Getting ready for ready to go back to school for me means prepping and organizing as much as I can to make life easier once school starts. One thing I do is think about how I am going to communicate with my parents. So I thought I would leave a few little tidbits here and then give you a freebie to start your year.
PROFESSIONALISM
First and foremost, when communicating with parents we have to remember that we are the professionals. We also have to remember that all of our emails could be read at anytime, so it goes without saying you need to be careful about how and what you say in an email. Many times the tone of an email can be misconstrued, when a nice polite phone conversation could have handled the issue so much better.
BE PROACTIVE
If you feel like an issue might be brewing, get out in front of it first. Be the first one to call. I had a principal who told me once, “The first one to reach out gets the upper hand.” You are showing that you care and want to make the situation right. Parents really just want to know that you care about their child. Parents want to stayed informed.
SHORT and SWEET
If you do respond to an email, be sure to keep it short and sweet. If it requires more than a few sentences then it requires a phone call.
ASK for HELP
If there is a situation with a parent that is becoming difficult to deal with, ask for help. Ask for the parents for a conference and then ask a counselor or administrator to sit in with you. It is so important to know that you don’t have to “go it alone”. There are people in your building who can assist you with the parent. But also know that your administrator will want to know what steps you want taken so far with the parent, so be sure you have documented everything! In other words…have all your ducks in a row!
REGULAR COMMUNICATION
Have a system in place for regular communication. I personally love the new apps that teachers can use now, replacing paper newsletters. Although, I know some school do require those too. Remind is excellent. I use Class Dojo. I also will send emails out to parents, and occasionally I will send print reminders of important announcements. Parents (like us) get a ton of emails, so they many not read them all. So we do need to find the method that works best for our own classes!
DOCUMENTATION
I like to document my parent contact, I know at some schools this is a requirement of teachers. One thing that I find very handy is to bring my phone numbers to the phone and my phone log with me….but I hated bringing my whole teacher binder to the phone! So I had this great idea. At open house I put out a half sheet that parents fill out with their numbers (I print these on card stock), and on the back is the phone log:
Then I just hole punch them, attach them together with a ring and I hang it up beside my desk. Then it is so easy to just grab it and go to the phone. I can jot down notes about the phone call and who I spoke to.
You can grab yours to get it ready for Open House too! Oh and did I mention…it is editable! Change the information to suit your needs.
Check out these great Back to School Goodies!
