I love good news; don’t you? My motto is “Bring it on!” I mean, really, can there ever be too much good news? My challenge has always been taking the time to notice the good stuff and then finding the time to share it with others. I still remember the first year I started sharing good news with my students’ parents. At the time, phone calls were the standard method of communicating; and unfortunately a phone call from the teacher signaled trouble at school. Parents were taken back by my good-news calls at first. However, they quickly warmed up to the practice, and students thought the calls very cool indeed. As a teacher, I learned that parents who received good-news calls were more willing to trust my observations when difficult conversations were needed. And that was a big bonus for me! I could go on and on about the greatness of good news, but I won’t. Instead I’ll challenge each of you to send a good-news email to a friend, a colleague, or one of your students’ parents. After you press “send,” take a moment to appreciate how great you feel. Are you hooked on sharing good news? I sure hope so!
Until next time,
Diane
What a great way to start the week! Thanks, for the tip!
One of my dear teacher friends gave me this idea last year as I was a new teacher. It did take a minute for the parents to ease up but they responded well to these “good news” calls. I felt great! Your recommendation is a great one. It is one I wish all teachers could take time to do!
This is much better than the sandwich message. Good, negative, good when you need to tell a parent something. Saying something good shows that you are really paying attention to that child, not just noticing when something is wrong. We are lucky to have email to let parents know how wonderful their kids are.
It is true that parents and the child what to hear good news. Our school printed out postcards so the teachers can continuously send positive notes to the students throughout the year. The children look forward to their unexpected post card. Please share more ideas!
I love this post! I honestly never thought of good news calls, just may have to make a few of them tomorrow! Thank you!
Catch them being good is a motto of mine. I regularly send notes home with the kids. Parents appreciate the notes even if they just tell them what their child did at school that day. I also have found that if you catch them being good and tell the Parent it makes things easier to talk about when you have to discuss behavior or other negatives with a parent.
Calling is a great idea and parents love it. I have been doing this for years it keep parents involved with their child.Who doesn’t enjoy good news especially about their child. You also get more participation from the parents. Recently,I have set up a email “tree” where I send pictures of their children to them. They enjoy seeing their child doing things in class or the playground.
We have a everyday form with 3 little lines to write something nice. I have been looking for a more involved way to tell the parents how wonderful their children are at school. I wouldn’t ever consider phone calls because I imagined them too invasive– this is a wonderful suggestion!
I love good news phone calls! I love to call and say “Hi, this is Mrs. C. I am calling to let you know about something that student did in school today that was just great!” Parents are so receptive and really love to hear from the teacher on a good note and not a bad note all the time!
Good News calls, post cards or notes…good idea.
I tell students when they are doing well in class, why not spread the news. Thanks for the tip.
I use the little bonus “tickets” offered by Mailbox and, when a child has a great day or does something really well, I send one of those home with the child’s name on the front. On the back I take a few minutes to let the parents know the reason I am sending home the ticket. Parents seem to like these and the kids are so proud that they got one that they usually carry it out rather than putting it in their bookbag.
As a teacher and parent, I know how much I appreciate a happy phone call or note home to communicated my child’s success. A great reminder of student’s will remember how we made them feel, not what we taught them. Thanks for the inspirational message!