Parents spend much of their time getting their students
ready for school each year buying school supplies and clothes. Teachers also
spend time getting the students ready for school, but what about preparing the
parents?
Many parents want to be involved in their students’ academic
life. They want to make sure their students are being well educated. Most
parents will be used to technology and using it everyday, and this is a great
way to connect with parents. Parents will have a phone and maybe even a tablet.
Teachers need to provide parents with ways to be involved in the school through
21st century technology.
A great way to stay in touch with parents or prepare them
for school is through a school website. I have been on teachers’ websites, and
I love to see the different amounts of information on their site. The most
helpful thing I have seen on a website is the class schedule. Other great parts
of the websites have been information on the teacher. The teacher writes about
where they received their education and how many years they have been teaching.
This helps parents feel like they know the teacher more. Before school starts,
parents could go on their site and see the schedule and information about the
teacher. Another useful thing on a website could be important upcoming events
that parents could easily find by visiting the site. Many teachers put
important information on sheets of paper, which many parents often misplace. If
it is easily accessible on the website, parents will be able to keep up with the
information.
Another way to prepare parents for school is a blog. The
teacher could post what student will be learning each week on the blog and
homework. By doing this, parents can look at the blog on their computer or
smart phone and instantly be able to see their students school work. Teachers
could even let students use blogs to connect with their parents about their
school day. This would let students connect to their parents through
technology, and keep parents updated on their kids.
Most parents are interested in what their students are
learning. By using technology, parents can easily access this information
whenever they want. So many parents have smart phones and tablets and
constantly have this technology with them. This website has great tips of what
to put on a teacher website so that parents will have all the information they
need in one place: http://www.wacona.com/technology/teacherwebpages.html
.
This site is a great way for parents to get their student
ready for school together: http://www.parentfurther.com/10-back-school-tips-parents-elementary-school-aged-kids
.
You make an important point. Teachers need to prepare parents for their child's up coming school year. We give them the list of necessary supplies, but what does that actually tell them? I would really love to use your idea regarding the blog for parents. A blog with can continue being used throughout the year to communicate with parent.
ReplyDeleteWhen I return to the classroom, I plan to have a blog for my classes. I'm learning that blogs are easy to manage as far as updating content, format, etc. It's important not only to have the class schedule and necessary supplies available for parents via technology, but also to inform them about the current subject content and daily/weekly learning objectives. Many parents may be surprised to find that content in the various subject areas has changed quite a bit since they were students themselves.
ReplyDelete