Updating Parents With Class Information

Email is my friend.  I frequently send email to students - so much that some students have Mr. Bizarri as a label and have my messages filtered their own folder.  Emails, though, aren't just for students or co-workers.  The best way to use email is with parents.

Now, I'm not talking about sending email for discipline issues, course grade reports, project reminders, etc.  I'm talking about sending emails to teacher to inform them about what is happening in their students' lives.

We parents can appreciate how our children once came home from grade school and couldn't tell us fast enough what they did at school.  Then those kids became teenagers, and less and less reporting occurred.  Our interest as parents in our children's lives doesn't really stop at middle school, though, does it?  Even when our children have graduated high school or college, we still like to know how they are doing, what they are doing, or what's happening in their lives.

With email and the internet, there is no excuse for parents or guardians to be uniformed.  Teachers, I believe we owe it to our parents and guardians to keep them informed.  This information doesn't have to be released in a pretty weekly newsletter or formatted professionally on a class website.  The information just needs to let parents know where the class has been in the last few weeks and where the class is headed in the next few weeks.

Will all parents voraciously gobble up your email updates and send you back glowing thank you's?  Well, no.  In fact, perhaps only a few parents each year will respond with any feedback.  You, though, have made attempts to share yourself and your class with important stakeholders in your students' lives.

Informing parents is helpful in keeping them "in the loop", and contacts with parents is something your administrators want from you, right?  MOST IMPORTANTLY, keeping your parents updated with the content of the course give you an opportunity to show how much you care as a teacher and how hard you are working to help them learn and grow. Below is an example of an email I sent out to parents on 2/28/17.  Happy Friday Eve!  See you tomorrow.

Parents,

• We have completed ACCUPLACER for those students that have a goal to enroll in English 101 and 102 next year.  Several students struggled with the reading; a few struggled with the writing.  This was the first time we experienced this test, and it appears we should have taken some practice tests, especially reading, as the format was unique.  
• We are now launched into a creative writing OR film project.  We recently read and analyzed three contemporary short stories written by well known American women authors.  Students now have the challenge of writing a prequel, sequel, or spin-off story utilizing the information they learned from the stories that were read.  The "power of Google" allows you to view/monitor/enjoy your students work.  Simply ask your students to share their work with you.  Right now they are completing an outline in their respective groups that they have chosen, so if you would like to see how they are doing so far, ask them to share their outline with you.  (It's a Google Doc.)  As they are creating their stories or films you could also ask to be included in those activities by requesting they share their progress.
• We are 37 days away from SAT...we continue to refresh our brains with "test prep activities" to assist students with performance on the SAT.  We also will be taking some practice segments.  And soon, I will show students the SAT essay writing, which honestly will likely be very challenging for the students.  Your student can also be practicing on their own through their Khan Academy account at home.
• Finally, we will soon be embarking on our Training Path Presenter Series Unit where students have the opportunity to view informational presentations from a variety of post-secondary path representatives.  I have attached a link to the "unit" below.  Even if your student is committed to a particular path, he/she can learn aspects of another path that may be of interest.  For example, a presentation by the military might discuss one of its benefits as an opportunity to travel and see the world, which might be appealing to a college bound student.  That student then might choose to investigate travel opportunities that might be available through the school(s) he/she is considering.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GcD_lefgELCxJyS0ejBl50UPFdouBqnE07-v0_ttvOA/edit

It's crazy how fast the school year is going...probably has something to do with the crazy weather in February.  Your students continue to be fun to work with!

Have a great day.

JBiz