· What factors do you think are most important to keep in mind in communicating with parents?
Kathleen Casson (“Communicating with Parents”) makes the point that “the most important reason to stay in touch with parents is that children are more committed to learning if they feel that their teachers and their parents are on the same page. This is true in middle and high school as much as in elementary school, no matter how "grown" students might think they are.” I would also add that this is true no matter how “grown” parents might think their children are.
I agree with Kathleen Casson that to communicate successfully with parents, it is important to “be caring, professional, open, and organized”. She also notes the importance of establishing regular communication which begins on a positive note, rather than starting the relationship by conveying a problem, especially one which should have been conveyed earlier.
Communication is, of course, a two-way street, so I think it’s important to have systems in place so that you are accessible to parents. Tell parents at the beginning of the year how you can best be reached, and tell them how quickly they can expect to hear back from you.
· How do you think technologies may support or inhibit these factors?
I think that technologies can support these factors by making communication possible across conflicting schedules. In the days without e-mail or cell phone voicemail, parents could only reach teachers through notes (and one might wonder if they got delivered) or well-timed calls to the classroom (before or after classes). This would be especially difficult for working parents, as Kathleen Casson mentions.
However, certain technologies are more personal than others; it is easier to read a person’s tone and feelings through voice inflections in a phone call than it is through e-mail. So, if a teacher relies solely on e-mail and doesn’t connect with a parent by phone, he/she may run a greater risk of being misinterpreted.
· What technology(ies) do you think are most promising and realistic to help you to communicate with parents?
As a parent, I rely on cell phones, e-mail, and Edline (a website which gives parents access to their children’s grades as well as important notes from teachers) as the most promising and realistic technologies for communicating with teachers. Class web pages, such as the one described in Sydney Brown’s article (“Using a Classroom Webpage to Communicate with Parents”), are a great idea and a potentially valuable learning experience when done with the students, but speaking from experience, I am skeptical that a large percentage of parents check a class web page on a regular basis (without prompting from their children).
· What issues might you need to keep in mind in using technologies to communicate with parents?
One very important consideration is that not all parents may have access to the Internet. In such cases, hopefully you can rely on phone communication and the efficient delivery of notes if needed.
As noted previously, e-mails need to be written very carefully to convey their intended messages and tones. And, as discussed in David Walbert’s article (“Writing for the Web”), there is much to consider when writing for the web. “Different types of communication require different types of writing and design,”, and in his opinion, “the biggest problem with most content on the web is that it’s just poorly written.” Ask yourself if you want to convey information (the details of an assignment) or ideas (your philosophy of teaching). “If you’re writing for parents, consider their level of education. You may need to make your writing accessible to parents with a high school diploma while still giving those with advanced degrees the level of content they’ll expect from a fellow professional.” He emphasizes the importance of “good, strong, clear writing” no matter what you are writing, and I would add efficient proofreading – spelling and grammatical errors are always bothersome, but they are especially bothersome in a teacher’s writing. (Note to self: don’t forget to run spelling and grammar check.)
The teacher using the classroom web page in Sydney Brown’s article suggests “Don’t forget to obtain parental permission to post student pictures and work.” After a year’s experience with a classroom web page, she found that parents were much more willing to give permission.
The article by Rhonda Bodfield (“Should Teachers/Kids Be Digital “Friends”?”) explores the question of whether or not teachers and students should communicate through social networking tools such as Facebook or texting. “Because the issue isn't clear-cut, it's often a topic of conversation in ethics classes taught by Sheri Bauman, the director of the school counseling program at the University of Arizona. Her university students have said they could see educational uses for using networking sites. Teachers might discover interests or hobbies that could help them engage kids in the classroom. They might be able to see whether there's anything going on outside class that's affecting academic performance.” My reaction to this is that discovering interests, hobbies, or asking what’s going on in a student’s life outside class can and should be achieved through methods other than Facebook and texting.
“On the other hand, Bauman said, there are risks.”The kind of interaction that often occurs on the site [Facebook] is more personal than the average teacher wants to be with a student," she said. "And with no facial clues or voice clues, that kind of communication is just much easier to misinterpret."” I think that heeding the wise advice “be friendly with your students, not friends” means not going to your students’ Facebook pages and not texting them. As Kathleen Casson pointed out, being a reflective practitioner means being clear in your mind about the purpose behind everything you do as a teacher. This should translate into being able to explain everything you do to parents, and I personally wouldn’t want to risk upsetting parents by crossing a boundary into space they consider inappropriate when my goals in doing so could be achieved through other methods.
