When you are teaching young children during distance learning live video platform meetings, parents and/or caregivers are going to be a part of your audience. Most teachers have not been used to having families be a part of every lesson we give. The circumstances many Montessori teachers have found themselves this school year may present new challenges with parent and family interactions. Here are some common issues you may experience during distance learning and some possible ways to handle them.
- Parents want to jump on the video call early to ask you questions about their child or their child's school work.
Some teachers may be fine with this, but it is easy for parents to take advantage of your time and take away from your ability to give equal time to all of your families. If you find that a few families are monopolizing your time you can send an email, or make a call to each family, and let them know that you are available for conferences when they are scheduled in advance. You can use many various web-based scheduling tools to allow parents to sign up for a video or phone conference with you as your schedule allows. It is helpful to have a conference policy in place if a family needs to be speak with you urgently. If you find that parents are still trying to catch you before a class session begins, you can mute your mic and keep your video turned off until just before you begin. I like to immediately begin interacting with students so that you send a clear message that learning time has begun. If a parent interrupts you, respectfully remind them that you'll be happy to schedule a conference or phone call with them. Make sure you follow up with that parent after the meeting has ended.
- Parents answer questions for their child during lessons.
Since so many families have a caregiver or parent sitting with their child during live video lessons, it can feel as if their children are on display to the group. Parents want their children to be seen in the best light possible by other students and their families. Parents may feel embarrassment if their child does not know the answer to a question or gets a question wrong during a lesson. Parents or caregivers may feel that they are helping their child by giving them an answer. There are few ways this can be handled. First, make sure that you set clear expectations with respect to parental participation during lessons. If you haven't already done so, send home clear parent and child etiquette expectations. Let families know that it is your job to create a safe, welcoming learning community. Stress that it is difficult for you as the teacher to fully understand how to best teach your students if adults are feeding them answers during the lessons. I had a parent of a first grader stand just off camera and write the correct answers to any questions, even to questions like, "What did you have for breakfast this morning?" I had many parents whisper the answers in full view of the camera, and sadly I had parents who corrected their child sternly on camera if they said an incorrect answer. You can try saying things like, "Wow, I'm glad Eric's daddy knows the answer. I wonder what Eric thinks the answer might be." If a student is clearly looking at a parent who is off camera for answers, try asking the child to look right at you while she/he is thinking about it. Let the child know that it ok to not answer something about which she/he is unsure. A phone call is probably in order if a parent is correcting their child in front of the group during a lesson. Offer advice on how the Montessori method handles mistakes and their correction.
Reassure everyone that a lesson is not a competition, and be careful to use Montessori principles when working with the students. Try to find something positive about each child's answers and work towards guiding the child to success. For example, if you ask a child, "What is the last sound they hear in the word frog," and the child answers, "f". Instead of saying no and repeating the question, say something like, "f is the first sound I hear in frog. I'm wondering what the last sound is when we say frog." This way you haven't corrected the child, but you have given the child another opportunity to think again. It may be necessary to ask questions to the whole group and not to single students out during group lessons. If this is necessary, be sure to set up some individual time with each student in order to adequately assess each student's learning.
- Parents correct you or your teaching style during lessons.
This one can get tricky, especially if you are new to distance learning technology. It can also rattle the confidence of the most experienced teachers! Try to think about how you handle a situation in which a student corrects you. Usually a, "Thanks. I didn't realize..." or something like that is sufficient. If the parent is clearly incorrect try saying something like, "Yes, that is one way of think about...today we are learning about...this way." Remember that many parents did not learn using the Montessori method and may be unfamiliar with why we teach certain things in a particular order. For example, many parents do not understand why we teach letter sounds instead of letter names, and may want to correct or add to your lesson. In cases such as these, smile, nod, and continue on with your lesson. This way you haven't ignored the parent, but you haven't gotten into a discussion that will interrupt your class time. Make it a point to speak with the parent sometime after the meeting to explain that you have detailed lesson plans, and while you can't answer their questions while you are working with the children, you'd be more than happy to discuss the curriculum at another time. You may also try offering her/him a chance to give a guest lesson about a mutually agreed upon topic. Unless the parent is a teacher, she/he usually will realize that your job isn't so easy and may not interrupt you as much in the future.
Keep in mind that like teachers who are navigating the new world of distance learning, parents and caregivers are getting used to this new normal as well. Ensure families that you are doing your best to ensure that all of your students receive a high-quality education and that you need them , now more than ever, to partner with you to make that happen efficiently. Nearly all parents ultimately have their child's best interests at heart. If they understand that their own behavior may impact their child's learning, they will want that impact to be a positive one.
