Beyond the Note: Tech-Enabled Parent Communication

Education World is pleased to present this article contributed by Stephanie Blackburn, a graduate student at the University of North Alabama completing a master’s degree in elementary education.

Communicating with parents can be challenging for teachers. When I started out as a kindergarten teacher, I received my fair share of angry notes, phone calls and emails from parents. In addition, I often wondered if parents were choosing to ignore my communications, not getting them, or simply didn’t care. Despite these challenges, I worked to foster relationships with parents and make them feel like they played a major role in the academic success of their child.

Study after study has shown that parent involvement is directly related to student achievement. Authors Anne T. Henderson, Karen L.Mapp, Vivian R. Johnson and Don Davis, in Beyond the Bake Sale, the Essential Guide to Parent Involvement, review research demonstrating that collaboration among schools, parents and communities results in higher academic achievement by students, better student behavior, better attendance and a more positive school climate.

Teachers can increase the chances of reaching these goals by developing a relationship with parents and communicating effectively.

I thought about how I communicated with my family and friends. How often was I sending my friends and family letters? Was I making many phone calls these days? The answer for me, to both those questions, was "not very often." So why was I still using outdated and ineffective ways to communicate with parents? After a lot of reflection, I realized that I needed to communicate with parents the way the rest of society communicates with each other. So I set out to research some new and innovative ways to use technology to communicate.

Some key methods include text messaging, Skype and blogging.

Text Messaging

Text messaging is familiar to many of us, and some even prefer to communicate this way. A text message is a convenient and often real-time form of communication. Several software programs--Class Parrot, Class Pager, G Text, Kiku Text, We Text, and Send Hub, just to name a few--allow a user to send text messages to a group using his/her computer. Generally, a teacher creates a group of people with whom they'd like to communicate, and group members use an opt-in code to begin receiving messages. Some platforms allow all phone numbers to be kept private, and some are even free to use. By sending out group text messages, teachers can keep parents up to date on classroom activities, announcements or homework deadlines.

Skype

As a teacher, I am often disappointed with the turnout of parents at conference time. I often wonder if their lack of participation in the conferences is due to work or family scheduling conflicts. One way to get around a busy schedule and still have a face-to-face meeting with parents is to use Skype. Skype allows two people to talk with each other using their computers, and its video feature makes virtual meetings possible. The basic Skype software is free and requires only an Internet connection.

Blogging

When I have had a student perform poorly on a test or homework assignment, upon sending the work home, I often got a note back from a parent. The notes usually said things such as the student didn’t know there was a test, didn’t study, or didn’t know what to study. By using an Internet blog, the teacher can prevent a lot of this miscommunication.

Many teachers are already using blogs with their students and easily can begin using a class blog as an electronic bulletin board. A teacher can post reminders for deadlines, upcoming events, study guides, or other homework resources that parents can access from home. Blogs allow teachers to give information to parents to help their child outside school walls.

Teachers need to make parents their teaching partners. In pursuit of this goal, group text messages, Skype, and blogs are helpful technology-based forms of communication. The next time you set a deadline that only a handful of parents meet, remember that tech-enabled communication methods might achieve better results.

Related resource

The free, Web-based SchoolNotes platform simplifies school-to-home communication, allowing teachers to post assignments, messages and more for easy parent access.

Note: Education World and SchoolNotes are both part of The Educator's Network.

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