Student Contributor: P. Hernandez
This tool allows students to practice writing emails while sending updates to their families every week about their progress in school. It covers both aspects of updating parents about their student and developing student communication/professionalism skills via email writing.
This tool is having students write emails home every week to update their families on their academic progress. This in a sense kills two birds with one stone because it keeps parents in contact with their students’ progress while helping students learn how to properly write an email which is a skill that a lot of adults still have not properly developed to this day. While implementing this tool it is important to first go over email guidelines with your students. Writing a few practice emails first can really be helpful and having students peer-review. As students are first learning to write emails it can also be really helpful to provide them with a outline they can use of what to cover in their email and how to properly format it. When students send emails also make sure they cc the teacher to it so you can see what they are writing home and provide any additional information as needed, this makes it more like a three-way conversation between the student, the parent, and the teacher. This tool is currently implemented at my placement school, and it has been very successful. The students have grown so much in how they present themselves and praise their hard work when recognizing it to their parents at the end of the week. The parents really seem to appreciate it too as it keeps them with constant contact of their students’ progress and makes them aware of any events going on at school, they should be aware about.
This tool best fits in the supportive phase as it reinforces communication between the student, parent, and teacher. It encourages students to reflect on their learning and behaviors in school and motivates them to keep exhibiting those good behaviors. This tool is very student-directed and collaborative because it leaves students with the power to share whatever they want to share with their parents. It gives students initiative and has them exhibit professional communication skills that are in fact hard to develop even as adults. What makes it collaborative as well is the fact that students need to work along side the teacher to develop a set of expectations and an outline when needed for students to have the freedom to utilize. Making sure the teacher is cc’d also helps keep supervision to ensure emails stay appropriate and students are utilizing their emails appropriately for their intended use.
More Information –
Tool Source: This idea I got it from my placement, every Friday during homeroom time students are required to write an email home updating their parents on their academics and school experience.
