Use Visuals in the Office to Support Families

A really common challenge that is felt by school staff, and in particular by our wonderful folks in the front office, is the ability to make a family feel welcome in the moments while they contact an interpreter.
Often times, calling or requesting an interpreter’s presence requires multiple steps and takes several moments. In the meantime, the family is left waiting – and maybe isn’t sure what is happening or if they are being taken care of. At the same time, the office staff wants to communicate with them, but is unsure how to do so.
This is one problem that we can address through the use of a visual tool.

Spanish Tip

Use visuals to support communication between office staff and families. (Don’t miss the free printables in the call to action!)
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There are many many ways you can implement this tip, but this week, we will focus on letting a family know that you are contacting an interpreter to help them.

The Story

This story is really everyone’s story. You have experienced visuals helping you at some point in your own daily life experiences: symbols that indicate which bin is trash and which is recycling, signage at the airport showing you where you can pick up your luggage, or a road sign letting you know that a big curve is coming up ahead.
As teachers and instructors, we use visuals a lot in ESOL instruction (and just good instruction, in general) to facilitate students’ learning and acquiring of new vocabulary and content: anchor charts, illustrated word walls and word banks, color coding, and the list goes on.

I have long provided visuals to participants of my Spanish for Educators classes to encourage conversation between staff (who are feeling nervous about using their newly acquired Spanish) and family members (who are feeling nervous about whether they will be helped in their language).

In short, visuals are the bomb. With that in mind, you may already use visuals in the front office. There is a popular one with over a thirty languages informing parents of their right to an interpreter, and asking them to point to their language so the person helping them knows which language to request for interpretation.

There are so many ways we can use visuals we don’t normally think of that go far beyond the typical “Welcome” sign or display of flags from families’ countries of origin. With intention and forethought, we can use visuals to facilitate the most common exchanges staff and families have at school to make them smoother and less stressful for all involved.

Spanish Call to Action

Print and laminate a simple cue card that office staff can point to while they are contacting an interpreter to loop families in on what is happening so they can rest at ease that they are being helped.

Below are two you can simply download and print, each with a different feel, depending on your schools’ vibe. Of course you can always make your own, too – and in any language(s), not just Spanish.
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Both of the designs below say, in Spanish, “Hello! Permit me one moment while I contact an interpreter. Thank you for being here.”

Faster Together

If you are eager to get your talking going in Spanish, build relationships, and you agree it is not something you do just at the beginning of the year, but that you do every day and it completely defines why you want to learn Spanish, enroll in Spanish for Relationship-Building, the only Spanish course built specifically to help people who work in schools build relationships with Spanish-speaking students and families. Starting in January 2024, it is a great way to start off the new year!