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Parent Involvement in the Digital World

Parents Bridging the Gap with CritterCoin

Hi everybody and welcome to CritterCoin educator insights! Before diving into today’s topic, I wanted to put out there that this article is aimed at teachers and parents. We believe in creating an open dialogue that speaks to both sides to create clarity, understanding, and support for our student’s education. Enjoy!

Empathy is a word that has become more of a part of our society. Empathy creates a doorway into understanding and connection that is needed sometimes for what we are being asked to do in life. In the context of this article, I want us to take a look at how empathy and support are needed for students to succeed in the classroom. There are three parties involved to create this success; students, teachers, and parents. Today we are going to dive into how Parent Involvement can help bridge the gaps in their student’s education with CritterCoin using parent accounts.

Parent and Student Performance

Being connected to a student’s performance is something that parents enjoy having knowledge and access to it. Having good grades and performing well is something that we all strive to have but let’s expand our perspective. Social and emotional progress is something that should have high value for our students to succeed. Having the support of a loved one (parent or teacher) is something that they value you deeper than you know (yes, that includes you too middle school people). This creates a way to build relationships and connections with your student so they know they have the support they need.

As a teacher, this support looks like going to a sports game with one of your students and giving them a compliment the next day about how you saw them play. It lets them know that you take interest in their success and that you care about them. As a parent, this support looks like knowing that your student is demonstrating a skill consistently at school, and having a surprise for them in the car is a dream come true. It lets your student know that there are eyes on them (this can also come in use when things need improvement 👀). Everybody from student to teacher to parent, everybody is involved in your student’s success. This is where CritterCoin comes into play.

CritterCoin Loves Parent Involvement

While folders, paper announcements, and digital announcements are great, there is always room for improvement. Here is how CritterCoin can bring both parents and educators together.

1. Parent Accounts: Parent accounts are a great way to be directly engaged with your student’s performance. Communicating with your student’s school or teacher about their CritterCoin account gives you access to what goes on in class. While CritterCoin is all about PBIS, teachers have the ability to attach comments to a coin/point in relation to their academic success.
2. Student Performance in REAL TIME: As soon as a coin/point is awarded, this directly reflects on the student account. While sometimes we expect our students to tell us how their day was, there may be some days when your student “won’t feel that”. While on a lunch break, waiting in line for a coffee, or waiting in the long car line, this is a perfect time to check their progress to initiate conversations for later.
3. Use of Dailies: Dailies are where the sense of parent, student, and teacher cooperation comes into play. Dailies are something that is created by the teacher that usually has to deal with some type of task for the parent to complete. These tasks can range from bringing back a report signed to turning in trip money. When this task is complete, the teacher will award the parent for cooperation and support for their student. This is a great way to build trust and communication between all that are involved.

"It Takes a Village"

We are all in this together. While each school, parent, and student has their circumstances, we all play a part in the success of our student’s education. Rather than wishing we were showing up and providing support, let’s all pitch in together. Let’s stand together as we walk through the doors of empathy, love, support, and care to restructure our system one step at a time.

Please join us next time for a huge discussion of house CritterCoin is here to enhance or start your House Systems Journey!