Usually, K-12 teachers go into education because they are great at connecting and engaging with students. And, their training is focused on student learning and supportive methodologies all around students. But what about when it comes to communicating with parents? Teachers generally don’t receive as much training on communicating with their students’ parents and guardians. Parent-teacher conferences can be a disaster!
In a recent episode of the Multipurpose Room podcast, “Tips for Teachers to Create Effective Parent Communications,” hosts Debora Jones and Wes Jones of K-12 Clothing, partner of SquadLocker, talks with guest Lindsay Kapsa. Currently VP of Strategy and Customer Success at ClassTag, Lindsay is a former educator, school administrator, and expert innovator in education tech. She has lots of tips for both teachers and parents for improving communications to help children succeed.
5 tips for teachers to better communicate with parents:
- Connect with your students’ families: Go out of your way to build connection with your parents and families. Have a welcome call before school even starts to learn about them, their expectations for the year, and challenges and strengths of their child.
- Continuous communications: Yes, educators are starved for time, but build on-going communications into your schedule. Teachers are the best at establishing routines and procedures, so just like any routine you set up, establish a communications procedure with parents to ensure 2-way dialog is continuous. Talk once per month with your parents at a minimum.
- Know the end goal of parent-teacher conference: Know what goals your parents have for their students. Ultimately, teachers and parents are working together to help their children succeed. Have honest conversations – and it can’t be all good or all bad.
- Don’t shut down if challenges arise: When things get difficult, don’t shy away or shut off dialog. Communicate more often to figure out how to get back on the right path.
- Use communications tools: Use phone, email, and all the tools available to communicate with your parents. Free apps like ClassTag can help consolidate all the communications coming at you from all directions.
What can parents do? Respond to any and all communications from your child’s teacher! Even if it’s an email blast that doesn’t require a response, let the teacher know you are reading and appreciating the communications.
For more helpful tips, listen to the full episode here.
About Multipurpose Room Podcast
Hosted by Wesley Jones, co-founder of K-12 Clothing, and Debora Jones, K-12 Clothing co-founder and advisor, the Multipurpose Room provides real-life issues that PTAs, PTOs, and school staff are dealing with and offers practical tips. For more information, visit: https://www.squadlocker.com/squad-blog/k-12-clothing-launches-new-podcast-for-ptas-ptos-and-school-staff
SquadLocker supports schools by managing the entire process of acquiring custom school uniforms, sports gear, and spirit wear – from instant online store creation to free graphic artwork assistance as well as decoration, production, and fulfilment. Learn more at https://www.squadlocker.com/solutions/schools.
