Teachers: Talk to your parents

No, this isn’t a lecture aimed at teenagers. It’s a plea to teachers: Talk to your parents!

You’re back to school by now, and we parents are at home, hungry for details about what’s going on with our child. Try as they might, our kids just don’t say enough about their day at school.

When is library day? Should I send a snack every day? Can I come in to volunteer? How many times a week does the class go to P.E.? How many kids are in the class? Are things going well so far? What day is ice-cream day?

There’s plenty of time to talk about 9-week plans, to share assessment results, and to talk about reading groups. But, let’s not wait until back-to-school night, or (worse!) parent-teacher conferences to share some basic information and develop some trust and confidence.

This is the time to build your bridges with your parents, to help them feel like they understand this strange new classroom they’re sending their child off to each morning.

Need some ideas for ways to communicate? Teachnology (opens in a new window) has some parent communication ideas that make it as easy as a weekly email blast. Education World offers a whole list of tools (opens in a new window) for parent-teacher communication, including newsletter and weekly report templates. Even Microsoft offers advice (opens in a new window) about ways to communicate easily.

So, teachers, let your parents hear from you. I promise, you’ll be glad you did.