Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Go Back                 Case Posted on October 16, 2015 10:51 pm Add to Favorites Ashley Lewis Reps: 79 Parent-Teacher Communication Our new administrator is requiring that we call parents about every event and everything going on with school. I feel as though I have too many students and too much work to sit down call every parent about every single thing. Any ideas on ways that I can communicate with every parent without having to call them for everything?                 Submit a Possible Solution Please read response(s) below (if any) before posting your solution.                 Solution 1 Posted October 17, 2015 1:27 am uXyRyd Reps: 80 Class dojo works wonders for me in helping me to stay connected with parents. Parents can download this app on their phones and receive notifications in regards to their child's behavior, text back and forth with the teacher, set up conferences, and view what it going on in the school/ classroom via video, photo, or message. I love this source as it serves a classroom management tool, it's easy to use, quick, incorporates technology, and a good form of documentation! I hope this helps and good luck! Votes: +30 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Ashley Lewis Reps: 79 Thank you! I have downloaded the app and I believe that I am going to love it.   Posted on: October 17, 2015 10:48 pm Henry Hobby Reps: 82 I have used Class DOJO in the past as well. I find that it not only worked great for parent communication, but classroom management and behavior as well. It works great as part of a school's PBIS plan as well. Students love creating their own avatar and earning points for positive behavior.   Posted on: October 18, 2015 7:11 pm baQumy Reps: 100 DOJO is excellent!!   Posted on: October 23, 2015 4:46 pm Add a Comment                 Solution 2 Posted October 17, 2015 7:15 pm ySudyG Reps: 166 I use remind.com to communicate with parents. I have them sign up at the beginning of school- giving me either their phone number or email address- and it provides a quick way for me to send messages and communicate with parents. I can send a group message if there are multiple parents I need to talk to about the same issue (a student not turning in homework for example). If I just need to talk to one, I click on their name and send a message. It's quick and easy and I would highly recommend it. Votes: +11 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Ashley Lewis Reps: 79 Thank you for the solution!   Posted on: October 17, 2015 10:50 pm Add a Comment                 Solution 3 Posted October 18, 2015 7:10 pm Henry Hobby Reps: 82 All teachers in our county have a class website. I use this to keep my parents updated about everything that we have going on. I place homework assignments, test dates, and special events to the calendar. This way, parents have access to class information wherever they have an internet connection. I have also used the Remind app to communicate with parents. Votes: +7 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 4 Posted October 18, 2015 5:04 pm tuRemy Reps: 75 I would see which form of communication works best for each parent. For example, some parents may respond to Remind blasts or emails, so in these cases communication would be quick and easy. Some parents, however, do not check their child's folder or respond to emails. These parents would benefit from phone calls. I would just see which communication works best for the parents instead of calling every parent. Votes: +3 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 5 Posted October 18, 2015 7:21 pm QuvuLy Reps: 78 Remind 101 is a great tool for communicating to parents and students. All parents have to do is send a text message with a code in it to a number, and then they are automatically signed up for the classroom. At that point the teacher can send out messages to parents about the class. It is a great resource to get information out quickly to all parents. I also use this for getting information to parents on the baseball team that I coach. It is a great tool. Votes: +2 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 6 Posted October 17, 2015 8:26 pm aQaWus Reps: 131 This idea might be a little old school, but you could put a note in the child's agenda and make the parent sign it so the parent acknowledges that they know what is going on in the classroom. Votes: +2 / -8 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Ashley Lewis Reps: 79 I thought about doing this. We recently received agendas for our students. Thanks for the solution!   Posted on: October 17, 2015 10:51 pm Add a Comment                 Solution 7 Posted October 19, 2015 12:17 am PaDemu Reps: 75 Communicating with parents is everything! Remind and Class DOJO works well and google has an app that supplies an alternate number so parents won't call your cell phone back. Votes: +1 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 8 Posted February 24, 2016 9:41 pm anuhag Reps: 201 I think that you could send home a letter on the school letterhead for every event or thing going on at the school. You could also send a mass email to all of the parents in your class as communication. You would then hit the parents from two different forms of communication. If there are some parents that do not use email then you might want to continue to call them, but it would decease the number of phone calls massively. Votes: +1 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 9 Posted October 18, 2015 6:04 pm ypyPuT Reps: 126 Hello Ashley, I understand that there is never enough time in the day to complete all that we would like, let alone contact parents too. What has worked for my class is a classroom newsletter. Each week, I send home a newsletter with upcoming events, the main skills students are working on, reminders for forms that need to be turned in, and a shout out section for student of the week and birthday celebrations. By doing this newsletter, my parents are able to know on a week to week basis the important events within the classroom. Another way that I have kept communication open between the parents and myself is by providing them with my cell number. This may or not be an option for you. I teach Pre-K, and know that parents want to know immediately if their is a situation or incident at school. For this reason, I have each parents number saved in my phone, and send text messages if needed during outside play or nap time to keep them informed. Votes: +1 / -1 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 10 Posted October 19, 2015 2:42 am ZujaTa Reps: 76 Class DoJo is amazing and will fix all of your problems with having to constantly call people. Any parent that connects to DoJo will have a text messaging-type system where you will be able to send messages back and forth as often as you need. It will be a life saver and it best of all, it is free! Votes: +0 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 11 Posted February 23, 2016 3:53 am apazeR Reps: 200 CLASS DOJO! this is probably one of the best family involvement methods I have encountered! Votes: +0 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 12 Posted February 28, 2016 3:30 am buteJy Reps: 100 The school I work in utilizes Shutterfly to increase communication and encourage parental involvement. Parents can choose whether or not to join the class site. Once a member, parents can view updates, see pictures and sign up to donate supplies or volunteer. The feedback so far has been positive. Votes: +0 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 13 Posted October 4, 2017 9:52 pm aRaLeg Reps: 200 I would use a flyer that you can simply edit for the yearly events. Maybe create a small calendar to send to the parents and remind students when the events get closer. Votes: +0 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 14 Posted February 21, 2020 3:27 pm Nicole Morris Reps: 205 Texting parents allows TerLouw to update them on their child’s progress before waiting for an issue to arise. It’s quick and easy, and TerLouw says the constant flow of contact with parents has done wonders for her own parent-teacher relationships. Votes: +0 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 15 Posted October 4, 2016 1:30 am WuzyJa Reps: 203 I suggest that maybe you have a template that you can say to every parent and then add information to that specific student. This way you will have more time to call the parents. Votes: +0 / -1 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Submit a Possible Solution Please read response(s) below (if any) before posting your solution.