Communication Is The Key Ingredient

Communication is crucial between teachers and students and also between teachers and parents. There are many ways to keep open the lines of communication open. Publishing a newsletter that spells out what is happening in the classroom is just one way to communicate. I have created one for my Regents Chemistry classes to help at that most stressful time of the school year: Review for the Regents Chemistry Exam.

Check out my newsletter: http://letterpop.com/newsletters/?id=92811-faed3f
and feel free to make any comments. I chose LetterPop (http://letterpop.com/index.php)to create my newsletter because it was very easy to use, especially uploading the pictures which can sometimes be tricky to do. I think in the future it would be both fun and constructive to have the students create the newsletter themselves. By choosing what to include and how to set up the information will give them ownership of the content. As the authors they will be responsible for making sure everything necessary is included.

Why is communication so important?

• so that parents and students are well aware of what is expected of them (also when, how and why)
• important information can be dispersed as often as necessary

These are the ways in which I communicate with the parents of my students:

• e-mail messages
• phone calls
• website which contains:

1. course syllabus
2. course outline
3. powerpoint lessons
4. test objectives
5. announcements of quizzes, tests, any pertinent infomation

The following software applications would be fun to try as communication tools with parents:

• newsletter via a web 2.0 publisher such as LetterPop
• class wiki that both the students and parents can both participate in using
• podcasts of student presentations that can be posted on the class webpage