Dear Fellow teachers,

Parent involvement is paramount to the overall success of a child. The burden seems to rest solely upon the teacher’s shoulders. However, if you break it down, we really only get to see our children a very small percentage of their day -especially at the middle school level. So how can we get busy, overworked and overwhelmed parents involved?

• Be sure to make the time for positive phone calls. Best advice I ever followed. 
• Use the free Remind app for parents - this also limits hearing “I didn’t know” 
• You may want to look into Class DoJo for additional communication. Parents can log in and see how kids are doing during the day. 
• It’s really important to constantly keep an updated gradebooks & I find it additionally helpful to pass out bi-weekly(ish) grade updates. For our middle schoolers we encourage them to check their grades through the parent portal… often giving them time in class. This fosters independence and limits surprises at the end of a marking period. It may even spark a conversation leading to self-improvement. 
• Routines!!!! If the kids know what to expect everyday then they aren’t going home confused and complaining about you. Share these routines with the parents. 
• Keep a class calendar online. Often you can link these to lesson plans. Post important due dates in advance such as tests, projects, and remind parents and students a week before progress reports and report cards go home. 
• Keep your website updated. I myself updated it at least weekly. No later than Monday morning, outlining the week for each class. As the week progresses I add materials presented in class. They know that if they're absent, they should be on my website. 

From,


The (not so) frustrated teacher