Communicating with parents

In a classroom setting, how do you find it easiest to communicate with your students parents or guardian? Also, what to do you communicate to them about? Is it the norm to just contact them when their child is a problem in the classroom, or are they notified about homework, upcoming tests, and activities planned for your class?

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Permalink Reply by Roxanne Arvidson on September 6, 2011 at 7:07pm

I send home a contact information sheet at the beginning of the year asking for email addresses if they have them. I also have a section where parents can check whether they want to receive paper copies or email copies of things that I send home. I send home classroom newsletters every other week with information about what has been going on in our classroom, upcoming events, etc.

I also start out the year by making positive phone calls to each child's family. It makes it a lot easier to call them when there is a problem because we have already established that line of communication. Besides classroom newsletters, I will email reminders about upcoming field trips, assemblies, projects/homework, etc.

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Permalink Reply by Amanda Laytham on September 6, 2011 at 7:47pm

Hi Heather,

Home-school communication is such an important part of a teachers job! There are many ways to communicate with your student's parents-in person, email, phone calls, websites, and social media (Twitter, etc.). I prefer email. For me, it's the fastest and easiest way to communicate with parents. If a parent sends me a long email that requires me to tactically respond, I like having the time throughout the day to respond with the right words to say. It's also a great way to keep documentation on parents/students needing some extra attention. Teachers in the next grade level really appreciate the documentation and it gives them a great heads-up! For quick questions like "when is the fundraiser money due?" email is perfect! Of course, I always like to visit with my parents at dismissal, which is a great way to build relationships. At my school, we are required to do a certain amount of phone calls each quarter. I like to make a positive phone call home for each student at the beginning of the year. If I know that I've made the effort to build a relationship, the negative phone calls are alot easier. When I do have to make a negative phone call, I always start the conversation with a few positive comments, then I ease into the issue at school and the parent and I do some problem solving together over the phone.

As far as notifications about upcoming assignments, important dates, etc. I send home a weekly newsletter and post these on my classroom website.

Best of luck with communication with your parents this year!

Amanda Laytham-2nd Grade Teacher