by Zachary Smith
A couple years ago, I wrote the article, “Seven Tips for Successful Home Visits.” This topic is still so important today that I am writing a follow up with an update on ways to help improve the outcome of home visits. In addition to the seven tips that I provided in the previous article, this one will provide some additional tips on ways to prepare for the home visits and ways to follow up, too.
In addition to the original seven tips, consider the following before doing a home visit.
- Do Your Research. Yes, it is important to be mindful of your surroundings and the family’s customs when you’re actually at their house, but it will help you out significantly if you research some of these customs before you arrive. For example, in China, if your home visit involves a meal service, your research should tell you that it is polite (and best practice) to leave a small amount of food on your plate. If you finish all of the food on your plate, it will signal to the host that you have not had enough food and he or she may place more food on your plate. You can easily avoid the awkward experience of literally stuffing yourself with food by doing a bit of research before your visit. These are things that you cannot “notice” in your surroundings, such as if you should take off your shoes or not. A little bit of research will go a long way in terms of making a great first impression with your student’s family.
- Learn a Phrase, Bring a Translator. If the student’s family speaks a language you are unfamiliar with, bring a translator if one is available. Also, learn a phrase or a few words in the family’s native language. It is a very simple gesture, but a warm, friendly attempt of a common phrase in the family’s native language (L1) will go a long way in allowing them to warm up to you. Having a translator can help to avoid the strange pauses, too. It may also allow the family to be a bit more candid with you, since they can express their questions, concerns, and sometimes stories in their native language with you.
- Be Prepared to Share a Story. Your student and his or her family want to know about you as a person, too. Be ready to share a story that you think they can connect with. Have you gone on a service trip in their country of origin? Do you have an experience of learning a new language in a country other than your country of origin? Sharing a personal story that your student and his/her family can connect with will allow them to warm up to you faster. Come with a few stories in mind. This way, you are ready and excited to share them.
Here are some tips for after your home visit.
- Write the Family. Send the family a hand-written “thank you” note following your visit. Make sure to include specific examples from the home visit. This way they know it is just not a generic message. Some ideas are to include mentioning the delicious tea, food, etc. that was served or possibly interesting art that was shared; you can even reference stories that were shared during the visit. A few times, I have gone back for a second or third home visit with families and the family will immediately show me a framed picture that we took together the first visit, or my “thank you” card that they have held on to.
- Home Visits are not “One and Done.” You should not just do a home visit because a family is new to the district, or you are new to the district. Home visits should be a fun tradition for all the students served in your program. Yes, this can be a significant time commitment for you, but if home visits are done annually, I promise you that families will anxiously look forward to it because they appreciate the time and effort you’re putting into helping them and their child. You can set up a schedule, for example, where you visit new students during the summer and first weeks of the school year. Then, you move forward to returning students on a set schedule for the first semester of the school year. This way you can spread out the time commitment over a slightly longer period of time.
- Spread the Knowledge. If you learn something about the student that will be helpful for his or her other teachers to know, please make sure to share this in an appropriate manner. For example, if you learn that the student is self-conscious about something, make sure other teachers are aware of it. This way they are not putting the student in situations that are increasing his or her anxiety unknowingly.
Zachary Smith is one of the ELL teachers at Cedar Rapids Washington High School, a part of Cedar Rapids Community School District in eastern Iowa. If you have any questions regarding home visits and best practices, you are invited to contact him at zasmith001@gmail.com or via Twitter @zas85.
