Schmidt Chapter Eleven-Great Teachers Speak in Tongues

Mastering Communication in the Infomration Age



         I always find the reading in Schmidt to be extremely beneficial. I was able to review on how important communication is in the classroom. This means not only between my students and I but parents, teachers and other staff members. When I am communicating with parents I should remember ten essentials of effective communication. The first on the first is being proactive. This means that I should make contact as early as possible to the parents of my students. I can do this by sending a personal note. The second step for essential communication is to be positive. I should always start all conversation written or verbal on an upbeat note. I want to make sure that I prospect for anything good and then slowly build a bridge to the rest of the message that I need to say. The third is to be frequent.  I want to make sure that I am establishing a regular schedule between my classroom and my parents. I can do this through notices, a classroom news letter, homework packets and requests. Fourth on the list is that I am always clear. This means that I want to keep my writing simple. The fifth is to also be basic. When the list tells me to be basic when communicating with parents, I have to understand that I am not able to tell a parent everything I am doing with in the classroom. Some basic information that parents should know is the schedule dates for report cards (IEP meetings), procedures for field trips, when a student is absent and many other general needs. Sixth and seventh on the list is to be attention grabbing and appealing. The eighth on the list is to be inclusive. This means that I need to step certain group rules with my parents. If I am going to allow my parent to email for everything I could get “buried” in all the emails or even miss something important. I want to make sure that I stress that phone calls should be used for emergencies or health concerns (medication) and other issues can be handled through my email. I will let them know that I will always check my email at lunch and right after school so if anything is sent after, I will not able to read it until the following morning. As a teacher it is also important that I am timely. If I want my parents involved in what their students are doing I need to make sure that I am giving them time to participate or to know what is going on inside the classroom before it happens. Being error free ends this important list of essential communication. It would be very unprofessional if I send home a news letter with grammatical or spelling errors when I am the one teaching their child. This could cause many parents to lose confidence in my skills and teaching.