Product Description

This book helps teachers, principals, superintendents, and all educators develop a repertoire of tools and skills for comfortable and effective interaction with parents. It shows you how to deal with the parent who is bossy, volatile, argumentative, aggressive, or maybe the worst - apathetic. It provides specific phrases to use with parents to help you avoid using "trigger" words which unintentionally make matters worse. It will show you how to deliver bad news to good parents, how to build positive credibility to all types of parents, and how to foster the kind of parent involvement which leads to student success.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #141405 in Books
• Published on: 2001-01-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 175 pages

Customer Reviews

HEADACHE RELIEF!
Do you find it challenging and frustrating to deal with the parent who is

- bossy?

- argumentative?

- apathetic?

- intimidating?

What's the best way to deliver bad news to parents?

Written for teachers, administrators, and other educators, this book will help you work with the most difficult parents in the most challenging situations. It shows you how to:

- avoid the "trigger" words which serve only to make bad situations worse

- use the right words and phrases to develop more positive relationships with parents

- deal with parents who accuse you of not being "fair"

- build positive relationships with even the most challenging parents

With vivid examples, this book will show you how to:

- handle a parent's complaint when the parent is right

- use body language to influence the way parents react to what you say

- make it easy to contact parents during the day to inform them when their children have done something worthy of praise (achieved a high grade, helped another student, etc.)

- increase parent involvement in their children's education both at school and at home

Dr. Todd Whitaker, a former middle and high school principal is currently Assoc. Prof. of Educ. Leadership at Indiana State University. He is the author of several best selling books. He has keynoted state, national, and international conferences and is a highly sought presenter for teachers and principals. Dr. Douglas J. Fiore, a former teacher & principal, is currently on the faculty of the State University of West Georgia.

A solidly recommended emotional & verbal self-defense manual
Dealing With Difficult Parents (And With Parents in Difficult Situations) by Todd Whitaker (Associate Professor of Educational Leadership, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana) and Douglas J. Fiore (Assistant Dean of the College of Education, State University of West Georgia) is a straightforward guide written especially for teachers, principals, and others who share a mandate to educate young minds. Individual chapters capably address how to deal with parents that prove difficult in any number of ways including abrasive personalities, hard to reach, excessive anger, and a host of other ill traits and situations. Dealing With Difficult Parents is a solidly recommended emotional and verbal self-defense manual for fostering the best possible learning environment.

Practical
As a new principal, I wanted a book to give me more confidence in dealing with parent conflicts. This book teaches practical scenarios for commonly experienced parental conflicts that produce a win-win outcome. The scripted dialogues and tips in nerve-wracking situations are clear and adaptable.