What is the ideal communication between parents and educators?

Daily we are connected through cellphones, social media sites like Facebook, email, and so forth. However, even with these various ways to keep the communication lines open, schools struggle with effective parent communication. As a parent you want to know if your child is struggling with another student, the subject material, or other important matters. Continuous communication is key. Parents have to know right away if their children are missing assignments or receiving low grades. Parents need to know right away if their children are having behavioral issues. Parents need to know about upcoming events, awards ceremonies, and volunteer opportunities.

Imagine if parents received text messages every time a student missed a class. Or one with what students covered in class that day. Some schools already do this and have kept their attendance rates low and prevented students from skipping school. How does your local school communicate with parents of kids in elementary school, middle school and high school? Is this method effective?

This past Wednesday on the #PTLA chat educators, parents, principals, and other stakeholders gathered to discuss the ideal communication between parents and educators. We were joined by Dr. Richard Selznick, @DrSelz, a child psychologist and author of The Shut Down Learner – Helping Your Academically Discouraged Child.

The image is provided by: http://www.wordle.net

Here were some of the great ideas shared:

DrSelz @HighImpactMom Some teachers get a bit skittish about responding in email, as parents have brought the emails in to me for review. #PTLA
DrSelz @andreacoventry so true about the written word being misinterpreted. #PTLA
techsavvymama @Parentella- My DD has a daily folder that is sent home w/ communication, graded work, HW, etc. #PTLA
DrSelz I think if teachers did what @techsavvymama said is being done on weekly basis it would reduce many problems. #PTLA

Parentella What stands in the way of good communication? #PTLA

DrSelz @Parentella there is a great deal of defensiveness for lots of reasons on both sides of the fence #PTLA
bhsprincipal @hadleyjf We have some work to do to educate parents on how easy it is to stay connected with technology #ptla
irasocol @bhsprincipal many school websites are confusing and not accessible, not a way to draw parents in #ptla
cybraryman1 At Back to School in the beginning of the school year teachers should state preference on how they will communicate with parents #PTLA

HighImpactMom I would love to hear from my daughter's elementary school teacher more about what I can do to help both my DD and the teacher. I just need to know #PTLA

Parentella @irasocol @Bhsprincpal The sites are designed as a monologue while it should be a dialog.
andreacoventry We have a parent night at the beginning of the school year. I try to send links to my #Montesori articles. I do an individual note once a week. #PTLA
Parentella Most teachers (at least in our school) rely on paper heavily. #PTLA
HighImpactMom I don't want to call and leave messages for a teacher and email is the best way to communicate with them. #PTLA
TWRCtankcom I am curious if parents use any forums online to help w/ their child's education, or if this is even something they are looking for. #PTLA

dtspdmka A well designed high school website, and teacher site helps to build an understanding of what stdts are learning. Issues are dealt best f2f. #PTLA

PaulWHankins Our kids have blue communication folders that go back and forth. We get the weekly plan and daily update on conduct. It works well. #PTLA
KidPreteenTeen My best method of recordkeeping is a binder for each child tabbed by grade with report cards, projects, notes from teacher. #PTLA
musingsfromme @parentella My 1st grader is sent home with a monthly newsletter listing what class just covered. #PTLA
techsavvymama @Parentella- My DD has a daily folder that is sent home w/ communication, graded work, HW, etc. #PTLA

Parentella was created to solve the issue of parent and educator communication at elementary, middle school and high school levels. As part of this mission, we are hosting weekly #PTLA discussions to encourage a productive dialogue between parents and educators. We hope you will join us Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST.

You may also want to join Parentella on Facebook to keep updated. We invite you to propose questions for the next topic on February 3.
If you are new to following hashtag discussions, you may want to check out this video tutorial on using Tweetdeck for hashtag discussions

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By Shelly Terrell

This entry was posted on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 6:41 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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