Remind is now part of the ParentSquare family! See the announcement for details
Remind is now part of the ParentSquare family! See the announcement for details
Blog
February 2, 2022
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How to improve communication: Feedback between teachers, families, and students

How-to and Tips

Effective communication is one of the key elements in successful teaching and learning. Teacher feedback about students, parent feedback about teachers, and student feedback about teachers are all important sources of information for improving teacher effectiveness and student development. 

To become a better teacher, it is essential to understand the critical role that feedback plays in the classroom. This article examines how various types of feedback from students and parents impact the role of the teacher. It also explores the ways a useful teacher messaging app, like that included as part of Remind’s communication platform, can help students, parents, and teachers navigate the intricate process of communication that guarantees student learning.

By using a teacher app to text parents, educators will find it easier to provide the information that parents need to know about their children’s progress. Parents will in turn have an accessible platform in which they are encouraged to participate in their children’s intellectual growth.

Difficulties in communicating about children

In an ideal world, teachers can sit down with their students’ parents or guardians whenever challenges arise in the classroom. They can talk about ways to help a student improve, with both parties participating actively. However, this is rarely the case, especially if there are limited ways for parents to get in touch with the teacher.

Families may also find it difficult to be open and honest about their children for numerous reasons. Communication may already be problematic at home, so it’s even harder for parents to talk to someone else about sensitive topics, particularly about their children. Parents may also be hesitant to talk about their kids because of potentially negative feedback. No one likes criticism, especially when it’s about our children.

Students’ families and teachers have busy schedules, and finding a time to schedule a sit-down discussion can be especially difficult. Schools often have restrictions on when and how family members can visit. 

How parent feedback about teachers affects the parent-teacher relationship

Just like students, teachers aren’t immune to negative feedback. Apart from the evaluations that teachers receive from their school administration, parents also provide feedback on how their children’s teachers are facilitating the learning process. This often affects the parent-teacher relationship, and it can easily close the doors to communication when that relationship becomes strained.

Without a structured method of communication in place, parent input can come from all directions. Having a designated platform for giving and receiving feedback between parents and teachers is very important in this digital age. Standard SMS texting can blur the lines between personal and professional, especially when it opens lines of communication outside of the teacher’s work schedule.

What an SMS texting app can do for classroom communication

A classroom messaging app can make an enormous difference in student learning. Teachers and parents are both collaborators in children’s education, and a dedicated app for SMS communication can allow teachers to foster this collaborative atmosphere.

Below are some important things an SMS messaging app can do for everyone involved:

Bridging gaps in communication

Although it would be ideal if parents and teachers could always meet in person to discuss a student’s performance, and students could consult their teachers face-to-face with any questions, it isn’t realistic. Additionally, everyone has grown accustomed to sending messages via an SMS text app. This increases the frequency of communication and creates more consistent feedback loops.

Promoting active engagement

Because it’s incredibly easy to communicate now due to technology, many parents and guardians who have little time to engage in their children’s activities can now track their progress at school via an exclusive SMS message app. They can do this from the comfort of their homes or offices without feeling like they’re missing out on their childrens’ learning and extracurricular activities.

Creating visible notifications 

There’s something cumbersome about receiving messages from different platforms and channels. From mobile text messages and emails to social networking threads a teacher can’t even count, important messages can get lost among a sea of notifications. Families can also miss an opportunity to participate in their children’s educational development. A teacher messaging app prevents this from happening because everyone will know where to look for school-related messages.

Sharing teacher feedback about students

Disseminating feedback to students can be extremely taxing for teachers. Whether it’s a major project or a simple activity, evaluating their work can lead teachers to dread this activity altogether. Fortunately, having the best SMS texting app features in place with a platform like Remind will let educators focus their energy on a single platform. They will also have access to previous feedback and allow them to monitor their students’ improvement over a given period.

Developing communication techniques for the classroom is up to the teacher to encourage their students to participate in a dialogue about their growth. When students feel at ease talking about their progress with their teachers, they can use their higher-order thinking skills to create alternatives for enhancing their performance.

The messaging app is not just a tool for teachers to provide instructions to their students. Gone are the days when the teacher simply tells a student what to do and the student follows the direction given. Students can now be more proactive in their learning and build capacity even more by becoming more involved in the process.

The importance of communicating with parents

As children age, they become increasingly independent. But that doesn’t mean families don’t need to stay involved. Students of all ages need parent engagement in schools to achieve academic success. They encounter various difficulties, plus they need the encouragement to believe in their abilities.

