Making Emails Work for Parents and Teachers

Alexander Dummer/Unsplash

Source: Alexander Dummer/Unsplash, used with permission

The pandemic has teachers more overwhelmed than ever…and has parents more overwhelmed than ever. As an educator and parent, I get to view the pandemic through both lenses. What school “looks like” is ever-changing during this time. Educator-to-parent email communication can either exacerbate frustrations or serve as a welcome beacon as schools newly open and procedures undergo overhauls.

Practical tips for clear communication with parents

• Put key takeaways in email subject lines. Even if your email contains many details for the kinds of parents who want them (e.g., “At the next Board meeting we will be discussing…”), working parents should not have to dig through all that text to learn crucial details (e.g., “Classrooms will re-open for in-person teaching April 12”). If you put the most important news in your email’s subject line, you will make everyone’s lives easier (including yours).
• Make select details bold within paragraphs. This way busy parents (and students!) too busy to read all your verbiage can still digest key points.
• “Chunk” information. As schools return to in-person instruction, the many procedural details can be overwhelming. “Chunk” information with bold headings like “How Students Should Pack Their Backpacks Every Morning” or “How to Pick Up Students From School” so parents can easily skim text for the snippets they need at any given moment.
• Include links in your communication. Since most communication is happening through email and web pages to avoid exchanging germs, you have an opportunity to link to destinations or clarifications for those who need added assistance. For example, if you tell parents to “log into the parent portal,” make that statement link to the actual parent portal URL so parents do not have to dig for past communication on where that place exists online. Googling how to embed a link in whatever tool (e.g., Gmail) you are using will show you how to do this.
• Include tech support. Many parents are overwhelmed by technology, and even tech-savvy parents are not used to using some of your school’s apps and interfaces. Just as district and school administrators should provide teachers with an easy-to-use guide for every technology tool educators are expected to use, administrators should offer the same for parents. Discover where such guides are housed and either link to them or attach them to your messages when directing parents to use tech tools.
• Remember parents do not know your jargon or shorthand. Busy parents who read “Look on the home page” will not necessarily know which homepage you want them to visit. Be very specific and write so that someone completely unfamiliar with the resources you use can understand your meaning.
• Learn how your school addresses the needs of parents who do not speak English. Your school might want you to use a particular communication tool that automatically translates text, or include non-English verbiage at the top of communications parents can click to connect with a school district’s translator, or use another approach.
• Remember every parent’s situation is different. COVID has led some parents to lose their jobs or work on the front lines where they feel unsafe. It has trapped some parents in homes full of stress or abuse. Many parents will communicate in more antagonistic ways than they would pre-COVID. Try to not let parents’ angst get you down (you are working hard during this crazy time, too) and lend them the extra understanding this time warrants.

In the end, time you devote to reworking a sentence for clarity or linking to a URL will save you and your school’s front office from answering confused parents’ questions. It will also alleviate anxieties and lead to more positive teacher/parent relationships. This will help you and, most importantly, the students you serve.