Use Parent Communication Logs to improve classroom management and relationships with families.  Look for the link to grab your FREE Parent Communication Logs.

Free parent communication forms and tools to improve home and school relationships. #parentcommunication #teacherkarma #communicationlog

I did it all wrong in the beginning.

When I think back to my first couple of years of teaching, I remember how excited I was to finally develop an organization; tool to help me keep up with my parent contacts.

For the years before that, I struggled to remember which parents I had called.  By some miracle, if I did remember which ones I called, I then forgot why exactly I contacted them – good or bad.  You know, when you document your communication with parents, you are also keeping yourself in check.  It’s like magic.  I tend to make more parent contacts when I know I’m going to be writing it all down.  I have to look good for myself, you know.  JK

Free parent communication forms and tools to improve home and school relationships. #parentcommunication #teacherkarma #communicationlog

NOT carefully documenting your communication with parents can really come back to hurt you for a few reasons.

Why should you document parent communication?

  1. You can look back at the entries for patterns in the student’s behavior or results of learning.
  2. If something major happens with a student, you have proof that parents were aware of what was happening with their child.
  3. The police won’t visit your classroom… keep reading.  This will make sense in just a minute.

Now, as I said, it took me a few years to create a set of forms that were effective for parent communication in the classroom.  My first year of teaching was in first grade.  I was so excited about this opportunity because I had a specialization in reading, and that was going to be just perfect!!

While I was kicking butt in teaching beginning reading to my firsties, I was not kicking butt in keeping the parents informed about what was happening at school.  I don’t know why they spend some time on this when you’re still in college.

Click here to read about how to use Behavior Forms for Students to improve classroom management.

Free parent communication forms and tools to improve home and school relationships. #parentcommunication #teacherkarma #communicationlog

I will never forget a certain little boy I had in my class that year.  Guess it was about the third or fourth day of school when I overhead my new little friend telling another six-year-old that he had set a bale of hay on fire somewhere behind his house.  He then proceeded to say that all seven huge hay bales burned to the ground.  Wow!

7 Burning Hay Bales Helped Me Learn About Parent Communication

I had no idea if this really happened or not, but I immediately tried to contact his mom.  No answer.  I tried to contact his dad.  No answer.  I thought I had better tell someone, so I told the school counselor about what I overhead.  She said that she asked around in the community and hadn’t heard anything about hay being on fire around there.

The counselor said it was probably just his vivid little imagination.  Interesting side note:  This was not a rural community.  I don’t know why hay bales would have even been in that neighborhood.

For the next few days, I tried calling his parents at home and work.  No one picked up the phone, and no one returned my messages.  I even called his grandmother from the emergency card, but no answer.  That first year of teaching was so crazy that somehow, the whole hay going up in flames just escaped my mind.

How the cops got involved…

Fast forward about eight weeks.  A police officer came to the school and asked to speak with me.  Yep.  It is EXACTLY WHAT YOU’RE THINKING.

The very first thing the principal wanted to know was why I hadn’t contacted his parents about the fire story.  Of course, I told her that I had tried to call on numerous occasions.

The officer needed that information because there were other concerns with his parents not being involved enough in this little guy’s life.  Needless to say, I felt so bad.  I felt like a failure.  I had no idea what days I called, which numbers I dialed, or how many frantic messages I had left.

So, as you can imagine, I needed a good way to keep up with documenting my communication with parents.

No more visits from the police, please!

I wanted the form to be straightforward, but at the same time, have every little bit of information I needed to contact the parents.

I don’t know about you, but I am in LOVE with Flair Pens.  These are what I use to write on my Parent Communication Logs… well, actually, I use Flair Pens on EVERYTHING I write.

NOTE:  Some links are affiliate links.  At no cost to you, I make a small commission on those purchases.

Free parent communication log to keep up with contacts with parents. Perfect for documentation. #parentcommunication #teacherkarma #communicationlog #behavior #kindergarten #1stgrade #2ndgrade #3rdgrade #4thgrade #5thgrade

What contact information to include on the Parent Communication Log?

  1.  parent or guardian’s names
  2. email addresses
  3. cell phone numbers
  4. work phone numbers

When I made this form too long ago, I actually had home phone numbers instead of cell phone numbers, but most people I know don’t even have a home phone anymore.  I added in the email a little later too.

