How do you add parent-teacher communication to your teaching?

1 Set clear goals

Before you start communicating with parents, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. Do you want to inform them about the curriculum, assignments, and assessments? Do you want to share their child's progress, strengths, and areas of improvement? Do you want to solicit their feedback, input, and involvement? Do you want to address any issues, concerns, or conflicts? By setting clear goals, you can plan your communication methods, frequency, and tone accordingly.

2 Choose appropriate channels

There are many ways to communicate with parents, such as phone calls, emails, newsletters, websites, apps, social media, conferences, and events. Each channel has its own advantages and disadvantages, depending on your goals, audience, and resources. For example, phone calls are more personal and immediate, but they can be time-consuming and intrusive. Emails are more convenient and flexible, but they can be misinterpreted or ignored. Newsletters are more informative and comprehensive, but they can be boring or overwhelming. Websites are more accessible and interactive, but they can be hard to maintain or update. Apps are more engaging and convenient, but they can be costly or complicated. Social media are more popular and informal, but they can be distracting or inappropriate. Conferences are more collaborative and respectful, but they can be stressful or intimidating. Events are more fun and inclusive, but they can be chaotic or irrelevant. You need to choose the channels that suit your goals, audience, and resources best.

3 Establish expectations

Once you have chosen your communication channels, you need to establish expectations with parents. You need to let them know how, when, and why you will communicate with them, and what they can expect from you. You also need to ask them how, when, and why they prefer to communicate with you, and what you can expect from them. You can use a communication plan, a survey, or a contract to set these expectations and get their consent. By establishing expectations, you can avoid misunderstandings, conflicts, and frustrations.

4 Use effective strategies

Communicating with parents requires effective strategies to ensure clarity, respect, and constructive dialogue. Simple and positive language should be used, as well as providing specific and timely feedback. It is important to highlight strengths and achievements, while also acknowledging challenges and difficulties. Offering suggestions and solutions, asking open-ended and relevant questions, listening actively and empathically, respecting diversity and confidentiality, inviting collaboration and participation, and expressing appreciation and encouragement are all essential strategies for building trust, rapport, and support with parents.

5 Evaluate and adjust

Finally, you need to evaluate and adjust your communication with parents regularly. You need to monitor the effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction of your communication methods, frequency, and tone. You also need to solicit feedback, input, and suggestions from parents on how to improve your communication. You can use surveys, polls, interviews, or focus groups to collect this data. By evaluating and adjusting your communication, you can ensure that it meets your goals, meets their needs, and fosters positive outcomes.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?