This year a school goal of ours is to send out "group" emails to the parents of the students in our classes. We can pass on information that way. Our PLC has decided that we will send out a minimum of 4 group emails each semester. I hope to send more. It is so easy once you have your contact list made up. I'm sure there are some parents who don't want to hear what is going on, but I bet there are more that do enjoy hearing these things. I wish I received emails from my kid's teachers. I actually sent one to them this year telling them a little about each of my kids.
This year I sent one of my emails out prior to the first day of school. The email simply introduced myself and the class I had the student in. It reminded them of the schedule on the first day and the remainder of the year. In the last paragraph I gave a brief overview of the course. One of the other paragraphs I borrowed from another colleague:
"I would like to invite you to send me an email introducing yourself and/or your student to me. I would love to hear about things that interest them, their strengths and weaknesses etc. Be sure to include their name in your email."
Some of the responses I received were really neat. I learned some interesting things about both the parents and the students. I was surprised at the detail some put into their responses. Although I did not receive a lot, the ones I did receive I enjoyed reading and was sure to thank the parents for their email. This is something I will continue to do each semester. I'm hoping more parents will start to respond.
