Digital Communication in the Classroom

     In my classroom my digital communication is with parents only. My 3–4-year-old students cannot read, nor do I have need to tell them anything electronically. However, I do need to communicate to the parents and guardians on a weekly basis in order to keep them updated on our learning activities, show-and-tell for the week, and sometimes for behavioral comments (good or problematic). In the past my parents let me know they really like the updates, so they know what subject matter to use to converse with their child. So, the question for me is, what is the most effective way to reach the parents with this information weekly. Recently, I began just doing bullet points rather than a long email update. Now I am considering switching to a classroom blog so the parents can choose to look at a verbal and pictorial update of their child’s learning instead of being inundated with my emails. On the blog I could also post my monthly newsletter.

    I do not think that digital communication is the best way of dealing with problems or discussing a child’s behavior. Words without voice inflection and facial expressions in an email can be misconstrued and misunderstood. Requesting a meeting to discuss problems and behavior is better.

    I think a short video blog is nice sometimes to deal with specific content. For instance, last year when our school first went into quarantine through the end of the school year, our school principal did weekly video emails. This was perfect because he is a type A person and writes very “to the point” which I like but can seem unemotional. However, his short video addresses showed his emotion, kindness, empathy, along with giving pertinent information. This was an excellent choice of technology for him in order to communicate well to families. It is good to consider our own personalities and how we sound in our writing and speaking. That will help us make good communication decisions.

Blogging in the Classroom

    As an educator I can practically use a blog in my preschool class to give parents a view into the classroom. In this day and age when parents are not allowed into the classroom because of all the Covid restrictions, parents are not getting to participate in special days, celebrations, and field trips. They do, however, want to know what is going on and this would be a window into classroom life and learning. It would be mostly for parents because preschoolers are too little to read and write. I do not know much about technology yet, but perhaps if they could a video blog to answer a question. With the help of their parents that would allow them to begin to formulate their thoughts and words on a particular topic and have a record of it. A potential problem is if the parents are unavailable to help or if they do not have the skills or interest to help their child blog then it would not work.

    I can also use blogging to encourage parents in their parenting. Many times in the past when parents were allowed to be actively involved (i.e.: volunteering, drop off/pick up in the classroom, chaperone) they would share parenting problems with me in person and I was able to pray for them, offer encouragement, and sometimes give advice. Under the new restrictions my interaction with the parents is limited. I can use a blog to give back a little bit of the personal feel to parents. Of course, nothing can truly take the place of personal touch and interaction, but at least they may feel a bit more connected and encouraged.