Proper, timely, and clear communication is essential in any well-functioning environment. So why are you still not using technology to communicate with your target audience, students and parents? The purpose of this post is to highlight a number of electronic platforms that can help you efficiently correspond and appeal the productivity of your classroom to the stakeholders most interested.
Let’s begin with Edmodo. You can use Edmodo to allow scholars the opportunity to upload work samples and receive real time feedback from you as well as their classmates. Students can also collaborate with each other using this website and receive badges from you for their performance. It may seem elementary, but all students appreciate positive reinforcement and the opportunity to obtain rewards. Parents can also be granted access to the Edmodo group where they can view work samples and assignments.
Another useful resource is Twitter. Teachers should be encouraged to create a Twitter handle that is specific for their respective classroom. Twitter allows teachers to advertise all those wonderful teaching and learning moments in real time. Parents, even if they don’t have a Twitter account, can view your Twitter feed or webpage to see student work (pictures or video) and learn about the topics and objectives of the day which you share. This builds a common understanding of the learning taking place in the classroom. You can also use Twitter as a prompt for students, and have them receive feedback from you as well as their peers. Additionally, you can include buzzwords in hash tags which means when you students respond they can get insight from others outside of the classroom too.
There is also a simple class website or blog. Using a blog allows parents to check in periodically to see what units of study are upcoming, what other pertinent information is needed, and see pictures of students and work samples. The blog can also highlight student work. You can even invite students to post to the blog on occasion, this really builds interest. They can post on topics relevant to the work in class and receive comments from their classmates. You can even include videos of completed work, group work, modeling, etc.
Email is another form that can help you advertise to both students and parents. In this case the feedback is a little more private, so you can be much more specific. The advantage of sending an email during each unit or once a month to a student and his or her respective parent(s) is that you can include positive reinforcement as well as suggestions for improvements. You can specifically highlight contributions to the class and what your future expectations are.
Skype can also be beneficial if used appropriately. You should encourage students to use Skype in order to conference (Skype allows for group chats too) from home. This allows scholars to speak and display their work with each other even though their working from home. With parents, you can Skype and do periodic check-ins. These quick video conferences will allow you to update parents on future assignments while simultaneously sharing work samples. The real advantage though is that for parents without transportation or who are busy working you can meet with them from anywhere. If you’re in your classroom you can still meet with a parent at work or home. If the parent Skypes with you from home, you can even have the student sit with them.
In summary the goal is to advertise the production in your classroom. Teachers should use some combination of these marketing strategies to maintain appropriate levels of communication in a timely manner. Teachers can emphasize the importance to parents at open school night so that each day after that can be an extension of the initial meeting. They should also remind scholars that checking in periodically is important in order to feedback and suggestions for improving their work. Students already use these platforms and many parents do too, why not capitalize on it. Advertise in the markets they already spend time in order to help maintain clear communication.
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