FINAL PERFORMANCE PROJECT 1

Jennifer O’Brien and Jennifer Zaffetti

EDLR 5015
Dr. Femc-Bagwell
30 November 2017

Family Engagement at Verplanck: ASPIRE to Inspire Parents

I. REFLECTION ON ADMINISTERING THE ASPIRE

Family support is an integral part of a well-functioning school community. As rising

teacher leaders, we decided that we wanted to promote family engagement at Verplanck

Elementary School by administering the ASPIRE survey to parents. We began our project by

first requesting permission from our supervisor, Mrs. Kearney, and the principal, Mr. Jones. We

explained that our Teacher Leadership and Organizations professor, Dr. Femc-Bagwell, in

association with Dr. Bagwell, created the ASPIRE survey for the purpose of “creatively

enhanc[ing] links to learning that are already there in terms of curriculum requirements and

salient parent resources” (Bagwell & Bagwell, 2012, p. 3) In essence, this survey serves to

connect teachers to parents as a way of utilizing human capital data in order to better the

educational experiences of students. While the school does not have a specific goal focused on

parent engagement, both Mrs. Kearney and Mr. Jones were receptive to our final project, and

encouraged us to attend parent/teacher conferences.

In anticipation of surveying parents and grandparents, we set up a table with chairs in the

fifth grade hallway. We came equipped with our notebooks and the “ASPIRE: Questions and

Conversation suggestions” handout. We decided that the conversation would be more authentic

if we hand wrote the responses of parents. We remembered from class how some of the guests

felt intimidated by the frantic typing of keys on a keyboard. As a result, Jen Zaffetti asked the

questions and Jenn O’Brien wrote down the answers in her notebook. We reached out to parents

and grandparents who were waiting for their scheduled parent/teacher conferences, and asked if
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they would be available to answer a few questions. We introduced ourselves and explained that

the purpose of the survey was for teachers to get to know families better so that they could play a

greater role in the school- specifically utilizing assets, skills, interests, professions, relationships,

and the surrounding environment. Administering the surveys went exactly as planned and we

considered ourselves fortunate to have so many willing volunteers participate!

There were a total of seven parents and four grandparents that agreed to be surveyed and

we felt that we made personal connections with each individual. Instead of it being a structured

Q&A, we had real, unscripted conversations about the parent/grandparent as a person, and not

just a parent/grandparent. At the end of every survey, the parent/grandparent thanked us for our

time and genuinely expressed their gladness for meeting us.

In the future, we would change the way the Relationships question is phrased, “Who do

you or a friend or a distant relative know that is a ‘mover and shaker’, an important or interesting

person?” Several parents struggled to answer this question because they did not understand what

was being asked. We would revise the question to be, “Who do you or a loved one know that is

an important or interesting person?” We then would clarify that they could share about the

skills/professions of a spouse, a parent, a sibling, a neighbor, or a friend. We think that this

question is unclear and should be reworded to reflect “Who do you know?”

While we do not believe the parents’ and grandparents’ opinions of their role in the

school have radically changed, we do believe that they felt more appreciated. One parent

remarked, “No teacher has ever taken the time to ask me about myself. We typically only discuss

my son!” Everyone was incredibly receptive to our questioning and provided insightful

responses that allowed us to thoughtfully consider how each person might best contribute to the

school community. We both feel that the ASPIRE survey is an incredible, and easy to use, tool
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that allows teachers and parents/grandparents to connect in order to increase family support

within the classroom.

II. MAKING CONNECTIONS

Common Core State Standards

1. In connection to CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6, “Describe how a narrator's or speaker's

point of view influences how events are described” and one parent’s profession on the Board of

Education in Manchester, CT, we could have students attend or watch on TV a board of

education meeting and have students draw conclusions about different speaker’s points of view

based on their job or circumstances in the town. The parent, Iris, could come in and share how

some people like parents and teachers are mostly concerned about ensuring the best education for

our students, while some citizens who may not be able to pay for higher taxes may be more

concerned about keeping their home than about the level of education in the town. We could

come to the conclusion, as a class, that having background knowledge on people’s jobs and life

circumstances affect how they act or react to different situations and decisions and tie this to

books we are reading.

2. In connection to both CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.7, “Conduct short research projects that

use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic” and

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.2, “Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and

convey ideas and information clearly” students can work with Meghan, a grandparent, to write a

children’s book about how Christmas is celebrated in different countries and a recipe of a

Christmas cookie/dessert from each country. This would require research, organization of ideas,

precise and domain-specific vocabulary, and factual evidence from each country of their

traditions. This could be very engaging for students and a learning opportunity for all. Perhaps
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students who do not celebrate Christmas may want to do a similar children’s book on a holiday

around the world of their choice with a recipe.

