Opening the Lines of Communication 

Between Teachers and Families

We are all well aware of the importance of open lines of communication between parents and teachers. We are just as aware of the myriad of circumstances and situations that will cause static. With the beginning of a new school year fast approaching, this may be as good of a time as any to line up and implement some ways to keep the lines open and positive.

Studies have shown that schools (and teachers) that share positive communication with parents affect the extent and quality of family (home) involvement with the child's education.

Negative Communication ➤ Discourages Family Involvement

Families feel they are inadequate to help their child.

Positive Communication ➤ Encourages Family Involvement

Families feel more confident in their teachers, school, and themselves.

Families have a better understanding of the importance of their child's role in education.

Modes of Communication

Paper                                                                                                                                 

Most teachers prefer this method for family communication.

Pros: No technology dependance. Good for areas with limited internet.

Cons: More time consuming that other modes. Not always received by the family. (The dreaded bottom of the backpack!)

Best For: Areas with limited internet.

Email or Text                                                                                                                            

Both a blessing and and a curse. A good option as it is more immediate and less disruptive that an email. However, the immediacy can yield hasty response that can not be retracted.

Pros: Accessibility. Direct to the adult.

Cons: Repeated threads can become cumbersome.

Best For: Concerns that require an immediate response.

Phone                                                                                                                          

Phone calls seem to be the standby when notes sent home receive no reply and when you need to speak to someone directly.

Pros: More Personal. Direct Conversation. More Discussion.

Cons: Disconnected Lines. Inopportune Timing

Best For: Specific, Targeted Communication.

Teacher Website                                                                                                                      

Websites can become overwhelming and time consuming. There are, however many intuitive sites available.

Pros: Always Accessible.

Cons: Readership and Engagement can be more difficult to track (compared to other modes).

Best For: Whole Class News. Announcements. Unit Outlines. Events. Photos. Non-immediate Communication.

What to Choose? What do you prefer + What is the purpose = Your Choice Ask Parents their preference. (Have a Communication Preference sheet available during open house.)

Personally, I have used paper, phone, cell phone, text, and a class website. They all have their advantages, disadvantages, and audience preference. 

Keep the Lines Open
Choose a type (or types) of communication that works for YOU. What will YOU be able to keep up with and maintain without dedicating an excessive amount of time? If you have never created and kept current a website, maybe that is not an option for you. Put that on the back burner and use a school break or summer to become familiar before starting something you know nothing about, getting frustrated, falling behind, and then chucking the whole idea. 

Suggestions

• Choose A Form of Communication

• Create A Communication Preference Sheet for Families

• Schedule It I would suggest that you mark your existing calendar, write in your weekly lesson plans, or create a separate calendar for sending home communications.
Once a Week: Choose 1 student: Send a Positive Note home and request the Family return the rote the following day with a positive note about their child. Keep it short and sincere.
Once a Month: Send a class update with brief notes as to what was accomplished, goals met, upcoming topics or events, field trips, pictures of students at work or projects completed.

Keep the Lines of Communication Open.

Why You Should Use PowerPoint to Plan and Teach Lessons

I can hear you now, "You really expect me to add yet another new way of doing something as simple as lessons and lesson plans?".








I've been where you are. When creating new lessons or teaching previously taught concepts, I was always hunting down all the materials, resources, rubrics, center activities, etc.. I was determined to find a way to combine all these materials into a single spot. This One Spot needed to be Easy to Update and must Actively Engage Students 

      

To this end, I found myself creating PowerPoint Presentations that included visuals and/or animation, online activities, sentence frames, and all associated materials. Having received many compliments on these 'lesson plans', I began to enhance the presentations to include teacher notes, suggestions for use, sample time lines, additional resources and bibliography information.

POWERPOINT PRESENTATION LESSONS...       

• allow teachers to better meet the standard/s they are teaching

• allow for multi-modality (multi-sensory) instruction

• accompany and compliment oral delivery

• create more dynamic lessons (more than just teacher talk and dry erase markers) 

• offer more value  

• are more organized, flexible, and easily updated and modified and thus save the teacher time

• are interactive multimedia, images, sounds, and animation that capture student interest/attention and help them better retain what they are learning

• show greater student engagement

• can be easier to read than hand written notes or overhead projectors

• save paper

• are great for absent students

• allow for easier collaboration with other educators 

SCREEN SHOTS FROM MY FIRST POWERPOINT LESSONS

                        

                

                                         

 
 

           

VIDEO CLIPS FROM ANIMATED POWERPOINT LESSONS 

Figurative Language: IdiomsLesson-Plan & Activities

Forming Past-Tense Verbs: LESSON PLAN & Activities

  

How PowerPoint Presentations improve student learning:

• students show greater engagement

• student comprehension is improved by making lessons more engaging and interactive

• interactive multimedia, images, sounds, and animation capture student interest/attention   and help them better retain what they are learning

• students show greater engagement

• absent students can receive the same instruction (replay the presentation or send to   them via email or zip drive

~ An unanticipated benefit ~ 

They double as great sub plans
 and
Absent students can receive the same instruction.

