I am a PE teacher, athletic director, and lead elective teacher — I have a lot of responsibilities in the building at Desert Skies Middle School. I now also hold the title of home visit coordinator. 

I learned about Parent Teacher Home Visits about nine years ago when there was a bit of dialogue going around the district about it. People were talking about going into people’s homes. My first thought was, “What? In their homes? I don’t think so.” It sounded kinda scary to me. I went to a meeting and listened to what they had to say about home visits and what these visits could do.

I was sold that night. 

I got together with a couple of people at the school I used to work in, and we made some phone calls. We got some home visits scheduled, and we loved them. It was amazing. We still have wonderful memories of those first home visits. That was how it all got started. Who would have thought I would have won an award from PTHV for conducting home visits during the first national PTHV Week? Not me!

What stood out and still stands out were the stories I heard that night. As we listened to the stories, in one of them, we were challenged to figure out why this lady’s house looked so messy. At first, everybody was talking about the negative, but it turned out that it was nothing but a hard-working single mom who took care of her kids and had to make the choices that she thought were best. 

This experience opened my eyes to the idea that I might have been looking at our kids the wrong way. I felt it like a dagger in my heart. I was judging a book by its cover. When I went on those first visits, my eyes were open, and I was no longer judgmental. I learned so much about our families and the kids. I took that experience back with me and sold the entire concept and a whole idea to other teachers at work. I very tactfully shared that if you as a teacher ever once thought you might have judged kids this way, or even if you think you haven’t, you might want to go on a home visit to get to know the families and the background behind these kids because you might be surprised.

One of My Many Memorable Home Visits

One home visit that stands out to me was a boy that could easily be described as a super friendly but rough student; let’s say he was like a typical middle school boy. We set up a home visit, not realizing his grandparents were raising him. It was Grandma and Grandpa’s second go-round.

We walked in the door all happy, but Grandpa was grumpy. He said to both of us teachers, “I don’t know about this school. I’m not happy about the things that are happening and what’s happening to my grandson.”

My colleague and I looked at each other. We didn’t know what to say. We were still rookies at this time. We explained that we were there to get to know him and wanted to help his grandson succeed. We asked him to talk more about his concerns. 

While the meeting was ongoing, Grandpa’s edge came off a bit. We got to know each other. We hugged when we left. Grandpa said, “You know, there might be some bad things happening at the school, but I feel a lot better knowing that there are people like you at the school who care about my grandson.”

That was some impact we made with that one visit. We had another visit, and Grandma made us dinner. And Grandpa still buys me and the other teacher presents to this day, and his grandson has already graduated high school. He’s bought us necklaces and trinkets from cruises that he and his wife went on. One time he called us because his wife was rushed to the hospital. He needed someone to talk to, and he thought of us because of our relationship over the years.

The Shifts I Saw Once I Started a Home Visit Practice

Many things changed once we started a home visit practice, especially with the parents. There’s a language barrier with some of our families, and they sometimes have no idea where to go for step one when they need something. Once we opened the door and gave them our business cards, email addresses, and phone numbers, more parents started making contact. We have moms who now work in our schools as parent volunteers because of home visits.

We built a bridge between the families and ourselves. They have more understanding of who to call and what to do if they have concerns. So whenever they called us, we handled whatever issues they had. 

The other thing that I see being a classroom teacher is respect from students. We visited them. They showed us things they’ve probably never shown other teachers; they opened their homes and hearts to us. When the kids start to do something a little off-task, you give them the mom look, and they get it. It’s like an immediate respect thing.

For Teachers on the Fence

I mostly say to other teachers in my building, “Let me help you set up the appointments because it is the hardest task.” Some people aren’t quite as aggressive or outgoing and wouldn’t feel comfortable picking up the phone and asking for the visit. I set up virtual visits on Zoom for a lot of teachers, and then talk with them about it afterwards, asking if they had any concerns and whether they wanted to do more.

I was in sales before I was a teacher. So I can talk to anyone about anything. There’s never a dull moment on a visit now. I show teachers how to get past the awkwardness. There’s always something to dig in and ask about. It’s really just about helping new teachers break the ice, tag along as support, and they usually take it from there.

I tell the new people, look, you have to get started in the program because this will help you be a better and more impactful teacher. I know you’ve got this. You will soon see home visits make you remember that this is why you got into teaching in the first place—to help people. I encourage them to make visits their number one and the paperwork their number two, and it’ll all flow together much better. I know we’re tired; I also know everything else that we have to do because I’ve been doing this for 21 years – I get it – but this has to be at the forefront.

The Future of Parent Teacher Home Visits

I see this practice growing in our district. We met this year, and it was one of the biggest years for participation. I would like to see it expand to all our schools because they all need the opportunity to meet the families they’re dealing with daily. 

If I leave you with anything, it’s that Parent Teacher Home Visits has made me a better teacher. I say this because it has opened my eyes to many things that I was either one-sided about, had no clue at all, or had expectations that maybe some students couldn’t reach for reasons out of their control. I was one of those black-and-white thinkers. But this practice made me see a gray area, causing me to appreciate teaching and look at it at a different level. So, from my heart, I thank Parent Teacher Home Visits for allowing us to have this program and participate in it because it is simply wonderful.