Integrated Communication
"The art of communication is the language of leadership." -James Humes
Effective communication is absolutely essential in the field of education. Parents, teachers, and administrators have a responsibility to have clear lines of communication open for the benefit of each and every student. Teachers must also be able to effectively communicate with their students to have clear expectations, build relationships, and help students be successful.
In the past year I have had the opportunity to grow quite a lot! I have been trained as a technology instructional coach and I also learned to code in order to maintain my school's website. Click the button below to view my campus newsletter which is built with HTML and updated multiple times a day. The Bronco Beat is used to communicate important information to my students, parents, and community members.
This Google Slides presentation runs on a loop on six different TV screens that are placed strategically throughout our school. Administrators, club sponsors, and teachers send me information to display on the slides. These slides communicate a lot of information to our campus including upcoming events, club information, social media handles and more!
This is a google form I created for the parents of my students to fill out. I created a shortened link and had students text the link to their parents during class. I received a response from about 75% of my parents and I used the information provided to guide my interactions with them throughout the year. Due to its confidential nature I cannot share much of the information I received.
Here is the breakdown of how these parents responded when asked how they would prefer to be contacted:
The artifacts below contrast a modern communication method with a more traditional one.
On the left are instructions to follow in order to join my Remind list. Remind is a service that allows me to text my students as a group while maintaining a professional distance. I often use this to communicate due dates, reminders to bring materials, and to send out positive affirmations to my students. Parents are also welcome to sign up.
On the right is a form letter that is sent out via mail/email to the parents of each of my students. I tend not to give hard copies of information to high school students because I find that they do not often make it into the hands of their parents. This particular letter gives parents a summary introduction and login information for Think Through Math, one of the many learning tools that is made available to their child.
Algebra Period 7.pdfTTM Parent Letter.pdfIn addition to phone calls, emails, texts, google forms, and letters, I also communicate using instructional video technology. As a classroom teacher I made a video for every lesson I taught. Check out my YouTube channel! In my current role as a technology integrator I find I'm making many short tutorial videos for teachers. Most of the recent videos I've made for my teachers are unlisted to protect student information, however below are videos demonstrating two of my favorite tools - Adobe Spark and Sora.
Being a good communicator is essential to the success of any library program. Librarians must be able to advocate for their students, teachers, community, and themselves! Below is an example from my class on administration of school libraries demonstrating how I was able to communicate the importance of the library program on my campus.
