Classroom teachers are "masters of communication", or at least they should be in my opinion. Teachers must be able to fluidly communicate with their students, parents, colleagues, and administration. As educators, we are always looking for ways to make this communication simple, seamless, and current with technological trends.
As a classroom teacher, I try to communicate with parents multiple ways--mostly to make sure I can get information to them without relying on the ten year old "always forgetful" children that I have in my care every day.
[Most] parents want to be actively involved in their child's education, so communicating what is occurring in the classroom is important as an educator. I communicate weekly with all of my parents, and daily with parents of certain children.
I communicate three ways weekly through the following modes:
1. Classroom Newsletters
2. Remind 101
3. eCampus
Classroom Newsletters
I create classroom newsletters to send home with students in their planners on Fridays with information for what is happening in the classroom the following week. The newsletter is honestly a snapshot of my lesson plans. Parents will be given the standards and skills taught that week in Reading, Writing, Social Studies, as well as the Weekly Spelling Word list and the Grammar Skill. I also include in this any important tests or assignments coming up.
Remind 101
Most parents have phones with texting, so this is a perfect way for me to text parents important information without using my personal number. I use Remind 101 to send home weekly reminders of important tests and quizzes. I also use it to let parents know if I have sent home any information with their child that needs to be seen. Remind 101 is perfect for quick texts to parents about events and things happening at school! Here is the link to Remind 101, in case you haven't checked it out. https://www.remind.com/
eCampus
eCampus is Seminole County Public School's version of Canvas and online courses. This is place where students have access to homework help, tests, quizzes, and online resources that I provide based on the content that I am teaching. Parents can sign up to have access as well, to monitor their child's progress.
Some students require daily communication to their parents. I use e-mail to reach out to these parents. That way, I also have easy documentation to prove that I was being proactive in connecting with parents.
I have also been looking into creating blog for my classroom as a way for students to reflect on their learning in a way where their parents can see it too.
I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes on communication...
“When the trust account is high, communication is easy, instant, and effective.”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
Hi Kalee! I love what you wrote about regarding communication. I have to agree with you on the importance of communication as a teacher. Being able to communicate with students, parents, and coworkers is key.
ReplyDeleteI also use a weekly classroom newsletter to communicate with my parents, as well as using eCampus! I have no used Remind 101, although I am familiar with it, I completely forgot about it. You reminded me what a great tool it is, I will have to use it as another form of communication.
I will admit, since I was a avid Class Dojo user the past few years, it has been a hard adjustment not using it as a parent communication tool this year. I found it so handy and a very easy way to communicate with students and parents. So, I am embracing my email and eCampus page to continue the line of communication!
Thanks for sharing! :)
Kalee,
ReplyDeleteI love all of the ways you communicate with your parents! When I was in the classroom, I used weekly newsletters as well and they went over the homework, vocabulary, and spelling words the students were focusing on that week. I did not include all standards in all subject areas like you mentioned and I think that would have been helpful to a few of my parents. I would email the newsletter and the pdf files for the homework that week as well. As a parent of a 1st grader (and an annoying teacher mom) I realize the importance of knowing what my child is working on in school so that I can help reinforce those concepts at home.
I also used and loved the simplicity of the Remind app. Many parents of students who have graduated from our school still use it to keep me updated on how their child is doing in middle school. I am not familiar with eCampus but we have something similar called Progress Book in Orange County. I use it for my son but the parents at our school rarely ever checked it and preferred direct email. I love the way you prioritize parent communication and how you seem to cover every aspect of it. Helping a parent become invested in their child’s education can make such a difference in how that child views education and his/her ability to be successful in school.
Samantha