Communication....

In every aspect of our lives we face admonitions to improve our communication. We are told to communicate more frequently and more effectively. Consider the life of one individual: the thoroughness of communication with their physician could be the difference between effective treatment and bad drug interaction; the timeliness of communication with their mortgage broker could change their credit score or even their living conditions; the effectiveness of communication with their young child could convince him not to get into a car with a stranger (or not); the honesty of communication with their teenage daughter could keep her safe from teen pregnancy or STDs or change her life forever. And so on. Who could argue the importance of communicating to the best of our ability in all relationships at all times?

In the business world, communication breakdown might negatively affect this month’s bottom line, or worse, the continued viability of the company. In education, communication breakdown might cause a child to be mislabeled, affecting his school experience and self-esteem for a lifetime, or cause a problem to go unnoticed which could become unmanageable or unchangeable, or lead to bigger, class-wide problems.

To me, this all seems more like a dissertation on that which is easily apparent and, for the most part, common knowledge, than any revelation or new information at all. Why then, is it so difficult to get teachers not only to recognize the importance of effective communication, but also to practice it? Surely there are myriad answers, many involving time, prioritization of tasks and partially-met goals of perfection. Luckily, it serves us better to look at ways to improve communication, including specific procedures to follow than it does to analyze missed opportunities.

Specifically, every teacher’s best practices should include regular, meaningful two-way communication with parents, other teachers, administration, counselors, etc. Newsletters, class websites, emails, after school meetings, inter-office memos, meetings about curriculum or shared students are our mediums for this communication.

Well what about the substitutes? How do teachers communicate with substitutes and vice versa? Sometimes the teacher calls to request the substitute, but often it is a school administrator or an automated system that notifies the substitute of an opportunity to work. They do not see each other because the substitute is only at the school when the teacher is not. Some may argue that they have no reason to talk. On this point I would contend that without their communication, the learning environment suffers, and therefore, our students suffer, and that being preventable, this is not acceptable.

I think we can agree to a best practice that some teachers and school systems already implement. Our best practice includes not only emergency lesson plans from the teacher, but also seating charts and any general information on the class (and the school) regarding schedule, behavior, etc. As substitutes, we have an important responsibility in the best practice, as well; we need to leave an end of day report for the returning teacher.

This End of Day Report should include (but is not limited to – in this case more information is better) what the class accomplished that day, any problems or obstacles you encountered, specifics on behavior, information on any monies collected, and notes on occurrences that might need follow-up.

See the presentation for more detail on the End of Day Report best practices.

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