newsletters
RR&D Cross Talk –
Session 3
original posting by Gallo -
participants: Dyer, Gentry, Gallo
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 6:19
pm
Author: Dyer, Kellie
<[email protected]>
Subject: Re: BUCKNER:
Teaching in a world focused on testing
My third grade team sends
home a weekly newsletter. It contains all of the homework for the week, a
reading log, events coming up, important reminders, students bithdays, homework
assignments are attached, and any special things we would like to add. I personally
send home a weekly progress report every Friday. This is alot of extra work,
but it keeps parents informed. I attach all of the students papers for the
week, any behavior problems I am having, and if the student is missing any
work. The parents seem to really like this means of communication.
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 12:04
am
Author: Gentry, Pamela
<[email protected]>
Subject: Re: BUCKNER:
Teaching in a world focused on testing
Great ideas Kellie- what
kind of feedback do you get from parents? How do they communicate with you and
about what? What percentage of the parents do you think read these reports
regularly? What kind of information do they find of most interest? (I expect it
is specific praises about their child :-) And what are the demographics of your
class? .....gee - you are making me think! I have a lot of questions!
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 6:02
pm
Author: Dyer, Kellie
<[email protected]>
Subject: Re: BUCKNER:
Teaching in a world focused on testing
The majority of my parents
read the progress reports because they must sign and return them every monday.
Whoever does not return the report, I call their parents to make sure they saw
it. This way there are no surprises when report card time comes. There is a
comment section at the bottom if parents have questions or comments for me.
Date: Thu Sep 16, 2004 1:18
am
Author: Gentry, Pamela
<[email protected]>
Subject: Re: BUCKNER:
Teaching in a world focused on testing
I like your idea of
including a space to encourage comments back from the parents
Date: Thu Sep 16, 2004 1:18
am
Author: Gentry, Pamela
<[email protected]>
Subject: Re: BUCKNER:
Teaching in a world focused on testing
I like your idea of
including a space to encourage comments back from the parents
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 3:15
pm
Author: Gallo, Annabelle
<[email protected]>
Subject: Re: BUCKNER:
Teaching in a world focused on testing
I love that!!! It's a great
way to keep parents informed of everything that is going on with their child:
the good, the bad and the updates! I wonder if a weekly email update would go
over well? I guess I would prefer a paper one because not all parents have
email and a lot of people dread checking email (like me). I like that you
include student birthdays- it really ties the class in to one another and makes
that student feel special. The way you have fun stuff, important stuff and
behavior info all rolled into one is a great idea.
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 12:01
am
Author: Gentry, Pamela
<[email protected]>
Subject: Re: BUCKNER:
Teaching in a world focused on testing
I haven't done this myself,
yet. The biggest hindrance to date aside from time, is money/logistics i.e
paying for the paper and printing when budgets are already tight, and then
wondering how to ensure the precious paper gets home....we have a newsletter
assignment coming up in this class. The advent of internet communication makes
it possible to talk to parents, even while they are at work! And the cost is
non-existent...how to determine whether parents are actually getting the
newsletters? I guess attaching an automatic reply request would ensure that the
message gets to its destination - beyond that, you've done what you can. I
wonder how many in our class have experience with doing regular newsletters?