3. In connection to CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.MD.A.1, “Convert among different-sized

standard measurement units within a given measurement system (e.g., convert 5 cm to 0.05 m),

and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real world problems” Amanda likes to bake and

we could have her come in and set up a lesson where students need to convert among different

units to meet the needs of the measuring tools they are working with. This is a multi-step, real

world problem that we could prepare for as a class and then put our knowledge to use during the

baking lesson end of unit culmination.

Unit of Studies

1. In correlation with a community service and compassion unit of study, we could team up

with Manchester Area Conferences of Churches food shelter and spend time as a class

working on different projects for them whether it be organizing different goods, packaging

care boxes, cleaning the facility, decorating the facility, or raising money and buying non-

perishable food and toiletries for the shelter. Having this resource right in town is a great way

to give back to our own community in time, love, and resources.

2. In correlation with a science unit on how perceiving and responding to information about the

environment is critical to the survival of organisms, we can visit many of the local parks,

ponds, and nature trails that were mentioned in the assets and environment portions of the

survey. We can work to design questions and experiences to determine factors that affect

human reaction time outside at the parks. We can also work to conduct simple investigations

to explore the capabilities of the human senses while we are at the ponds, trails, or parks.

This information will allow us to see the role of the sensory organs in influencing our
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behaviors in response to environmental stimuli such as light vs. dark, hot vs. cold, fear,

different flavors, smells, etc.

3. In a social studies unit about other countries and cultures, we could have the few parents who

speak different languages fluently, come in and share a bit about their language and culture

with us. We could look at maps to determine where their country is, take notes about what

we learned and do further investigations about their country, culture, and language. We could

compare and contrast the different countries and languages that we learn about to make

connections and to see value in the differences that each culture has. Perhaps we could even

Facetime or do a phone call with some of their relatives who live in the country that they are

from. I think it is great to include real life examples, guests, and technology to make social

studies more engaging and relatable.

General Classroom Enrichment

1. Many of the parents and grandparents listed reading as an interest that they hold. I think

that asking them to come in as a guest and be the reader of our read aloud for the day

would be a great way to engage our students and to share their love of reading. Perhaps a

bilingual guest could read a book in another language and then translate the story into

English to celebrate diversity.

2. One mother, Iris, mentioned that she loves making decorations as well as scrapbooking. I

think we could incorporate her in general classroom enrichment by asking her to help us

with showing us how to make scrapbooks that tell about our progress in one subject or

another. This would be an engaging way to keep track of our work and could be a great

way to share what we have learned with parents or with others in the community.
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3. We could also ask one of the parents who has some tutoring skills to come in once or

twice a week to help us with whatever we are working on. It could be a little extra help

with math facts, or a little extra help with reading. This would be a great way to bring the

community into our classroom as well as use the skills of our parents to support the

children in our community.

Before/After School Activities

Educating the whole child is critical to positive student growth and development. One

way to teach social and emotional skills would be by offering before/after school activities to

students. Instead of forcing teachers to wake up early or stay later, schools could reach out for

parent support.

1. At Verplanck Elementary School, science is a special, and not a core academic subject.

Unfortunately, students only see the STEM teacher twice a week for thirty minutes. The

interest of science is limited to a travelling cart and a tired teacher. As a way of

encouraging the exploration of science, the school could offer an after-school science

club. One of the parents that we surveyed, Farhana, holds a degree from Saudi Arabia in

biochemistry, chemistry, and microbiology. She could meet with students to perform

science experiments and conduct scientific research.

2. The community members of Manchester are culturally diverse. The residents speak a

variety of languages and have familial ties to places all around the world. In fact, a large

majority of students at Verplanck speak Spanish. One mother, Katrina, shared that she is

a fluent Spanish speaker who was born in Mexico. She could have a before school

Spanish club in which she teaches students how to speak Spanish. Through this club,
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Katrina could expand the global perspectives of her students by sharing about her

experience growing up in Mexico.

3. Unfortunately, the arts are severely underfunded in schools. At Verplanck, similar to the

STEM teacher, the art teacher pushes around a cart and meets with students twice a week

for thirty minutes. As a way of encouraging students to pursue their love of art, the school

could ask Mehuysh to start an after school art club. She has two children at Verplanck

and enjoys doing henna tattoos. She could teach students how to design henna tattoos, as

well as teach the cultural significance of henna. Through the ASPIRE survey, we learned

that Mehuysh was born in Pakistan and lived there for many years before moving to

Connecticut. She could also share popular paintings from Pakistan and compare the

artwork to popular paintings from the United States.

Creative Fundraisers

With the state budget quickly diminishing before our very eyes, schools are suffering

financially. One way to use the results from the ASPIRE survey is to capitalize on the skills of

parents and create fundraisers to raise money for the school.