Email is actually one of my favorite ways to contact parents.  It gives me documentation of exactly what I said to parents.  You do have to be careful about your wording when sending emails, though, as parents will also have proof of exactly what you said.

What to document on the Parent Communication Form?

  1. Write the student’s name.
  2. Make sure to write the date.  This is important.  You can also jot down the time in that same section.
  3. Include the person you communicated with.  With stepparents and grandparents thrown into the mix, it can be difficult to remember who you contacted.
  4. Mark the method you used to make contact: email, call/text, note home, or meeting in person.
  5. Check the concern you have with the student.  Is it behavior, academic, a daily routine (like homework), or something else?
  6. Write down notes.  You don’t need to write down a bunch, but documentation is super important.

Free parent communication log to keep up with contacts with parents. Perfect for documentation. #parentcommunication #teacherkarma #communicationlog #behavior #kindergarten #1stgrade #2ndgrade #3rdgrade #4thgrade #5thgrade

I always copy these forms back to back.  You’ll notice that the second page right above gives you more space to document parent contacts.  It leaves off the guardian info because it’s on the front side.  Just go ahead and copy these front to back from the get-go.  It will save you sometime later on.

Parent Communication Binder:

Using a large three-ring binder is my favorite way to organize these forms.  Each student has their own pocket tab divider with at least one copy of the Communication Log behind it.  The pocket tab dividers are my fav because I can also include notes from parents, etc., for each student.

Free parent communication log to keep up with contacts with parents. Perfect for documentation. #parentcommunication #teacherkarma #communicationlog #behavior #kindergarten #1stgrade #2ndgrade #3rdgrade #4thgrade #5thgrade

One of my teacher friends was using my forms, but she thought it included too much parent information for her situation.  She wanted an even simpler form with more room to write about what was discussed and decided during the parent contact.  I created the one above just for her, but it might work for you too, so I’ve included it.

You’ll see the example above that only includes the date, name of the student, and notes from communicating with guardians.  The space to write notes is much larger.  This space will give you plenty of room to document everything.

Free parent communication log to keep up with contacts with parents. Perfect for documentation. #parentcommunication #teacherkarma #communicationlog #behavior #1stgrade #kindergarten #1stgrade #2ndgrade #3rdgrade #4thgrade #5thgrade

This last form is the Parent Meeting Log.  If you have been documenting all of your contacts with parents and you feel like you need to move forward with a more formal meeting, you may want to use this form.  It focuses on face-to-face meetings.

What to include in a Parent Meeting Log?

  1. student name
  2. date of meeting
  3. parent or guardian name
  4. who the meeting was requested by
  5. purpose of the meeting
  6. outcome of the meeting

Quite a few people have asked me why I included the “requested by” information on my Parent Meeting Log.  This might be important depending on your situation.  You don’t always have to be the one, but hopefully, the teacher notices an academic or behavior issue before the parents do.  You will want to make the first move in setting up a meeting with parents.  This shows you are proactive before things blow up.  Of course, there are certain situations where parents will need to set the meeting first.

I’m going to leave you with just a few last helpful hints on parent communication.

Tips for better communication with parents:

  • Contact parents as soon as possible in the school year.  Let them know your expectations and plan for the upcoming year.
  • This one can be difficult at times, but the first contact MUST BE POSITIVE!  If you start off telling them something negative about their child (no matter how true it might be), there may always be tension there.
  • Keep conversations with parents discrete.  Don’t share information in the teacher’s lounge.  You’ll thank me later.
  • If you tell parents you will contact them at a certain time or for a certain reason, do it!  If you don’t think you will hold yourself to that discussion, don’t promise them.
  • Have a plan in mind when it comes to discussing concerns with parents.  Parents will appreciate it, and this will help them build confidence in you.
  • Document, document, document!  Document each time you contact parents.  Make sure to write down the positive communications as well.

Do you have any suggestions for improving parent communication?  I am gathering ideas for another blog post, and I would LOVE to use YOUR SUGGESTIONS.  I will give you credit.

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Free classroom management - parent communication forms and tools to improve home and school relationships. #parentcommunication #teacherkarma #communicationlog

Click here to access your FREE Set of Parent Communication Forms.

Check out these blog posts on CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT:

Student Behavior Reports

Digital Resource Organizer

Teacher’s To-Do Lists

Sub Binder Forms

Thank you for reading!

Jen

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