Family Communication

A selection of tutorials for teachers to navigate the ParentSquare family communications application.

Here is a common site you can share with parents that has district information on digital learning, support, and tutorials for students and parents.

The URL is http://go.bcsd.com/CZ1

A class website is a great way to communicate and share information with students and parents. And with Google Sites it's never been easier to make one! Watch this video and receive a walk through tutorial for how to create a class site.

Eddie Gonzalez taught 3rd Grade Virtual Summer School. He explains that created a video to welcome students and their families. We recommend that teachers use Screencastify. The videos are stored in Google Drive but there is an option to upload the video as an unlisted video to YouTube. The links can be shared with families using Parent Square.

In this example, third grade summer school teacher Edward Gonzalez introduces himself to students and families. If at all possible, create the video with a grade level colleague who speaks Spanish.

Instead of decorating your physical classroom, decorate your Welcome Letter to Parents in Google Drawings. You can also use Google Drawings to create a header for your Google Classroom with Bitmojis.

By creating a Welcome Letter in Google Drawings, teachers can go to File -> Download -> JPEG to create an image to Parent Square or Class Dojo. Use Google Translate to translate the message for families. Ask a Spanish speaking colleague to double check the translation.

When you talk to parents, you can use this spreadsheet View | Copy, or a similar one, to gather information to build relationships. If necessary, use the Google Translate app on your phone to hold the conversation.

Eddie Gonzalez realized that many of his parents sat to the side of their student as they were learning. He decided to include opportunities for parents to participate. His virtual summer school class had two languages - English and Spanish. Eddie Gonzalez used Google Translate so that they parents could read along with students. Watch the video to hear about the butterfly lesson success.