Back to school season is in full swing and, as teachers, you know that doesn’t just mean a new set of students—it means a new set of parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and guardians. Finding ways to make meaningful connections with your students’ families may not feel like your top priority to start the year; you’ve got content to plan, a classroom to decorate, and a whole new classroom culture to create. But, with a few simple strategies, you can set a strong foundation with students’ families that will not only help your students in the long run, but make your job easier too! So, how can you build relationships that empower you and your students’ families to work together? We’ve got three simple strategies you can start with.
Welcome Families Before Day One
One of the best ways to ensure families feel welcome and seen as the assets they are, is to proactively connect with them. Before the first day of school, reach out to each students’ family. This could be a text, an email, or, ideally, a phone call where you can introduce yourself and your course, and answer any questions a family may have. This is also a great time to ask families how to best reach them with classroom news, questions, or concerns throughout the year.
When making this first phone call, ensure that each family sees you as an ally in their student’s success. This can include sharing your contact information, connecting families with needed resources—special education services, uniform information, school calendar dates etc. You can also take this time to remind families about any supplies their students will need for the first day of school.
By taking the time to welcome each individual family, and yes, this does take time, you not only begin to set a strong foundation for yearlong communication, but you ensure no family is left behind if they are unable to attend any in-person back to school events. The relationship you begin to build before day one empowers families to be involved in their students’ success and engages them with your classroom—and you.
Make Families Part of Your Process
In many classrooms, the first few days of school are dedicated to building community and establishing a positive classroom culture. As this process is happening in the classroom, you can involve families to further their connection with the school community, deepen their understanding of your classroom, and share relevant course information.
Depending on the age of your students, you may be determining classroom policies together or just sharing those that you’ve created with them. Classroom policies can cover anything from how students will be graded, to how students should ask for supplies when they need them. However classroom policies are established, they should be shared with families. Sharing these policies proactively communicates classroom expectations and consequences, simplifying the conversation you may have to have later on if a student isn’t meeting those expectations. To share these with families, you can send home a letter outlining classroom policies and ask families to read, sign, and return the policy. You can also offer families an opportunity to ask questions about any classroom expectations and consequences.
Beyond sharing information on classroom policies, you can also use the first few days to share information on your course. You will likely give students an overview of the year, sharing the topics they will cover, any books they will read, and any exciting projects they will get a chance to complete. Sharing this same information with families can help them get excited for their students and begin making connections to the content at home. If there are any sensitive topics covered during the school year, or specifically the first unit of the year, you can also use this time to flag those for families and offer resources on how they can best support their students at home.
At Fishtank, we understand the importance of involving families and have therefore created Family Guides that math teachers can send home along with each unit in 3rd through 8th grade courses. These guides offer families an overview of what their students will be working on and identify opportunities to continue their learning at home.
For ELA teachers, Fishtank unit pages include Notes for Teachers that identify any sensitive topics that teachers can preview for families before beginning instruction. Additionally, each course includes a text list and aligned independent reading recommendations that can be shared with families.
Maintain Relationships All Year Long
Once the school year picks up and you and your students are diving into new content each day, it can be tempting to let family communication slip off your radar. To make sure you stay consistent and give families the attention they deserve, you can create a monthly communication plan. Your plan should dedicate specific times during which you will call, email, or text a certain number of student families, ensuring that each family receives a dedicated conversation at least every quarter.
During these conversations, you can return to classroom policies, review students’ academic and social growth, and offer families an opportunity to ask questions or provide feedback. By ensuring communication feels like a two-way street, you allow your relationship with families to be not only trusting, but helpful for you and your classroom.
Additionally, by taking time to communicate with families before the end of each quarter, you give yourself the opportunity to proactively discuss any concerns about grades. Often, families only find out their students have been struggling when they receive the final report card—and at that point, what can they do to help! Instead, leaning on your communication plan and relationships with families lets you empower families to take necessary steps to support their students.
No matter how you do it, building meaningful relationships with your students' families benefits you and your students all year long. So, start strong and welcome all the new families to your classroom community this school year! Find more strategies to make this school year the best one yet on the Fishtank Blog. Ready to dive in? Check out two of our most popular back to school blogs below.