The following article discusses making the most of communication at the beginning of the school year.
http://www.edutopia.org//blog/making-most-back-school-communications-anne-obrien
The flipped parent communication is very interesting. The principal at my school is always pushing parent communication. He wants us to make 20 positive parent contacts in the first two weeks of school. This is a great way to build a parent-teacher relationship, but it also takes so much time to call and talk to all of the parents. There are ways that make communicating with parents quicker and easier. Class websites, blogs, email, Class Dojo chats, and much more. My favorite way to communicate with parents is through Class Dojo, because it is like sending a text. It is quick and the parent can reply when it is convenient for them. I am always worried about calling parents when they are still at work and interrupting them. This way, they can read and respond at their leisure.
What is your favorite way to contact parents?
My absolute favourite way is to use Remind 101.
ReplyDeleteIs this the one that sends a text to students?
DeleteMy absolute favourite way is to use Remind 101.
ReplyDeleteRemind.com is my favorite!
ReplyDeleteI have not heard of this one. I will have to look into it.
DeleteI've always just used email, phone calls, class website, and letters home. I've never heard of or explored these other options (Remind 101, Class Dojo and remind.com). I will have to explore these this year!
ReplyDeleteI have not tried Remind 101 or remind.com either. I want to look into these also.
DeleteFYI I'm getting a "You need permission" message from your Google Form, that I can't view it.
ReplyDeleteI've though about Remind 101, but then never followed through. I do like to send email updates, and I'm going to try to keep a website up-to-date with our monthly projects. Phone calls....are extremely rare for me, except in the worst situations. I just don't have the time...though I'm sure if I were a parent, I wouldn't mind the occasional friendly call.
I changed the settings, so now you shouldn't have to be signed in with your BroncoMail to submit the form. I agree with you on the phone calls. It it hard to find the time. I also do a weekly newsletter that I send home. This year I think I'm going to just put it on my website and see how that works.
DeleteI have used so many different forms. I think it depends what you are contacting the parents about. So I do calls, emails, remind 101, blog and newsletters depending on what it is for.
ReplyDeleteI generally email, at the High School level. I like Remind 101, but didn't use it last year. I found that students respond to texts more readily than to emails.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this poll!
My colleague just showed me the Remind app. I'm not sure if it is the same as Remind 101 or not. It was really cool that she could sent a text to students/parents without giving out your cellphone number.
DeleteAs a parent, I freak out when I look at my phone and it is the school calling. No matter why they are calling. Email works for me, but I think it depends. There are some parents at our school who don't have access to email, but do text.
ReplyDeleteI have had parents that prefer to text. It works great for me, because it saves a lot of time.
DeleteI have moved to using Gmail with my third graders as part of our Google Apps for Education. Since using it, I barely communicate with the parents anymore. The students and I do most of the communicating, and they let their parents know when it's relevant. I did not get any negative feedback from the parents last year. In fact, with today's busy world, I think many were grateful their students were taking more responsibility. Plus, I learned so much more about my students than in previous years.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds wonderful. It's also a great way to build responsibility with the third graders. Thanks for the idea!
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