Communicating with Parents
As a school, parents trust us with their children for 8 hours a day. Five days a week we spend more time with their children than they do themselves. Various ways that schools and teachers can communicate with parents:
- Website (www.schoolnotes.com /www.edmodo.com /www.schoolrack.com ). Many of these sites offer free versions for teachers and are easy to navigate.
- School Facebook / Twitter Accounts - most individuals are "connected" now through their smart devices and this is the quickest way for many to communicate and find out upcoming events.
- Weekly / Monthly Newsletter - As a teacher, I made my students responsible for putting together the classroom newsletter. This is a great way to let parents know about upcoming events and most importantly what you're teaching!
- Notes - utilizing the student agenda or take home folder to communicate with parents on what their children are accomplishing in class.
One thing I have found working with many new teachers (not all) is the fear that comes for many when having to call parents on the telephone. Many teachers might feel concerned calling parents on the phone because of the reaction the parent might have - and in most cases the reaction has nothing to do with you. As a teacher leader and administrator I believe that it's important to work with new teachers on developing this skill. This can be accomplished by having someone sit in with you when you first start calling parents to provide you with feedback on how you did. I have always told teachers to let the following guide them through their conversation:
- DO NOT include your emotions, opinions, or feelings ("I think....." / "I feel...")
- Keep it simple - remember your audience (this applies to phone and written communication)
- Social Media - Be aware of what others see when they GOOGLE your name - it's your career on the line. This includes being aware of online pictures that you've been tagged.
- 1 to 2 - For every one phone call you make because of negative behaviors, you should then make two positive phone calls. This will throw parents off, and helps you build a positive relationship with your parents.
- Document, document, document ....... I always liked using a student agenda as my own phone log and when I would speak with parents I would write down direct quotes from the whoever I was speaking with. These notes would be valuable for me when other meeting are scheduled or situations occurred.
- BE CAREFUL when responding to parents in writing - when something is put in writing you are memorializing the statement. When in doubt - check it out (have a colleague look it over). In emails / writing, the tone of the writing could easily be misconstrued.
Parent Teacher Conferences
During parent teacher conferences, teachers have 10 - 20 minutes to show parents that they know their child, share work, and explain what resources are available for the parent to help their child. I feel that in order for parent teacher conferences to be meaningful, students should play a role in putting together the materials / work that will be discussed. In NJ we receive the NJ ASK scores at the beginning of the year, I would conference with students on their scores (disaggregated) and have them write down goals / action steps for their individualized learning plan. This was a great student created document to use during a parent teacher conference.
I always told my students that there would be no surprises during parent teacher conferences, because there was nothing I would say to their parents that I haven't already said to their face - Keep It Real!
If you are regularly communicating with your parents, there should be no problem keeping your conferences to 10 minutes. If you have other people waiting to meet with you it is essential to keep the conferences moving (nothing makes parents more irritable than being made to wait past their assigned time) and reschedule to meet with that parent at another time if the conversation you're having needs to continue.
Parent Events
Yesterday I had the pleasure of hosting two parent events (one at 10:30am and one at 6:00pm) . The focus of the events was to help parents interpret and understand student assessment scores that had just been sent home. This being the first event - I was very pleased with the number of parents that attended and the great questions they asked. As an administrator, teacher, and parent, I believe that keeping parents involved in the educational program is in the best interest of their students.
Based on the feedback I received, parents were so happy to learn about how to read the results of an assessment their students had taken - something that had not been done previously. When asking what parents were able to take away from the workshop, the main responses dealt with the resources provided for them to work with their students at home. Seeing how beneficial the parent event was for the district I decided to try and host an event each month. In an effort to make these events worth while for parents, I believe it's essential to apply the following:
- Events based on their interests ( I surveyed - using a google form - all parents who attended this event to get ideas for future topics)
- Convenient times (I offered a daytime and evening event)
- Plenty of time to prepare / plan (parents were informed on the district calendar, district flyer, and Facebook message)
- Child Care (while I presented, students who attended were allowed to play educational games in the connecting computer lab).
When everything is said and done, parents want to feel like they are being listened to and involved in what they're students are learning. Through increased communication and remaining current with different ideas / trends, I believe that we are making a conscientious effort to actively involve parents.
What are you doing in your district to engage parents in the educational program?
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