Collaboration Across Home & School: “Food for Thought”

It’s been a minute since I’ve jotted down some thoughts with the hopes that they help you to help your learners navigate the path to school success…Like most of you, I’ve been busy lately… While I’m not sure what has kept you busy…I’m happy to share that my wife and I welcomed our first child into the world in May! Since then, we’ve been busy showering the little man with love, and doing our best to show up for him in the first few miles of his (and our) journey together towards his personal growth. I know that for me, this has already led to many opportunities for my own personal growth. It’s also led to some opportunities for binge-watching “The Bear” on FX.

With my recent thoughts often focusing on new beginnings and laying a strong foundation for growth (and also some culinary/kitchen drama), I wanted to offer some tips and strategies for parents/caregivers, school staff, and community helpers to make the most of the new opportunities and experiences that typically accompany a new school year. And remember, whether you’re reading this on the first day of school, or the last day of school, you can always make today the start of a new year.

Regardless of whether you’re a parent, grandparent, foster parent, guardian, caregiver, school employee, or community service provider, you are a “Champion for Children.” 

As a Champion for Children, reader, it’s my hope that this series of posts (and possibly videos) will provide you with “Food for Thought.” I hope that you’ll walk away from this content hungry for opportunities to implement these tips and strategies. Even more so, I’d love for you to try some of these strategies in your work with school staff, parents, community providers, etc.

We are at a time where it’s extremely challenging to be a:

• Parent / Caregiver trying to support your kid’s needs both in school and outside of school,

• Teacher, Special Educator, School Psychologist, School Counselor, SLP, Paraeducator, Administrator, ____ [Insert Any Other Staff Title Here]… attempting to support your students’ needs both in school and outside of school, AND

• Community Provider attempting to provide wrap-around supports for the needs of kids both in school and outside of school.

I don’t say this to increase fearmongering, invalidate personal experiences, or contribute to a culture of pointing fingers and judging or criticizing others. I share this to let you know that now, more than ever, we need to offer solutions and help wherever and whenever we can.

So, with that in mind, based on my experiences as a school psychologist and as a non-attorney educational advocate and educational consultant, I’d like to share some essential ingredients you’ll need in your kitchens in order to start-off the school year with a strong foundation for collaboration and communication across systems of support.

• Empathy

• Helpful Mindset

• Self-Awareness

• Rapport

• Relationships

• Welcoming Environment(s)

• Trust

• Transparency

• Honesty

• Time-Management

• Boundaries

• Knowledge and Familiarity with Support Systems, and

• A Desire to Understand Unique Circumstances

Over the coming weeks, I’ll address each ingredient, along with a look at the pests that often eat the ingredient, and a few ideas on how you can work toward cultivating the missing ingredient. If you’re wanting to have your dessert before dinner, check out our old posts (Post 1, Post 2, Post 3) for more tips on laying a strong foundation of collaboration across home and school.

Just like cooking, though, collaboration is an “art.” There will be many moments where you walk in with a vision for your dish, and you have the ingredients to make it, and you think you followed the recipe, but what you end up has no resemblance to the product you envisioned. Other times, you’ll be off by just a bit. At GPS Education Consulting, we’ll meet you where you’re at and help you to improve your “craft.” Connect with us to set-up a free consultation to see how we can be useful for your learner(s).

 Ready, Chef?  

 Best,

Evan Gallena, Ed.S., NCSP

Founder & Lead-Consultant: GPS Education Consulting L.L.C.

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Together, as one… Navigating the path to school success!