I think all teachers can agree that a partnership needs to exist between parents and teachers in order to help children succeed. One way to build that partnership is by communicating with parents and keeping them informed.
After I sent out my updated Newsletters, I thought “wouldn’t it be nice to include a calendar on the back of this so parents can hang it up on the fridge?” So that’s how this set was born! Now parents can read the newsletter and then hang up the calendar to stay up to date.
I’m also using these calendars to keep track of interventions I do with specific children. This type of documentation is especially important during IEP meetings and parent conferences. You can also use them as behavior charts, for long range planning, agendas etc.
This is a sample of one of my March calendar:
You cannot underestimate the value of parent communication! This year I began tracking every conversation I’ve had with parents. Boy, that was one of the best decisions I have ever made. This year I have a rambunctious and interesting class. Lots of stuff is happening outside at recess and I’ve been communicating so much via phone with my parents. We have had meetings where I needed specific dates of when I spoke with parents and admin. On a typical year, I could have confirmed a general time frame and given some general info on what I remembered. Well, not this year. I have the exact date and TIME as well as notes of what our conversation was about. Parents are impressed, admin is impressed, and I am NOT stressed out trying to remember all these details. It’s all on my log. It takes a big load off my mind. I will post about my Data/Evidence Binder later on and share this printable with you. Make sure to come back for that!