One of my favorite movies is The Princess Bride, so every time I say the word Hyperdoc, I end up saying it three times like Mad Max's wife says Humperdink. ​

In my classroom, we recently started an assignment in regards to proper etiquette in emails.  So I thought what better way to provide real-world experience and show the parents of my outstanding students exactly what they are capable of. So, after practicing on a couple emails sent to me, students received an assignment that said they would need to email their parents and cc (carbon copy) me. They were required to let their parents know about the many different things we were doing inside our classroom.

Parents tend to not realize there is a problem until they get a progress report that is sent home with the student. Half the time, the progress reports never makes it out of my classroom.  I feel that having the students contact their parents on weekly basis (if not daily basis) will also strengthen their relationship with each other.  Middle school students are at the age where they tend to pull away from the parents.  So these parents tend to have no clue as to what is going on in their child’s school life.  ​

I wanted my students to take more ownership over their learning. They are incredibly creative human beings with endless talents. Why not tap into them as resources and make them do some of the planning, teaching, troubleshooting, assessing, and communicating with parents?

The most rewarding part of this strategy is the conversations that take place between parents and their children. Because I am CCed on the initial email, parents typically “reply all” and keep me in the loop as they dialogue with their child. I love the questions parents ask in their follow-up emails, like “Why weren’t you able to complete this part of the assignment when it was due? How are you using your class time? What can I do at home to support you in getting your work done?” I see so much value in encouraging students to have these conversations with their parents.

It is important for teachers and parents to have meaningful and regular communication with one another to ensure that the student is doing well both in school and outside of school. If the child is sick or perhaps dealing with a family issue, then parents can reach out to teachers to let them know that their student might be having an “off” day. Additionally, teachers can report back to parents on student behavior and academic progression in a timely manner.

New technologies have made communication between home and school more efficient, and improved in both quantity and quality. When parents and teachers communicate with one another, they are able to work towards their common goal of facilitating the best educational experience possible for students.  Even though parents have access to our online grade book system and they can login at any time to view their child's grades, some parents just don’t do that.  

So, whenever you feel overwhelmed by all you have to do as an educator communicating with parents and guardians, ask yourself how you can have your students do more of the work in your classroom? From that work will come real-world experience. We have to quit making things harder on ourselves.  The technological tools are in our hands, so let’s have our students put it to use for their own good, and ours.