How can teachers communicate effectively with parents provide examples?

2021-03-30

How can teachers communicate effectively with parents provide examples?

Make parents feel valuable. Great parent-teacher communication, especially in elementary school, starts with making parents feel valuable.

  • Acknowledge involvement. Parents are not required to participate in their child’s education.
  • Ask questions (and listen!).
  • Don’t make assumptions.
  • How parents should communicate with teachers?

    Invite the parents to an open house and/or other school functions. Comment on their child’s progress. Inform them of their child’s achievements (e.g., “Student of the Week”) Inform them of their child’s strengths or share an anecdote.

    How does effective communication apply to best practices with instruction both with colleagues and with families?

    Good communication helps to inform, reassure, and engage families. A single conversation, positive or negative, can set the tone for a family’s opinion of preschool staff, so it is essential to develop effective communication skills. Positive communication and relationships with families help to build trust.

    How teachers can connect with parents?

    Ensure parents know how to contact educators. Offer multiple ways for parents to ask questions and provide feedback (phone, text, email, or virtual meetings). Be consistent. Establish a regular communication schedule so families know when and how to expect updates.

    How can teachers support families?

    ► Create a family friendly class environment. Encourage family involvement in the classroom. Make families important in your class – show them you value their time by explaining the best way they can help as a classroom volunteer. Invite parents to share their expertise, skills and experience with the class.

    What are the events or activities that teachers need to collaborate with parents?

    Host an Open House before school begins for students and parents to talk to their teachers in person. Send fliers home with dates of field trips with spots to volunteer to chaperone. Communicate event times and dates like classroom parties where parents can choose to volunteer.

    What activities that support collaboration as a parent?

    Here are some ways for educators to collaborate with parents:

    • Meet early on, before an issue arises and clarify the plan.
    • Tell stories about success and failure.
    • Create a covenant to sign.
    • Clarify the best interests of their child.
    • Whenever You Meet, Talk to Parents about the Future.
    • Provide a Resource.

    What are parent/teacher communication tools that can foster positive partnerships?

    Here are a few ideas and tool recommendations to help kick off a positive parent-teacher dialogue:

    • Reach out with a messenger app like Remind.
    • Start a dialogue around students’ work with a portfolio tool like Seesaw.
    • Keep parents updated with an online gradebook like ThinkWave.