CECmisc.55


TITLE:    HOME VISITATI0NS

AUTHOR:   Katie Tener Gordy, Rosary School
          (Junior High), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT:  Appropriate for any grade but I
use it for incoming 7th graders

OVERVIEW: I teach in a parochial school with 270
students from 3 year old preschool through 8th grade.
My dilemma was how to make the last two junior high
years special for many of these students who had come
to the same building for a long time.

OBJECTIVE(s):  Teachers will:
1.  Meet new students and get to know the
    surroundings in which they live.
2.  Visit with students about their strengths and
    weaknesses.
3.  Meet students who have never been to the school
    so they will feel more comfortable in their
    first days.
4.  Observe how the students relate to their
    parents.
5.  Have a fun, fascinating bulletin board entitled,
    "What We Did Last Summer," for the first of
    school.

RESOURCES:
Teacher Materials:  a camera, film, a car, bulletin
board letters and time.

Student Materials:  whatever they will need for their
photo shots.

ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES:
1.   Towards the end of June, I obtain an incoming 7th
     graders list which also contains their parents'
     names, their phone numbers and their addresses
     with zip codes.
2.   I cut the list up, putting all the zip codes
     together and putting them in some type of order by
     streets.
3.   I call each student (it took me two evenings to
     set up 30 appointments) asking them if I can come
     see them to take their picture doing 4 or 5 things
     they enjoy  in the summer (I like to capture them
     with pets, siblings, in their rooms, riding bikes,
     doing tricks - on skateboards, in pools, on
     trampolines - or with collections or hobbies they
     have.) and to visit with them about the upcoming
     year.

     I have them check with their parents about a day
     and time I give them, telling them I'll be at
     their home for 20 to 30 minutes and I'd like to
     come while their parents are home. I also ask the
     student to be thinking about 4 or 5 shots I can do
     while I'm there.I've done this visitation in
     several ways but my favorite was doing two
     marathon days on a Saturday and Sunday then
     filling in the rest on a few evenings.
4.   Some of the things I do while visiting are to
     a.)  let the students and parents know how
          junior high will be different from 6th
          grade;
     b.)  tell the students about any new
          classmates;
     c.)  ask the students what their best and worst
          subjects are;
     d.)  let them know that the next two years will
          go by in a snap ( I snap my fingers!) and
          in two short years it will be graduation
          day and I will remind them about how
          quickly I said it would go. I tell them
          the reason junior high will pass so fast
          is because as one gets older, time goes
          faster, but also they will be busier and
          they will be having fun learning and time
          passes quickly when one is having fun. I
          believe it is important to put this
          positive seed in the students psyches;
     e.)  ask them if they have any questions about
          what's ahead.
5.   Be open for some fascinating visits! I have cried
     with a student and his parents as they described
     their escape from Guatemala. I had a  terrifying
     experience of having a student step inside a fence
     where his dog was with a neighbor's mutt and a
     violent dog fight ensued in which my student was
     bitten ( I now always ask if dogs are safe for me
     to go around.) I visited one student whom I didn't
     care for based on seeing him for discipline
     problems in my position as assistant principal.
     He was absolutely amazing with his baby brother
     and I completely changed my attitude about him and
     he was great in class the next year.
6.   If students have their own pictures of vacations,
     etc. I use them with my own shots.
7.   I  have  a  great  opening  school  bulletin board
     titled "What We Did Last Summer." I include pictures of
     what  I did  too. Sometimes  I get  those balloon funny
     sayings  in photo  developing places to  put a humorous
     bent  on the  project.  Kids  LOVE to come  in and find
     themselves.  Because I'm not good at bulletin boards, I
     usually  leave this  up till  October. Then  I give the
     photos  to  the kids  except for  one  which I  let the
     students  choose to  put in  our time  capsule which we
     will open when they are seniors in high school.