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Hello Educators!

It’s the beginning of the year, which is the best time to figure out how you want parents to communicate with you. Time is always tight — lesson plans, teaching, grading, meetings, student help — so how do you make communication fit in your schedule?

On the Board: Communicating with Parents

Do you want them to email you? Call the school? Meet face-to-face over a latte? Only if there is a problem? Be proactive when they can see trouble on the horizon? 

We asked Leticia Barr, the founder of the award-winning TechSavvyMama, who is also a mom of teens, a former elementary and middle school teacher, and an education consultant, how to make your preferred communication strategy clear to parents.

Take a look at these articles on communicating good moments to parents:

Quick Read: Catch teens being good

Long Read: Build success by pointing out the positive

Extra Read: How teachers want parents to communicate from The Washington Post

Start on a Positive Note

At the beginning of the year, Leticia recommends: “Take a few minutes to send a short email to say hello and introduce yourself.” Tell them how to reach you, and ask parents to tell you these 3 things in an email back:

  1. Your name and the name of your teen

  2. The class and period your student is in (especially important for middle and high school students)

  3. Any positive feedback about the class you’ve heard from your teen so far

“Creating that home-and-school connection via relationship-focused communication contributes to academic success.”

Diversify, Diversify, Diversify

It’s not just good advice for your 401K. Leticia admits, “I use many different communication styles to model how I want parents and guardians to communicate with me. Not all parents can rely on their teens to bring papers from teachers home, so I’ll send a welcome email and hand students a letter to take home, but I’ll also text because parents are much like today’s teens — they prefer to get texts!” 

Set up a free Google Voice number for incoming texts. You can set the hours to receive calls and text messages, sending communication directly to voicemail when Do Not Disturb is active. TextNow is a similar, free tool.

Keep Them Guessing

If you don’t want parents to dread your phone calls or emails, keep them on their toes by reaching out not only when there is a problem but when you have something positive to report as well. Leticia says, “As a parent of two teens (18 and 16), I’ve loved getting quick emails or calls about my kids, so I try to do the same for the students in my classes. Parents love hearing good things their kids are doing. Teens want to be recognized, maybe not publicly in front of their peers, but they love knowing someone is watching and recognizing the good.”

What About You?

We asked teachers across America: “How do you prefer parents/guardians to communicate with you, and how do you tell them about your preferences at the beginning of the year?” Here’s what some of you had to say:

  • “My preference is to communicate via email. I send out a message on Canvas, and I post the info on my course syllabus.” —Ben, Sligo Middle School in Silver Spring, Maryland
  • “My preference is 100% email, that way there is a paper trail of any and all discussion and communications. I follow up any phone call with a quick email summary. At the start of the year, I send home my class syllabus which parents need to fill out and sign and send back, and that includes all of my contact information.” —Lee, Randolph Community Middle School in Randolph, Massachusetts

Next Month

We want to highlight the great work happening inside and outside of the classroom as you flex those communication muscles. 

Question: We’re going to talk about how you let students know they’re doing a good job.

Drop your answer over here: https://forms.gle/YJ5W6mYMu2kshgjL7

We’ll choose some of your answers and feature them in the "What About You?" section of the next newsletter.

Warmly,

Center for Parent and Teen Communication

Like this newsletter? We have others! Click here to sign up for our daily newsletter (smart teen advice in just 100 words) or weekly newsletter (a roundup of teen-related content). Or pass along this link to parents at your school. 

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