Key points:
Effective communication between parents and educators is crucial to a successful school year for the student, parent/caregiver, and teacher. Strong communication with parents ensures that both parties can collaborate as a team throughout the year in the best interest of the child.
I have read articles and attended staff meetings where we are instructed, suggested and told to communicate with parents early and often. While studying for my graduate program, I read more about parent communication with teachers and how we can ensure that we not only do it early and often, but that we communicate with parents more effectively, which may not always be early or frequently.
Top 2 “two”
We can all agree that as an educator, it is important to have a line of communication with parents because it fosters a connection between school life and home life. I have always enjoyed getting to know my students and their families throughout the year; It's probably one of my favorite parts of the job. Parents want peace of mind that their children are in good hands when sending them to school, and establishing a communication system that fosters a relationship with parents is key to ensuring a successful school year. Below are my two favorite things my district and I have in place to encourage communication between parents.
1. Choose a communication platform that is accessible: My district uses the Remind app to communicate with families. Of course, parents can always call or email me, but the Remind app makes communication easy. For example, I can quickly write a message to a parent who may have forgotten to send something, if I need clarification on something they sent, or if they need to let me know about a change in their schedule. The Remind app sends the message as a
text message to parents' phones. Texting can be one of the most important and easiest ways to boost communication between parents (Screencastify, 2023).
2. Establish communication expectations with parents at a back-to-school conference: Parents may feel intimidated when entering the school to meet with teachers one-on-one for the first time. Teachers may also feel intimidated by a certain group of parents attending conferences if they haven't really had the time or opportunity to meet them yet. Our district decided to limit these stressors by changing our traditional “Back to School” night to “Back to School” conferences. According to an article in The Hechinger Report, getting families into the school building and exposing them to the learning environment their child is a part of is a great way to boost communication between parents (Adams, 2020). At our “Back to School” conferences, we are able to meet with families individually and discuss expectations at school and our preferred communication styles. It has been a great way to boost communication with parents since the beginning of the year.
Top 2 “don'ts”
1. Don't message parents about EVERYTHING: I mentioned before that my district uses the Remind app for most of our communication with parents. I think it's been really easy to message parents about more things going on during the day now that I have this quick messaging system. While reading an article published by the New Yorker, I reconsidered my current practice. I wondered if parents need to know everything about their children at school. A student should be able to express themselves at school without fear that any mistakes or missteps will be passed on to their parents. Sharing everything so easily can generate distrust between students and their teachers. Parents trust teachers and can trust that just because they don't know everything that happens at school, the learning environment is still positive and uplifting (Winter, 2023).
2. Create long messages that parents have to read: Teachers are busy, parents are busy. Messages and emails do not need to drag on and on. I have found that parents still miss information when I send home newsletters and long messages that contain a lot of upcoming information. Sending quick, short reminders or messages has had the best impact on my communication with my parents so far.
TLDR: People today like information conveyed in short, direct messages.
Final thoughts
Regardless of how an educator decides to communicate with parents, they must
Remember that when there is a relationship between teachers and parents, there is trust. My students' parents trust me and do not bombard me with questions or lists of concerns. We have open communication between us and they know that I am always available for messages, emails or phone calls if they have questions. I know I can count on the same from them.
References
Adams, C. (February 28, 2020). How some schools are taking steps to encourage family engagement. The Hechinger Report.
https://hechingerreport.org/what-the-research-says-about-the-best-way-to-engage-parents/
Screencastify. (2023, May 25). Seven ways teachers can communicate with parents in the 2023-2024 school year. Screencastify.
https://www.screencastify.com/blog/ways-teachers-can-communicate-with-parents-usingtechnology
Winter, J. (September 5, 2023). Can teachers and parents improve their ability to talk to each other? The New Yorker.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-education/can-teachers-and-parents-get-better-at-talking-to-one-another
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