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These were very enlightening articles. I feel like parental communication is one of the things I am most anxious about, so there were some great ideas in these articles. Like Laura, I appreciated the suggestion that it is important to be organized when dealing with parents. I imagine it is also important to not be defensive.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the article about the classroom website as a communication tool for parents. It would be interesting to see how it worked, because obviously you don't want to be updating for a non-existing audience. On the flip-side, parents who check the site often might get frustrated if you don't update it. You would probably need a trial run to see if both you as teacher and the parents would find the website helpful.
I also thought a lot about how I would want my students' parents to contact me while I was reading these articles. I feel like it's important to maintain a strict boundary between school and home(as teacher), so I doubt I would give out my home or cell phone number. I think I would rely on email mostly.
On the subject of being "friends" with students, I feel it is most prudent to avoid it. It seems too dangerous to try to blur that line.
I have pretty strong opinions about parent communication, and I agree with the viewpoints of these articles. I especially appreciated Casson’s article. She makes the point that teachers should not speak with a parent for the very first time about the issue of a bad grade or disciplinary problem. That’s ridiculous. Teachers need to touch base with parents within the first week or so of school. They need to feel comfortable communicating with parents. Both teachers and parents are working to raise a child, so it makes sense for teachers and parents to communicate and work together throughout both the ups and downs of this process. I also believe that a teacher should never ever feel intimidated by a parent; likewise, a teacher should never intimidate a parent by acting like a “know it all.” Confidence and professionalism are a must.
ReplyDeleteNow, I’d like to think that all parents have email access, but they don’t. I love the idea of a class website or blog to share classroom experiences with parents. Moreover, it’s just so organized to be paper-free, especially when teachers often have to depend on students to deliver messages to parents. I am planning on having a class website, but I think I’ll print out newsletters to send home every few weeks too. I’m also not afraid to call a parent or meet for coffee at a time that best fits their schedule to discuss the progress of their student.
Teachers should not be “friends” with students or parents on online social networks. That’s weird and stupid. A teacher that friends a student on a site like Facebook as a way to provide homework help, might as well go sit on the child’s bed to monitor watch over their shoulder.
I understand the benefits of communication outside the classroom. Teachers can make IM screen names, specifically for school, and allow students to IM them for extra help. The teacher should NEVER initiate the conversation. Can you imagine sitting at your computer and getting an IM from your English teacher, “Hi Johnny, I noticed your away message says “chillen.” Have you read section 5 in your literature book yet?” Ew.
Also, it’s important to think of fairness when doing this technological communication. Teachers always need to provide equal opportunities for parent communication and student communication.
During some class in the last six months, I started considering whether to incorporate Facebook into my teaching. My initial idea was to create a "Mr. Maust" account and use it to post things like assignments. However, these articles (and Molly's passion, haha) have pushed me in the direction I was swaying, which was that Facebook is a part of students' lives where teachers do not belong.
ReplyDeleteIt may be an immediate and familiar delivery mechanism, but Facebook users just aren't discriminatory with what they show. Moreover, there is scaffolding and then there is hand-holding. Students certainly won't have responsibilities later in life planted on their Facebook pages. Asking them to keep track of assignments and due dates is not asking too much.
I like the idea of digital delivery, class websites, and other kinds of online sharing, but I keep thinking of students whose families do not have computers at home. I think the best method is to have the digital content, but always have traditional methods alongside it.
One other thing I often think about is careful writing, as Laura mentioned. Poor attention to grammar and spelling really affect a first (or subsequent) impression. It is bad enough coming from teenagers, but when college students (graduate!) and so called professionals stop spelling out words and proof-reading, it is a dark day indeed.
I do not want to beat a dead horse, but I agree with all of you about the importance of frequently communicating with parents, considering how to include families without access to a computer, and not friending students.
ReplyDeleteHowever, these articles also brought to mind the importance of using technology as a way to ease tension with helicopter parents. Although frequent communication with parents is vital to students’ success, these parents think that frequent communication means daily. I thought that a simple way to appease them may be something like a class website or even a classroom Twitter. David Walbert has opened my eyes to the complexities involved with maintaining this. I enjoyed his discussion of USA Today versus NY Times writing approaches, and I cannot help but think that helicopter parents may expect NY Times-esque daily updates. I am not sure whether the solution is to reason with these parents or to avoid the situation altogether by providing no daily updates.
Regardless, something as simple as a daily tweet to parents about the classroom happenings may provide a terrific way to spark parent-student conversation about school. I think that when I start teaching, I may do something like this. Although, I would stop if I did not have enough parent followers.