Session Description: We all know that parent engagement improves student achievement. However, the current pandemic and forced virtual learning pulled the blanket off and revealed the different various levels of parental involvement in our students' homes as well as some interesting views parents have about their part in their child's education. Join Reba Gordon Matthews as she shares a variety of strategies that can improve teacher-parent interactions and begin to experience a better level of parent engagement. You will also walk away with tools to design a communication plan that values diversity, equity, and inclusion and keeps parents/guardians abreast of their childs progress and challenges. Learning Objectives:

Identify the different methods and tools that can be used to communicate with parents/guardians.

Recognize the appropriate method(s) of communication based upon each child's parent/guardian level of engagement. (Ex: paper, email, text message, communication apps, phone calls, blog, etc.)

Design a communication plan that values diversity, equity, and inclusion and keeps parents/guardians abreast of their childs progress and challenges.

Assessment: Participants will join a collaborative backchannel chat and discuss ways to increase parent engagement to demonstrate their understanding of the session objectives and reflect on their learning.