Best Ways to Communicate with Parents as a Teacher

Both parents and teachers play a vital role in the healthy development of a child. Children spend their maximum amount of time in school and at home. So, it is important for the teachers to report the activity of the children to their parents more often. This communication between the teachers and the parents will help in the proper development of children. But it is important for the teachers to know the proper way of communication with the parents. Appropriate ways to communicate with parents as a teacher will make the communication more effective.

Why is it important for teachers to build relationships with parents?

The common query that everyone has is why it is important for teachers to build relationships with parents.  Some people think that it is enough for a teacher to communicate with the students only. There is no need for the involvement of parents with the teachers. But this is absolutely a wrong idea to follow. It is the duty of both teacher and parents to take the children on the right path. The teacher alone cannot deal with children without the help of the parents. Do you know, How does a teacher help the Community?

After home, a child spends a lot of time at school.  The parent-teacher relationship helps the parents to know the status of their children in school.

Effective Ways to Communicate with Parents as a Teacher

There are many ways by following which a teacher can communicate with a parent. But are these methods of communication effective? Not all ways of communication are effective. There might remain some gap within the communication between them. So, the effective ways to communicate with parents is a matter of great concern. Best ways to communicate with parents as a teacher are discussed below.

Read to know: Parents’ Role in the Education of Their Child

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Be Humble towards parents

It is important to talk in a polite gesture with the student’s parents. A teacher must need the help of the parents to improve the disciplinary activities of a child. A teacher faces tough times when they have naughty students. Complaining to the parents about the naughty behavior in a rough way will not help anyone.

A teacher has to make complain in a polite way. It is not good to make any assumptions about the child’s behavior beforehand. At first, politely ask questions related to the problems. This will help the teacher to understand the reason behind any kind of activity of a child.

Parents- Teacher Meetings at School

 The teacher- parents can have a face to face communication. In-person communication is considered the best of all communication methods. This method allows both of them to express their thoughts clearly.

It is good to arrange a parent-teacher meeting at school after every exam. This will help the teacher to show the grades of the students to the parents. Now, one might think that grades can be published on school websites. So, why should parents need to attend meetings instead of getting the result from websites? Well, the logic behind this method is very simple. This way of communication will allow the teachers to explain the mistakes done by the children. Also, the parents will understand the problems and will put efforts in a systematic way.

Moreover, it is not easy for someone to explain everything over the telephone or by email. Virtual ways of communication seem to be less effective than real ones. Parents can understand the problem that their children are facing. By analyzing the problems both teachers can come to a solution to solve that problem. A teacher can also know about the home environment of their students.

Annual Programs of Schools

Different annual events that are held in school can be a chance for the teachers to communicate with the parents of their students. Parents can see the school and classroom environment of their children. By seeing the classroom environment the parents can know about the academic structure. This will help the parents to prepare their children as per the expectations of the school.

Teachers can go through an effective discussion with the parents in annual programs. The teacher and the parents can jointly make the academic life of a student effective. Teachers can have a proper discussion with the parents about how to manage the children in a proper way. This communication will ease the job of a teacher to handle the students in a better way.

Through Phone Calls

It is always not possible for the parents to attend the parents-teachers meetings. Also, in-person meetings are held after a gap of a certain period. So, there should be other ways of communication along with the parent-teacher meetings. Parents-Teacher meetings at school are not enough to report about the child’s regular activities. Hence, communicating through phone calls can help a lot. Teachers should try to choose an appropriate time to make the phone call. Timing is important to prove themselves a good teacher.

It is important for the parents to know the school activities of their children. There might be some incidents of children that should be reported to parents immediately. Waiting for the annual meetings will not be a wise decision for a teacher. Teachers can give a phone call to communicate with the parents. It is a quick method for the teachers to connect with the parents. A small phone call will help the teachers to connect with a parent.

Calling the parents to report a negative behavior of a child is not a good thing to follow. It is better not to mention negative things in phone calls. A teacher can discuss the ways to improve the activity of students in phone calls. But teacher-parent meetings at school are a better option to report negative activity. If it is urgent to report anything negative then teachers can make a phone call to parents. And tell them to come to school to discuss the matter.

Text-Messaging

For short communication text messaging over the phone will help a lot. Sometimes, teachers need to convey a short message to parents. Parents do not need to go to their children’s schools to get the message. Teachers can leave a short text message to parents. Text messaging is a great communication tool to convey the news to parents.

It is totally unnecessary to call a parent instead of texting. Not all incidents are equally important to bother the parents. Calling the parents for less important things is unnecessary. Teachers can make an effective engagement with the parents by texting the parents.

Communication Through emails

The teacher can email parents to discuss something important. Emails will help the teacher to convey the message with some documents. They can attach relevant documents as a reference for their discussion topic. The documents will help the parent to understand the related topic more efficiently.

Moreover, teachers can report about the classroom activities of a child. There is no need to report daily about the classroom activity. The teacher can make a report of weekly activities. And then email the weekly records to the parents. You will find many parent-teacher relationship pdf on the internet. Communication through emails is one of the effective ways that you will find in those pdf.

Communication through Virtual Meetings

There are many platforms that help teachers to have an effective virtual meeting. Having a face-to-face conversation is efficient to make a discussion effective. But it is not always possible for the teachers to have a face-to-face discussion with the teachers. Virtual meeting platforms like Google Meet, Zoom, etc. are effective ways of conversation.

Teachers can invite parents to attend a virtual meeting. Virtual meetings are important to discuss the problems that children are facing. Also, teachers can discuss the exams, results, classroom behavior of the students.

Some FAQ’s

How often should a teacher communicate with parents?

There is actually no specific time interval that a teacher should maintain. Whenever the teacher feels like it is necessary to communicate they can do so at the moment. Frequent communication will develop an effective parent-teacher relationship. It is good to update students’ reports weekly to parents.

What are the Do’s and Don’t that should be followed in parent-teacher communication?

A little late to inform the parents can put a negative effect on the children. So, do inform the problem of the children as fast as you can. The thing that a teacher should not do is to avoid the reply from parents. A teacher should immediately reply to the messages from parents.

How do teachers contact parents?

Contacting parents in a random way will not bring a fruitful result. Never start a conversation with negative news with your student’s parents. Parents are less likely to pay attention if someone starts talking from a negative point of view. At first, it is important to admire the inner talent of the students. Then describe the undesirable action of the child without labeling the action.

Do you know, why do you need to become a teacher? Or Why did you decide to become a teacher? There are effective answers for becoming a good teacher.

Final Note

Parent-teacher communication is not a matter of ignorance. Ignorance of this matter will put a negative impact on a child’s life. It is important for the teachers to maintain frequent communication with the parents. Mediocre communication will not bring that much benefit. So, the ways to communicate with parents as a teacher need to be effective. This article will enlighten you with the most effective ways to communicate with parents.