When parents and guardians can communicate more often with the teachers, students will show continuous progress in their learning. With an education app and communications platform like Remind that highlights the shared responsibility of parents and teachers to help students grow, it opens a channel for creating a fruitful dialogue on how they can learn the most.

Teachers can text quick notes with families on how their students can make the most out of school and become the best version of themselves. They can address challenges or areas for improvement more quickly via a system of open communication that teachers can use to quickly reach out to parents.

How texting enhances learning outcomes

In addition to teachers and parents having the capacity to be more deeply engaged in their development, a tool like Remind and its SMS texting features allow students to access support more quickly. Even outside the classroom, they can easily reach out to their teachers for guidance.

Communication between students and teachers is not limited to the confines of the classroom. Instructions on projects and other activities may be given during classes, but it’s inevitable for students to have questions or feedback as they complete them. Often, it’s not always about the output they produce but the process they go through that helps them learn more effectively.

Some students may not be comfortable asking questions in class, or who don’t realize they don’t understand until they’re home students will have more difficulty. That’s where the value of teacher-student communications via a messaging app like Remind comes in.

Improving the teacher-parent relationship

Parents and teachers rarely get to interact with each other, except periodically when discussing student performance and attending parent-teacher conferences. Often, these meetings can be very stressful for both parties. Teachers feel a sense of dread when it comes to parents who are resistant to receiving critiques of their children. Parents may push back against negative feedback and even respond defensively.

By using a texting app that promotes consistent communication between parents and teachers, interactions don’t need to be limited to discussing how well students are performing. The app can be an avenue for managing student progress and helping them develop skills as they reach their academic goals.

When parents take on a more involved role in their children’s education, it will be easier to receive feedback from teachers. They can suggest solutions to overcoming certain difficulties and even promote a conducive learning environment at home. This helps teachers achieve their objectives for their students more easily.

Saving time for teachers with texting

A teacher’s job is already taxing as it is, with writing lesson plans, preparing engaging activities for their students, and evaluating their progress. It may be even more difficult for some who have bigger class sizes that prevent them from being able to monitor all of their students’ progress.

With a text messaging app, it’s more convenient for teachers to get in touch with their students when clarifying instructions, reminding them about deadlines, and providing extra help to those in need. It also provides a more personalized approach to tracking students’ progress and giving them constant support. 

An app for SMS texting widens the scope of the role of the teacher in classroom communication. The teacher will not only be able to manage performance-related activities but also share in the student’s psychological development. Both student and teacher will not be limited to talking about homework but also about other difficulties students may otherwise feel embarrassed to discuss in person.

Deeper involvement in student learning

A messaging app helps parents and teachers communicate better and students to be more open about their challenges. It allows everyone to be more deeply involved in student learning. While it’s true that students learn by doing, it’s the active participation of the people around them that primes them for learning.

A deeper involvement doesn’t necessarily mean helicopter parenting or teachers utilizing a rather hands-on approach to the way students learn. On the contrary, a communication app for schools provides students with available support when they need it. It’s this accessibility through an open channel of communication that lends students more freedom to evaluate their performance and improve it.

When parents and teachers show a deeper involvement in student learning, a more meaningful sense of community starts to grow. This learning environment makes getting an education all the more worthwhile for everyone participating.

Strengthen communication for education with the best SMS texting app

Gone are the days when communication was limited between teachers and students inside the classroom and teachers would only talk to parents during conferences. It’s time to expand that collaborative space and get everyone engaged in improving student learning and providing support at school and home.

With Remind, parents can stay on top of their children’s schoolwork, participate in their continued progress, and help them develop the skills they need for being the best individuals they can be. Teachers will be able to manage their jobs more effectively and have additional help in ensuring their students will have the best experience inside as well as outside the classroom. 

Reach students and families wherever they are when you sign up for the Remind messaging app, designed specifically to help make educators’ lives easier. It’s a practical tool that effectively facilitates administrative, teacher-to-student, and teacher-to-parent communication.


Sources:

https://www.remind.com/

https://www.edutopia.org/article/framing-difficult-feedback-parents

https://www.edutopia.org/article/5-strategies-successful-parent-teacher-conference

https://www.childhoodpreparedness.org/post/the-importance-of-being-open-and-honest-with-your-kids

https://www.apa.org/education-career/k12/relationships

https://www.ipl.org/essay/Importance-Of-Classroom-Communication-In-The-Classroom-FKANNC36CE8R

https://www.waterford.org/education/two-way-communication-parent-engagement/

https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/protective/parent_engagement.htm

https://www.healthline.com/health/parenting/helicopter-parenting