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April 1, 1999
Parent Communication
by Sharon Sumner
I recently took a survey of the 29 students in my rural Missouri classroom to find out how many of their parents had access to the Internet at home or at work. Even with this district outside St. Louis, I was astonished to receive 13 positive replies. Even more exciting, more students come to me each day to tell me they're getting computers at home soon.
I have created a classroom Web page that serves to connect school with students' homes. One of the first things I do each year is have parents and students sign an Internet use permission form. I also have them sign an Internet publishing permission form. To ensure their safety, I never use the children's last names or identifying photos; first names and last initials are enough for distinguishing between students.
Every child in my class has his or her own Web page and the chance to submit items for placement on the page. The students' parents are thrilled to see their children's actual work online, and it's also highly effective for motivating the students themselves.
Our classroom page-Mrs. Sumner's Fourth Grade 1998-99- includes a guestbook for our Web visitors. One little girl has a grandfather in another state, and she was thrilled when he signed the guestbook and told his granddaughter how much he enjoyed our page, especially the story she wrote, even citing its title. Later, she updated her page and sent him a note. She also mentioned she was studying biomes of the world and was having difficulty finding information on the taiga. He wrote back and told her she was learning so much in school and gave her a couple of Web sites to try for her research. And recently they exchanged online Valentines. What awesome examples of child and parent and grandparent communication!
I have linked Schoolnotes.Com to our page. (To see our notes, follow the link to View Notes and then type 63080 to find my pages.) This online service allows users to create pages that are tailor-made for parental communication. It even has a feature that allows parents to be notified when pages are updated. I have created several: a newsletter, a weekly spelling list, and information and updates on various units on which we're working. My last addition included a link to a Valentine page for each of my students. They click on their names and are rewarded with a musical valentine. They can view these at home or at school. Image how their eyes lit up when some of them began hearing "Don't Worry, Be Happy," our class theme song, playing with their valentine cards.
When I find a new site that I think parents or students will enjoy, I send a class e-mail to everyone on our list. One student was home sick with chicken pox, so I sent him an online "get well" card. He and his parents replied with an online card that had a picture of a sunflower, my favorite. I also sent students who had e-mail their online valentine cards.
Parents have given us many positive comments about our page. The teachers in my district are beginning to take notice and are also seeing the Internet's value as a communication tool. I'm proud to say that quite a few of them have even started their own Schoolnotes pages. For those students who do not have Internet access, the site can be printed on paper and copies made and sent home with the students.
Technology is a powerful educational tool. Once teachers harness that power and use it to their advantage, the sky is the limit.
Email: Sharon Sumner
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