Laryngitis and Parent Communication

Don't the two just go well together: laryngitis and communicating!?  That's what I've been up against since Monday.  So here I sit, during the middle of the day, typing a blog post because I have been off for 3 days now with no voice! Oh, let's add this into the mix...tomorrow night is parent orientation. Great, just great! At least my voice will sound like a full blown MAN...ugh!  My husband told me that I need to practice talking a few weeks before school starts (same thing happened to me last year).  Sounds like a good idea, but how does anyone talk to themself all day?  People would think I'm mental!

So, since I can't communicate through voice, I'm going to show you how our first grade team communicates with parents on a daily basis.  We use a folder system.  It goes home daily and comes back the next day.

 

Here is what we put on the inside:

 

 

The left side is where we put notes/homework that needs to be returned to school.  The right back pocket hold papers that the students are to keep at home such as skill work or graded papers.

 

 

The first pocket we put in the folder is for our 'Monday Mail' which is mainly our class newsletter.  On Tuesday, we send home notes that come from the office or any other paperwork. 

 

 Behind that pocket, we have our communication card.  This is where we document each child's behavior.  We use the clip system and this is where we mark why they had to move their clip if they did.  Parents are required to initial daily.  We tell them "no news is good news"! 

 

The last pocket is for home readers.  We have an awesome teacher who has put together and keeps up with a literacy library.  We are able to check out leveled books and send them home with the kids for a week for them to practice reading on their level.  This pouch is where those books are stored.

 

 

This system works great for us! How do you and your team communicate with parents? I would love to hear the systems you have in place.  I'm praying that I will be able to return tomorrow to my students.  My voice is gaining some 'squeakiness'!