Check out my TPT store for 

Complete, Animated PowerPoint 

Lesson Plans!

MonicaCreates

 Preventing Summer Slide Lesson & Activities


Figurative Language: Idioms Lesson Plan & Activities


Forming Plural Nouns COMPLETE LESSON PLAN- & Activities

 Sentence Types COMPLETE LESSON PLAN & Activities

Stretch-a-Sentence LESSON and POSTERS

Stretch-a-Sentence Lesson & Activity THANKSGIVING

Stretch-a-Sentence Lesson & Activity HALLOWEEN

Stretch-a-Sentence Lesson Plan & Activity WINTER

                                                                    

                        

Check out my TPT store for 

Step-by-Step Tutorials 

Getting Started with PowerPoint
&
Adding Animation to your PowerPoint Presentation

You CAN Create in PowerPoint                                                   Add Animation to PowerPoint

WORD SORTS - THEIR BENEFITS

What Are WORD SORTS? 

A word sort is a individual or small group activity in which students sort words by linking to their prior knowledge. The sorts advance student knowledge, are active and fun, are an analytical and implicit approach to learning, are beneficial to ELL students, as well as being supported by research.

Words Sorts benefit all students and can be used across the curriculum for a variety of topics. 

BENEFITS OF WORD SORTS
Promote oral language development
Students need to say and/or spell words and justify their categorization.

Interactive.
Students do the work; they manipulate the words and explain their rational.

Build on prior knowledge.

Students use what they know as a basis their choices. 

Promote oral language development
Students need to say and/or spell words and justify their categorization.

Interactive.
Students do the work; they manipulate the words and explain their rational.

Build on prior knowledge.
Students use what they know as a basis their choices. 



Easily tailored for differentiation.

If you, the teacher, notes that a student/s have difficulty distinguishing between long and short vowel sounds, they can be given word cards of words they know representing both long and short sounds and asked to sort into categories.

Students can write the words in addition to simply grouping.


Use pictures along with words.   

Allow students to create their own examples.

Add a Non-Example section.   
   

TYPES OF WORD SORTS

There are two basic types of word sorts, Open Sorts and Closed Sorts. 

Open Sorts:

The teacher provides only the (list of) words.

Students work together to determine commonalities and describe the categories.

Closed Sort:

The teacher provides categories (specific features) to students.

Resources for you

FIND IT HERE

FIND IT HERE

* Additional Resources:
http://edublog.scholastic.com/post/lets-talk-word-sorts#

http://strategiesforspecialinterventions.weebly.com/word-sort1.html

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/word-sorts-beginning-struggling-795.html

Clip Charts 

You Love 'Em or Hate 'Em.

~ OR ~

YOU CAN REINVENT and REPURPOSE THEM.

Many of you have, or had, dozens of clothes pins with student names. Many of you used them on a behavior chart for classroom discipline either because they work for you their use mandated. I am not proposing a discussion on the effectiveness of their use as a behavior management system, rather utilizing their benefits of a quick glance to check status, their ease of use, and their efficiency of ever changing groups and student status.These charts can be for all to see or for your eyes only to keep yourself on track and organized. 

~ MORNING ROUTINES ~

Students each have a clip with their name or class number; whichever you use in your classroom.

Students place their clip on the packed/cold lunch or school/hot lunch section.

A quick look and count and you're done. No need to call each student's name, have them raise their hand and count, etc. 

Students place their clip on the PRESENT section when they enter the room.

A quick look and count and you're done. 

~ READING GROUPS ~

Place the child's clip on the appropriate reading level and simply move the clip as they progress through levels. An efficient way to quickly see where a particular student is performing without having to open a grade book, look at your lesson plans, or locate that notebook that has several changes already.

Simply choose the system; your own groups, Guided Reading, DRA, Lexile, or Reading Recovery and clip away!

~ WRITING PROCESS ~

It can be a challenge  keeping track of which student is on which stage of the writing process when working through a project. Have students, or yourself, place their clip on the step they have completed, or is working on; your choice.

A Writing Process chart allows you, or the student, to simply move the clip as they progress through steps. This can be an efficient way to quickly see where a particular student is working, how students are progressing or where they may be stuck, who  to gather for a mini lesson, etc., without the hassle of digging through a stack of papers, sorting and re-sorting, and trying to make sense of where students are working and/or need assistance.

~ AVAILABLE RESOURCES ~

I have created complete sets of these clip charts in a two different themes, thus far. You can find them here:

Pencil Themed Clip Charts

Get clipping with a simple download!

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If you like the charts, but prefer a particular theme, please let me know and I can customize a set specific to your needs or classroom theme. This allows you flexibility of theme, graphic, and/or font.


SAMPLE THEMES

   

    Construction/Caution                                                  Pencil

                              

    Colorful SunFlowers                                                 Hands Down  

    

                             

        Modern Art 1                                              Star Flowers on Green
        Modern Art 2  

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For personalized charts:
Use the Comment Section Below
or
Email: monicacreates1@gmail.com

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