Building Rapport with Families
As teachers, we work hard to create a safe environment in our classrooms where students can thrive and succeed. We work on building rapport with them daily. However, we often forget that we should also be working towards a safe place for parents to express their wishes and concerns as well.
How often have we, as parents or as teachers, assumed that the other party knew a piece of information? Have you ever thought you communicated something to the classroom teacher when in reality they had no idea? Or vice versa – have you ever thought you told the parents about a struggle their child was having, but when they received the report card, they were completely astonished that they had never been contacted about the struggle? Let’s be real, we have all experienced something like this.
Why Building Rapport Should be a Priority
Building rapport with families and communicating with them should be an integral part of our teaching practice. The rapport we have with families and our communication with them directly affect the home involvement in the child’s learning. This is especially true with children who consistently need extra support at home and school or children with special needs.
What are the Benefits of Building Rapport?
There are many benefits to intentionally building parent-teacher relationships. Students feel more supported because they know their parents and teachers are communicating. In turn, they are often more motivated in their learning. Students can be more successful because parents know how to effectively help their child at home. This helps parents feel involved in their child’s education. Teachers feel supported as parents, hopefully, partner with them.
For kids with special needs, this is especially important. The child with special needs typically has a team of people involved in their education plan. If all these people are on the same page, the child will have better support. Communication needs to happen in order to have everyone on the same page.
Getting Started with Building Rapport
Parents deeply desire for their child to be understood and supported, and teachers desire for parents to become partners in the education process. And it’s our job as teachers to build a good rapport with the parents. We need to initiate this relationship. One great way to do this is to have an open house or a meet-the-teacher night. This gives the parents an opportunity to come to the classroom and hear a little bit about you in a safe environment with other parents. This helps to break the ice, especially for those parents who might be more introverted.
From there, you can reach out to parents during the first weeks of school to get to know them individually. A safe starting point for conversation is to talk about their child. Ask lots of questions. Parents love to talk about their child and this also helps you learn more about your student. Win, win!
What communication can go home?
Now let’s talk about the type of communication that goes home. To be sure, we need to communicate our concerns to parents. This is how parents know how to help their children. But, let’s be real, do you enjoy receiving only criticism? If you’re anything like me, that’s a resounding NO! Nobody enjoys only hearing negative things. In the same way, parents long to hear positive things about their children as well as the struggles and issues. There are some simple ideas of things to communicate positive things to parents. For example, send home a little encouragement note in the child’s agenda or send a quick email – it could be just a line or two.
I’ve found that keeping a class list beside my day planner can be quite helpful. When I’ve given a little praise report to a parent, I’ll write a date on the class list next to the child’s name. This helps me to keep track of which parents I’ve chatted with and which ones might still need to hear a praise report.
Another thing I like to do is realize that sometimes your words aren’t the only way you can communicate with parents. Sometimes just sending home some of the work that their child is completing in the classroom with a few notes from you on it can help parents learn more about what their child is doing in your classroom! I use lots of materials and here’s a way to access some FREE materials you could use with families either as homework OR classwork!
Some of the ideas I use the most…
Here are some other ideas, just a brief list of some strategies for parent communication:
Class Dojo for behavior and daily communication online
A homework hotline, to let parents know homework assignments.
Phone calls
After school or before school conversations
A classroom newsletter
Workshops for parents
A classroom blog or website
Online student portfolios, like SeeSaw.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of ways to build rapport and communicate with parents, but it’s a good starting point. If you have any other suggestions, let me know! Let’s all remember that building a good rapport and communicating with parents should be an integral part of our teaching practices.
