One thing that has changed quite a bit during this distance learning venture is how I communicate with my students and families.  So much of what I did was face to face feedback.  We would talk and discuss and work together *in person* to make work better and ensure that learning was taking place.  Now, though, that just isn't possible.     Since I am not seeing my students and their families face to face like I was before all of this distance learning began,  keeping the lines of communication open between myself and everyone is even more important now than it was before.  Conferencing with kids about the work they need to do or catch up on is more difficult now.  Parents knowing exactly what is and what isn't done is much harder.  Everything is just different. So in order to keep us all on the same page, I started using these Weekly Report One Pagers with my families. They are a simple, one page document I made on Power Point t......

OK...this is a long one. Communicating with parents is one of the hardest (if not THE hardest) aspect of our job. Each and every day, the light of someone's entire world walks into our classroom doors.  It is only natural that we keep them informed of what is going on in our room and with their child. With that being said, it is something that I struggle with each year. Keeping 30+ students’ parents informed of the goings on in class is challenging to say the least. But there are some things that I have done to at least try to keep the lines of communication open. Here are a few ideas for you that I use in my classroom. Communication Magnets On the first day of school, I send home a packet of information about my classroom. In that packet is a magnet with my name, room number, school phone, classroom website, and my email address. This magnet has a little letter accompanying it asking the parents to place this on the refrigerator for the entire year. Even if it is ......

Today, you are all in for a treat!  We have a guest poster :)  Kathie has so graciously agreed to talk about preventing the dreaded "summer slide".   (and make sure you check out my guest post on For the Love of Teaching Math !) Hi Everyone! My name is Kathie, some of you may know me as the Not So Wimpy Teacher, from The Diary of a Not So Wimpy Teacher . I am really excited to be guest blogging on Stephanie’s blog today! As summer picks up speed and we zoom into July, I hope to share with you some great information that you can use with your children and/or students to help prevent the “summer slide”.  Many of you are probably already aware of the term “summer slide” or “summer slip” …(summer slip and slide 0_o)…. The “summer slide” is no theme park adventure. In fact, it’s no fun at all once school starts. It is the term many researchers and educators use to describe the regression of skills many students may experience during the summer months. “Summer......

If you are anything like me, you are thinking about next year already.  I go through my mind and think about all I will need to start off the next year.  I like to have what I *know* I will need run off and ready to go.  If I can get things laminated, even better.  Doing all of this ahead of time allows me to actually ENJOY my summer!  So, here is a list of things I make sure to have ready before I turn in my keys on the last day of school.  I do start doing these things really early, so that I have plenty of time to do a few things here and a few things there.  (and if you make it all the way to the end, I may have a special reward for you!) Welcome Letters Each year, I like to send home letters to the parents to introduce myself, as well as set out the expectations I have as far as Behavior and Homework goes.  This packet goes home on the first day of school, and all the little pieces are signed so that I know the parents read over the info......

Communicating with parents is such an important part of our job.  I mean, we are teaching someone else's pride and joy, so it makes sense to keep those partners in the loop as far as school is concerned. With that being said, this is an area I struggle with.  It is so difficult to find time to keep 30+ students' parents informed, as well as do the rest of my teacherly duties.  So, in an effort to TRY and keep the lines of communication open, I created my Weekly Report that I have been using for the past...gosh...10 years! Click here to take you to the FREE document on Teachers Pay Teachers Here is a sample from a few years ago. It is basically a "check and circle" form, with some lines.  I circle the student's behavior, then homework information and if I have anything to say, I write it on the lines.  If I have nothing to say, I leave the lines blank. I also color their card color on the day word (I use the "Turn a Card" system)  On the bottom ......