Please redirect me if you know of another thread on this. I want to send home some letters/postcards to parents about good work that their child is doing. Kind of like a 'good phone call' except that I don't like to talk to parents on the phone too much. Does anyone do this, and if so, what do you say? How many do you send out at a time? Thanks!
What a great idea!!! I'm secondary, so I've never tried it (It would mean 180 letters for me ) But I sure would love to receive one from the teachers of my own kids! I would suggest writing them as you can, then mailing them all at once. Otherwise the child to whom you haven't gotten yet is sure ti misinterpret the lack of a letter as a condemnation.
My school requires that we send at least one "Positive Postcard" home to a student each week. I just reinforce the good work or the effort the child gives in my class each week. If they did particularly well on a test I will mention that.
Keep it short & sweet....sometimes I use those reward cards...fill out the name, date and a sentence about the good job done (these can get pricy thouhg!!) Sometimes I just write ___________ had a great day on a post it and stick it to something else that is going home...simple but the parents know that the child did a good thing!
I have sent home some positive notes. On one I showed the growth that the student had made over the time that they had been with me (first grade writing). I wrote the note and said what a great job he was doing then I attached a copy of his journal from August and a copy of a journal entry from December.
I've posted this on here before, but here is the letter I used to send home, just before Spring Break, to good students. It's easy to edit, so you can send it for good grades, behavior, attitude, all of the above, etc. == Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dunn, Please don’t panic; not all letters from the teacher contain bad news! I just wanted to tell you how very much I have appreciated your son Alex this year. He is always prepared, makes good grades, contributes to the class discussions, is ready and willing to lend a helping hand, has an excellent attitude, and has always displayed good manners toward his teachers and to his classmates. I feel that these good and well-behaved students do not always receive the recognition they deserve so very much. I know that a student’s behavior at school is a reflection on the values and attitudes instilled in him by the home; therefore, I wish to congratulate you, as well as Alex, for his accomplishments. You have much to be proud of. Thank you for sharing your son with me, and with his classmates, this school year. I know that Alex will continue to make his family proud. Sincerely, Jane Goodwin Language Arts Chair
Wow!!! I would LOVE to receive a letter like that from my kids' teachers! I just may steal it and see whether I can find an easy way to modify it for my crew.
Thanks for reminding me to do this again. I made sure in the first quarter that each child had gotten one, but I need to get going again. I keep it simple. Parents do appreciate it. So do their kids. I know of parents who called grandma and grandpa and read the letter to them, etc. What parent wouldn't want their child to be appreciated?
I keep a stack of Accents (any type) in my desk drawer for this. When I see a student is doing a great job at something, I grab a Sharpie and write a quick note. Those notes are the most prized from a teacher.
You mentioned you don't like to call parents...and in this case I think a letter is actually much better than a call! With a letter or postcard the student has something tangible to display and keep.
I do this a lot, too. I have some that look like little reward ribbons. I would often write things like "I had a good day today!" or something even simple like that and pinned it to their shirts. The child was very proud to go home and show their parents, especially if they were a child that was "used to" getting in trouble. I had one boy that I gave one of those to last year and he said, "My mom really loved that you sent that because she doesn't believe me when I said I had a good day."
I have sent similar things to my kid's teachers. The Sunday after Brian learned to tell time, he spent the entire hour at church giving me time checks in a not-so-soft whisper. He wasn't rushing us out, just enjoying his new skill. I had to write the teacher and let her know! Likewise, the time he got off the bus and stopped right there on the sidewalk to show me the TWO stories he was going to read me, I wrote the teacher a note.
Alice, I had the mom of one of my kids tell me when shep icked her daughter up early (it was almost the end of nap time), "L. loves to play school at home. Her favorite part is nap time. She lines up all her animals, puts on the Enya CD, and tells them, "If I hear you talking, I will change your light." I LOVED it. We did an experiment with freezing/thawing snow, ice, etc... got snow off the playground, let it melt, then froze it, then let it melt. One of my little girls was SO excited about it that she went home and told mom ALL about it. I loved that the mom came back and told me what she'd said. I usually talk to my parents when they pick their kids up, but sometimes we'll leave a happy note on their cubby... "___ ate ALL of his lunch today" or whatever, esp. for kids who don't always have tons of happy things to say.
I send home a weekly newsletter to the parents and about a month into the school year, I wrote personal notes on the bottom of all of them, stating something positive about the student. I should do that again now that we're almost half way through the year!
There are many differnet kinds of accents. They are also known by some companies as cut-outs. There are many sizes (mini to large).See below to see what some look like. http://www.carsondellosa.com/cd2/Products/ProductsView.aspx?gpoid=1709&poid=2256 http://www.teacherstorehouse.com/pr...ey=&track=&term=accents&submit.x=0&submit.y=0
Thanks! That's a good idea. Then I wouldn't have to send it through the mail. But oftentimes my students have so much crap in their backpacks; I wonder whether the parent will get it. I even found some 100% tests crumpled up at the bottom of backpacks recently. I would have thought they would want their parents to see those!
The accent notes are usually the things that really get shown to parents. They usually hold on to them and make sure mom or dad sees it first thing when they get home.
I have gotten several very sweet replies from parents who were deeply touched when I took the time to send a good note home with their child. It really, REALLY makes their day for someone else to notice how truly brilliant their children are ;-) With everything else there is to do, it's nice for me to be able to take a deep breath, forget about writing my lesson plans, or any other time stealing task, and focus on one of my children and on letting their parents know that I have noticed what a great child they are. It always makes me smile to send one of those notes home ! A good way to make sure that everyone gets a note home before the end of the year is to put each child's name on a notecard at the beginning of the year, and then you can see at a glance who has and has not been sent a note home.
