Communicating with Parents

Ms. Beem, Mrs. Whissel, and Mrs. Dye
TEACH, INSPIRE, and EMPOWER our students every day!

Communication...

If you scroll through last year's blog posts, you'll find a March post regarding effective communication. I summarized the best practices for communication with 3 P's: Positive, Proactive, and Periodic. The power of effective communication can never be emphasized enough, which is why I'm writing about communication, AGAIN.  This time, however, I've found someone else's words to drive home the point...

We all know that the teachingchannel.org website has great videos for professional development, but it's also a great place for resources on just about all things education.  This week, Sarah Brown Wessling, a high school Language Arts teachers is being featured for her blog post called "Emailing Parents: How to Avoid Unintended Consequences."  You've GOT to check out her email templates for parents! She has 3 great email examples that you can use!

Wessling has the following reminders for communicating with parents:

1. Don't get defensive.
2. Remember that you're ALWAYS teaching, including teaching parents how you support kids
3. No one is perfect. You make mistakes and parents can, too.
4. Every time you communicate with a parent is an opportunity - use it to your advantage.
5. Don't be afraid to pick up the phone.

To view the sample email messages and read the blog in more detail, go to:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2012/09/20/emailing-parents/

Remember, our vision is to be a place where RELATIONSHIPS matter, LEARNING matters, and PERFORMANCE matters...