1. Diane, a mother of three, is skilled in the art of painting nails. She has a collection of

expensive nail polish and a quality nail kit. The cost of a professional manicure and

pedicure is more than sixty dollars. In order to raise money for the school, Diane could

auction off her talents and give a mani/pedi to the highest bidder.

2. Amanda, a mother of two, works at a frozen yogurt shop. She is close friends with the

owner of the shop, and could ask him to donate a coupon good for one month’s supply of

free frozen yogurt. As a way of raising money for the school, she could sell raffle tickets

to parents and students and then, at the end of the night, select one lucky winner.
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3. Terry, a mother of a fifth grader, is an excellent crafter- she enjoys quilting, sewing,

embroidering, and crocheting. After school, she could teach interested students how to

sew hats, scarves, and gloves. The school could host a craft fair, and Terry could sell

what she and the students handmade. This specific example demonstrates how one parent

has the potential to use their skills to participate in an after school activity and a creative

fundraiser!

III. SHARING YOUR PROJECT WITH AN AUTHENTIC AUDIENCE

We shared the ASPRE tool, findings, and our connections with the three fifth grade

teachers at our intern school through one-on-one meetings. Two of the fifth grade teachers are

first year teachers and one is a veteran teacher at the school. The two new teachers were very

excited about the ASPIRE tool, but were feeling rather overwhelmed by all that they are

swimming in for their first year of teaching. Both teachers said that next year they may be more

willing to use the tool with their parents and then spend the time to integrate it into the

curriculum.

All three teachers mentioned that the connections that we made with families were

beneficial. However, the teachers expressed a concern regarding parent/grandparent

involvement. The teachers were weary of analyzing the data, coming up with lesson plans that

incorporated these parents and grandparents, only for the volunteers to end up being unavailable

during the school day. We discussed how it could also be used as a form of fundraising or

parent/community engagement outside of the school day, which they were very interested in

doing.

Overall, the teachers liked the survey and the possibilities associated with family

involvement, but were apprehensive because of their experiences with parents not having much
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time to volunteer at the school in the past. We also reminded the teachers that we only

administered the ASPIRE survey to eleven parents/grandparents. If we had given the survey to

each fifth grader’s parents/grandparents there would be many more resources to pull from and

many different schedules to work with. The teachers concluded that the ASPIRE survey is a

great way to make connections with the parents/grandparents, as well as glimpse into the lives of

the students.

IV. THE ROLE OF TEACHER LEADER AND THE ASPIRE

Our role in the school, as interns, is to facilitate Socratic Seminar with small groups of

third graders, fourth graders, and fifth graders. By administering the ASPIRE survey, we were

able to interact with parents, grandparents, and teachers in a new way. We took initiative as

informal teacher leaders by seeking out the permission of the principal and the fifth grade

teachers to ensure the possibility of completing our final performance project. Additionally, we

advocated for the inclusion of parents/grandparents in the school community by sharing our

results with staff members and highlighting individual skills and strengths.

Domain I:

We strengthened the collaborative culture of Verplanck by forming personal relationships

with parents to determine how they might best benefit the school. We took the time to

understand parents/grandparents as people, people who have unique talents to offer. As

mentioned in the opening paragraph, family support is an integral part of a well-functioning

school community. Both teachers and students can learn from a parent/grandparent- whether it be

how to knit a sweater or how to speak another language. Furthermore, there is no better way to
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increase the global awareness of students than by introducing them to individuals who have lived

in different and diverse places.

Domain IV:

When considering three examples for before/after school activities, we specifically

thought about the needs and interests of students. While the school day is limited to six hours,

the learning can continue either before/after school. Using free human capital, Verplanck could

request parent/grandparent volunteers to lead clubs. The parents and grandparents are free

support that have the ability to transformatively change young lives- from students who lack

social-emotional wellness, to students who have a desire to learn more about a specific topic.

Domain V:

We feel that Verplanck should administer the ASPIRE survey to all parents and

grandparents. By collecting data on parents and grandparents, the school is collecting a wealth of

information that can be used to enhance lesson plans, extracurricular activities, and fundraisers.

Through ASPIRE, we learned that parents/grandparents should not be taken for granted. In fact,

we plan to administer the ASPIRE survey to our parents and grandparents in our own classrooms

next year so that they feel like they are an important part of the learning experience.

Domain VI:

The ASPIRE survey in it of itself improved outreach and collaboration with families.

When teachers take the time to learn more about parents/grandparents, they are acknowledging

that parents/grandparents are valued members of their classrooms. We hope that the fifth grade

teachers use our lesson units, lesson plans, and fundraising recommendations to invite parents

into their classrooms so as to make the learning of students more meaningful!

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