calling parents

[cgreen]

I teach ESL. I need to start calling all my kids parents, should have done it already, but I never seem to have the time, and many of my parents don't speak English. What do people teaching 6-8 do about this? When do you call? How often do you call? I'm curious about how to set this up.

 

[AD]

Translator Service

My school district uses a translator phone service. It might be a good idea to find out if this is something your district has or can use. I'm not sure what the cost is though, and I don't know the name of the service.

Here's how it works~
The teacher calls the translator service and requests someone who speaks whatever the language is you need. You then give them the phone number of the person you are calling. They will call the person and explain who you are and that you are using a translator service. This person listens to them and relays the information to you and vice versa. It may sound a bit time consuming, but at least both parties can be understood.

I'll try to get the name of the service.

 

[CO teach]

Well...

I hate to say this, but I dread calling parents....ESL or otherwise. I am just a nervous wreck before I do and I wait until the last possible second. You would think that I would have gotten better, but I swear I'm as big a chicken as I ever was my first year of teaching! I don't know what I'm afraid of...I have never had a really awful conversation with a parent. Well, anyway, I know this was off topic, so good luck with your calls!

BTW, at my school our ESL tutor has volunteered to call families that speak Spanish as that is her native language...