Post date: Sep 12, 2017 8:16:49 PM
When surveying parents, students, and teachers the most important relationship in a school, outside of the teacher-student relationship, is the parent-teacher relationship. When this relationship is firing on all cylinders parents and teachers are able to support each other in student learning. Teachers are empowered as educators and parents are empowered in reinforcing the learning that is happening at school. A view into the classroom is an important part of this relationship.
With the increased amount of time that parents spend working there is less time available to for them to invest in the daily life of the school. There are times this is a relief but it also takes away the chance that families have to connect to the school. This creates a tough situation where parents want to know what is happening in school but also want or need to work increased hours. Below I've listed some tools you can use to send parents a snapshot of your classroom, connecting them to the daily learning experiences you have created for their students.
One of the things all of these tools have in common is the ability to quickly and privately share a photo with families in your class. ClassDojo and Seesaw require parents to have a login and can receive updates via email. Twitter and Instagram can be setup with private accounts where only those you approve to follow you are able to see your posts. Each of these falls within our student privacy policy and photo and video authorizations. If the family of one of your students has denied permission to be included in photos and videos you may want to reach out to them and explain your goal with this and how their student will be protected. These tools may not always be your go to for quality two-way communication but they can definitely serve as a quick tool for regular classroom updates.
This link will take you to the Twitter page of my 3rd grade daughter's teacher. Her page isn't private, but I would suggest you make yours private.
Here's a resource a teacher put together of what they put on their classroom's Instagram account.
Tips for getting started
#1 - Send info on a regular, predictable basis
#2 - Find a platform that meets parents and students where they are
#3 - Empower students to lead some of the communication
(taken from Common Sense Media)
The classroom websites you have are a great central hub for your online resources, schedule, and homework to live. Hopefully, you've been able to find something useful to take from this Tech Tuesday Blog post. Do not feel pressured to try out any or all of these tools. Only proceed if you're looking for a way to connect with your families outside of email or that weekly newsletter.