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A. Hawkins
Welcome to my educational blog. This blog is an exercise as part of my EDM510 class. Please respond to the following questions below. Feel free to respond as more than one role. I am a second grade teacher and rely on many forms of communication to keep in contact and share class activities with parents. I am currently using the old methods of notes home and e-mails. I have also added the text features of Remind to my communication tools over the last few years. I can send out class text messages as well as individual text messages to parents. Parents are able to respond to the messages. Not all parents join the text group, or change numbers and lose contact.
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Friday, February 24, 2017
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During my time student teaching and completing field experience, I have seen how difficult it is to get parents involved. While some parents want to know everything happening with their child, some will not even sign their homework folders or respond to notes sent home, much less sign up for anything digital. You must, however, be persistent and offer various methods of communication anyway. As a student, I have had professors use Remind as a means of communication. I would continue using this, as it is a great way to remind parents of events, holidays, major due dates, etc. One tool that I have seen utilized in several classrooms is Class Dojo. This is an app that allows teachers to private message parents, make posts available to parents, post photos of things happening in the classroom or around school, etc. There is also a feature which allows teachers to give or take points based on behavior, and parents are able to see these points and how their child is behaving throughout the day. This is a great, versatile resource that I think everyone should use in their classroom. As with Remind, the only downside to something like this is that not every parent will or is able to download the app. It is unfortunate, but that's just how it is sometimes. It is important, however, to offer similar means of communication anyway, because many parents will take advantage of it, and it is even more convenient for some parents.
ReplyDeleteI have not ever used the Class Dojo but it seems like something I need to investigate. I like the information you gave on using it for behavior posts. This would be quite handy for those students who need daily monitoring and communication with parents.
DeleteAs an educator I used emails, notes, the school system form of communication and have found that all forms worked well for me when the parents received the information. I have yet found a tool that works all the time because their always some form of miscommunication on both ends. Whether the email systems is not working properly, the notes never made it home, or there's a problem with the main school system. I do think the parents like the emails and the school system site better because they can receive it on their phone real time.
ReplyDeleteAs a parent, emails and text are more effective for me because I can read the message real time and make notes or write the dates down in my planner. I am able to email the teacher back real time and/or get answers faster thru technology faster than a hand note.
As a student, I have found that emails have been the most effective method because I get it real time on my phone.
And I do have my own business and love the emailing aspect of my business because it is one of the major ways I receive reservations and communicate with my customers. I use this feature to book reservation, submit confirmation, submit receipt of payments, and it is the easier way to cancel a reservation if needed. This method allows me to be away from the office, but still meet my customers needs.
I agree that I have yet to find a form that works for all the parents. Some never check folders for messages and some never respond to e-mail or text requests.
DeleteI am a teacher, parent, and student all at once myself and I do like technology for communication as well. How did I ever know what was going on at school (child and college) before I had e-mail, text and TeleParent calls?
As I have just started my alternative masters program I have had very little experience in the classroom. During the observation days I have completed I have noticed a few communication tools that have been successful. With technology parents have access to their students accounts on a program called Moodle. The teacher I am observing believes that "old school" ways have proven successful for her over the past 20 years so she still implements them into her class room. Each day the teacher signs each students agenda leaving the parents notes in necessary. The student is required to have their parent sign the agenda and bring it to class the next morning. The teacher than checks for parent signature and those students who do not have it signed receive a check (as part of their school wide disciplinary plan). She also emphasis the importance of making parent phone calls when necessary and also documenting all communication attempt you have made with the parent (for future use). This class has presented us with many great tools that could be used to communicate with students and parents my favorite being the Wiki!
ReplyDeleteI agree that this class has given some great communication ideas. I would love to use Google Docs for my next party planning event. I hope I can use it to allow parents to add their names to party supply items.
DeleteAs a parent, the methods of communication that we have seen from the teachers individually and the school are: Class Dojo, emails, and class newsletters. My favorite though is Remind101. Its an app that will send text messages out or will send the messages through the Remind101 app. The teacher can also set it up where the parent can text back any questions.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Remind is a great resource. I started using it a few years ago and have loved the added parent reply feature. I also use it to quickly text individual parents. I still have a few parents each year who will not sign up for the service. But overall, I feel it is becoming more and more accepted by parents as a quick way to contact the teacher.
DeleteAs a teacher, I have tried many different forms of communication in my classroom. I have always relied heavily on emails, texts, and notes. However, within the last couple years I have used a class Shutterfly account that has proven to help with communication. On this site, I post pictures, important dates, the newsletter, etc. The parents are asked to provide an email at the beginning of the year. I use these emails to send out an invitation to our private Shutterfly page. The parents have to use a secret code to be able to view our class page. I have really loved using this form of technology in the classroom and will continue to use it in the years to come!
ReplyDelete