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activity, the teacher gives students an interesting topic to discuss. Then groups of five or six students
participate in the following stages, each lasting 5 minutes. The group chooses a different timekeeper at each
stage. (1) Stage 1: Learning to be concise. The group begins discussing the topic. Each student is to talk
for no more than 15 seconds; the timekeeper alerts students when it is time to change speakers. (2) Stage
2: Learning to listen. The group continues discussing the topic as before, with no more than 15 seconds
per speaker. This time, students must pause for 3 seconds to make sure that everyone has clearly heard
what the previous speaker has said before the next person begins to speak. (3) Stage 3: Learning to reflect.
The group continues to discuss as in Stage 2. At this stage, they add one new requirement. Each speaker
must repeat something that the previous speaker said before saying his or her new ideas (the speaker has 15
seconds for the new ideas). This encourages students to reflect on what their group mates are saying. (4)
Stage 4: Learning to make sure that everyone contributes. The final stage adds a fourth requirement.
Everyone in the group must speak before anyone else can speak.
By engaging in the four-stage rocket activity, students learn four key communication skills needed
to interact effectively in collaborative groups. This will help them learn teamwork skills that will enable
their teams to run more smoothly so that students are more likely to develop positive relationships with
other team members.
Teacher-Parent Relationships
Students achieve more when their parents are involved with their learning process (Walker &
Hoover-Dempsey, 2006). Parental involvement means that parents stay abreast of what their children’s
assignments are and what they are doing in school. It also means that parents attend school functions such
as athletic events or concerts and back-to-school night. There is evidence that parental involvement
improves students’ behavior, values, and character (McNeal, 1999). Thus, teachers can improve learning
and classroom management by involving parents in their children’s learning processes. It is teachers’
professional responsibility to work to build cooperative relationships with parents.
However, cooperative relationships do not emerge automatically. They require mutual effort, good
communication, and interpersonal skills. Some personal skills and attributes that teachers must acquire in
order to build cooperative relationships include respect for all parenting styles (even those that differ from
their own preferred styles), good listening skills, kindness, consideration, empathy, enthusiasm, and an
understanding of parent-child relationships. In addition, there are concrete strategies that teachers can
implement to foster cooperative relationships with their students’ families.
Here are examples of strategies that you can use as a teacher to promote good teacher-family
relations:
Send a welcome letter to the parents at the beginning of the school year. This should be written in a
positive way that expresses enthusiasm for having their child in class. It should also convey the idea
that you look forward to working as a team to help their child reach their full potential during the
school year, and it should communicate your core instructional goals for the year.
Make sure that your first interaction with a student’s parent is be a positive one. For example, during
the first week of school, write a note or email to that particular child’s parent informing him or her
about something that you have observed his or her child is doing well. You don’t want your first
interaction with parents to be one in which you are complaining about the students’ behavior or
academic performance; parents may then develop negative feelings about their interactions with you.
Send positive notes and emails home throughout the school year. Both students and parents like to
receive positive notes. Unfortunately, too many parents only hear from their child’s teacher when
something is wrong.
More generally, send progress notes home. Progress notes enable parents to keep up to date on how
their children are doing in your class. You can also write your own newsletter to parents describing
what your classes are learning and what projects they are engaged with. These can be posted on your
website or sent home to parents with your students.
Invite parents in to help with various classroom activities. There are many ways to involve parents in