Communication

Communicating in General

 * =====Expectations=====
 * Attitude
 * Accessibility

** Communicating with Parents or Guardians **

 * Be proactive in terms of regular communication with parents -- let them know what is going on
 * Start with the positive
 * Make phone calls to share good news with parents -- try for a few each week; make calls for the other stuff when necessary as well
 * When faced with confrontational parents, be calm and refrain from becoming defensive
 * When faced with confrontational e-mails from parents, resist the urge to respond right away, especially when you might be angry or emotional yourself
 * Use a variety of communication strategies with parents: beginning of the school year letter; grade-level or team brochures & letters with updates; regular e-mails with updates... These can be from your team and/or grade level as well as just from you alone. And, these strategies can be adapted for messages to all of your students' parents or to an individual student's parents as well
 * Make good use of your school's, grade level's, or team's decision to provide and have students keep agendas
 * Always know why you're doing what you're doing in the classroom -- have a purpose and rationale for what you are doing and be able to articulate it to others when necessary
 * Make yourself available to parents / guardians
 * When issues are particularly problematic, try to get parents in front of you v. trying to rely on an e-mail or other form of communication that could potentially be misconstrued; consider having support for conferences -- teammates, administrators, counselors -- as needed; be proactive in communicating with administrators about potentially volatile situations with parents
 * Keep in mind that communication is both verbal and non-verbal -- be aware of your nonverbal cues, especially the problematic ones; e.g., facial expressions, sighs, rolling eyes, shrugging shoulders, etc. These can often be just as hurtful or antagonistic as a misplaced word
 * Document discipline incidents with students as well as calls to parents about discipline issues; document communication with parents in general
 * When conferencing with parents, have examples of students' work and copies of progress reports as well as documentation of communication accessible; consider making / keeping conference notes as well
 * Be kind, be humble, and be an active listener

Communicating with Colleagues

 * Seek strong mentor(s) -- students know who the good teachers are
 * Avoid talking about other colleagues or engaging in gossip about them
 * Be proactive about addressing potential issues with a colleague
 * Avoid negative energy -- whether it be a place or people -- in the school

** Communicating with Staff **

 * Treat your staff like gold -- the secretaries and custodial staff make things happen and keep things running in the school

Communicating with Community Members

 * Look for opportunities to make connections between your class and community -- possibly service learning projects or connections within the geographical area
 * Look for ways to include or invite community members in when it makes sense
 * Look for ways to promote what you and your students are doing in the community when it makes sense