1) EMAIL
Parents are able to communicate with their child's teacher through district email and/or personal email as well.
QUICK--EFFECTIVE--STUDENT ISSUES--GRADES--BEHAVIOR--DATES
WHY EMAIL?
Communication Currents, A Publication of the National Communication Association indicates that "...parents and teachers used e-mail for scheduling purposes; it was especially effective to set up dates and times for meetings. Though less frequent than e-mails about grades and scheduling, parents and teachers also e-mailed about three other issues: health problems, student behavior, and student socialization."
Such advances in technology allow for parents to contact their child's teacher in a quick and easy way in order to address issues that are relevant to their child's life.
2) PHONE CALLS
Parents and teachers are able to communicate through the teacher's work phone line.
Readingrockets.org says that "Sometimes as a new teacher, it's difficult to make the first call to a parent or guardian.. Preparing for the call will make it easier. Before making a call, write down the reasons for the call. One reason can be simply to introduce yourself to the parent or guardian. Here are several guidelines you can use as you prepare:"- "--Introduce yourself
- --Tell the parents what their child is studying
- --Invite the parents to an open house and/or other school functions
- --Comment on their child's progress
- --Inform them of their child's achievements (e.g., "Student of the Week")
- --Inform them of their child's strengths or share an anecdote."
- Here, the technology of the telephone is acting as the communication tool between the parent and teacher
3) PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES
Throughout the year, parents and teachers first use technology to communicate when their conference is. According to The University of Illinois Extension, "For parents and teachers, this is a chance to talk one-on-one about the student. The parent-teacher conference is a good opportunity to launch a partnership between parent and teacher that will function during the school year."
4) PARENT/TEACHER ORGANIZATIONS
PFE (Parents For Education), Art Mothers, and Booster Organizations.
Such technological advances gives the parent and teacher the opportunity to communicate outside of the classroom.
5) ONLINE NEWSLETTERS
http://www.orland135.org/schools/high_point/staff/5thGradeTeachers.asp
This is an example from High Point Elementary School's 5th Grade Teachers website. This online newsletter allows the parents to view important dates, a curriculum overview and other important information about the 5th Grade Team. The newsletter also includes the teacher's classroom numbers and their email addresses as well for teacher and parent communication!
6) ONLINE GRADES
According to Dawn Roberts, an elementary school teacher at Reavis School in Lansing, Illinois, "also we have a new program called powerschool, which we will use for grades, attend., lunch count, medical alerts. PARENTS can log in and check on grades, leave us messages, etc. We also have internet support for parents with our reading and math programs where they can read the current story, do activities with vocab etc."
*The Reavis Elementary School PowerSchool site is displayed below*
7) AMERICAN EDUCATION WEEK
November 11-17, 2012!
Across the state of Illinois, parents can eat lunch with their child and watch them interact and participate in class activities!
**VERY EFFICIENT**THE ULTIMATE PARENT-TEACHER AND STUDENT INVOLVEMENT**