Post #3 Communication is Key

Hi everyone,

Every teacher worth their salt has an idea why communication is important. After all, if you can't communicate with the students, how do you expect them to learn new information? That being said, I know that there are quite a few teachers who don't see a reason to call home. Communicating with the parent is actually one of the most important things you can do as an educator! The only three reasons to call home are to praise,  to punish, or to confer.

Sending praise home can be one of the most positive things you can do for your students. When parents hear about the way they have been behaving well in the classroom, it will build a more positive and healthy relationship between the school and paternal relationship. Students can finally see what kind of impact doing a good job can be! One thing to point out about positive calls is they don't have to be made just to kids who often behave. Sometimes students who struggle to work in class can greatly benefit from a phone call home as it helps reinforce positive behavior.

While no one wants to do it, sometimes it is necessary to call home about a child's behavior. I believe that sometimes it can only be the parents who can give meaningful punishment because students who don't behave in class may not understand the relationship between cause and effect, and how their school life can impact their personal life. That being said, do not try to denigrate or imply the parent isn't doing a good job raising their child. You want to bring up the problems and brainstorm a way to fix it together.

The last reason is conferring. Sometimes when you notice behaviors you need to call home, not to punish, not to praise, but to figure out why they are acting a certain way. For example, if a student is seemingly upset in class, the teacher should call home and see why. This is because both the parent and the teacher have the right to know how a child feels. I understand this may seem invasive, but if a student is on the verge of tears, or struggling to stay awake in class, the teacher needs to know why. Sometimes this is due to the student's fault, sometimes it's not. regardless, it is important to figure out the reason so either the teacher can identify and erase the behavior, or so the parent can set up a stronger support system.

All in all, there are many reasons to contact home. Regardless of how you feel about calls home, calling home is essential to any classroom that is worried about the welfare of the student inside and outside of the class.