a better use of my time.

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Intro video/communication with parents that lay out the Dual Enrollment/Impact expectations with communication workflow

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Getting an understanding of the parents best methods of communicating so it can be regular and expected in their desired method.

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Every student needs to say something during every synchronous lesson.

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In synch lessons, going to directly address and at least talk to every student every day (unless they let me know something is up in advance).

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I will set a personal goal to reach out to both advisory parents and seminar parents within the first month to start the quarter off in a positive way.

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Create a shared "Parent Communication" log for our seminar. This allows both teachers to see how parents are communicated with, and about what.

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Intro meeting/email to students; cc students in weekly work progress emails; shout outs to students when they're on the right track; call ins when we noticed they are starting to shift downwards; let students know when parents will be called

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Having a parent information meeting that parents can hop on a zoom with us directly so we can talk about expectations and communication, as well as seeing who we are.

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I would like to implement a "Personal SOS" system, where students recognized the early warning signs of their own disengagement, and that trigger produces a certain reaction. If ___ happens, then ___ occurs.

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The prep document was awesome!  Students knew exactly what to say.

All participants were in their safe space (HOME).

Using the waiting room feature on zoom insured that all conversations were private.

I would do conferences virtually in the future - always.

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Being able to connect methods/tasks that we ask students to do (planners/ SLC Prep/Advocating) in school with a real life event, in real time (student struggled with the conference because he did not prepare, show up for meetings or respond when teachers ooffered help).

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I wonder if there is a way that we can have both virtual conferences and in person conferences throughout the year, giving parents both opportunities, and expanding the reach of our parent communication.

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Having parents feel "at home" and not like they have to be in defense mode the entire time. This was a huge moment of equity for parents as much as it was students.

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The format was great. The time was appropriate and conferences felt efficient and productive.

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Felt good to hear Ariana P talk about enjoying class.

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See parents faces, having them see my face, and seeing smiles from families when students shared successes.

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The prep document worked really well with the timing. It took about 10 minutes for the students to talk through Quarters 1, 2, and ALEKS and their future which left a solid amount of time left for any questions or comments from advisors and parents.

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If we adapt and learn anything from this time, we need to make sure we continue to give parents the option for virtual conferences. So much equity.

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Creating sign-ups for each advisory, rather than one whole-school sign-up.

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Separate sign up docs for each advisory (or just have Dan and Katie have all of them!).

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The ever-elusive Jerkyla and her mom came to conferences!!

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Every student who signed up from our advisory showed up (72%). 2 we knew could not. 3 no responses.

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Parents were able to show up from wherever they were. Work, out on a walk, taking care of the kids, etc...

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It was great to see results of efforts in days leading up to, and even during the conference day, leading to parents signing up.

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Having a positive conversation with Da'Veon and mom, even though he still has a long ways to go.

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I would like to see more students take a portion of their projects/tasks they are working on and use conferences as another at bat for exhibition and defense process

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I was certain he wouldn't be coming into the school, but dad and Nico were on board. Now to work on mom ;)

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- Can they be offered multiple days and at different times of day (morning, afternoon, evening)?
- Can we use a service that automatically sends a link rather than having to do that manually?
- Continue virtual option forever.

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I'm wondering if we can connect some standards to the student led conferences or if we think it would be a valuable lesson to have the students manage the zoom session.

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being appreciated felt all warm and gooey....really thankful for that.

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Everyone that signed up came, and had good things to say about PH.

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Everyone that signed up came, and had good things to say about PH.

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Could format be: ALL student until they are done and THEN take quesetions? No interruptions from teacher or P/G

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A more natural conversation from the prep document.

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One win was helping students see and celebrate their wins and hopefully use it to motivate further growth

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We convinced Nico (Maddox) and his parents that he could and should come into the building.

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All new students/families came

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Setting up a different signup for each advisory.

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After highlighting Kyama's growth, Heather mentioned Kyama would likely stay at PH for the rest of the year if it was an option.

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Doc and allocated time were of an appropriate length. There was still time for clarifying questions and tech trouble-shooting

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Signup could benefit with some refinement and clarification--perhaps separate links for each advisory

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There were so many little wins throughout the day: genuine smiles and laughs, cameras were mostly on (some parents didn't have cameras on), and lots of compliments and celebrations. This does so much for connection and relationship building between students, advisors, and parents. I would love to do these four (or more) times a year. The impact is so worth it.