ASSIST.EDUC.MSU.EDU > classroom > community > strategies > communicating

Tool: Managing telephone conferences

Many schools are making it easier for teachers to be reached by phone, either by having a clear system set up with the office for getting messages or by installing a phone with voice mail in every classroom. It takes a little planning, though, to manage the use of the phone so it doesn’t interrupt classroom activities or become confusing as to what calls need to be returned.

First, you will need to find out whether your families have a phone and if so, when and where you may contact them. As part of gathering other information about families in the early days of school, you may decide to send home a communication preference form.

Making connections: What are your communication preferences?

Student’s name: ________________________________________

Family member #1: ____________________

Relation to student: ___________

Home phone : ___________ Work phone: _____________

Cell phone: _________________ E-mail address (please print): _________________

How would you prefer to be contacted? ___Home___Work___Cell phone___E-mail

When would you prefer to be contacted? (days/times) _________________________

If you do not have access to phone or e-mail, how may I contact you? ____________

________________________________________________________________

Family member #2: ____________________

Relation to student: ___________

Home phone : _________________ Work phone: _____________

Cell phone: _________________ E-mail address (please print): _________________

How would you prefer to be contacted? ___Home ___Work___Cell phone___E-mail

When would you prefer to be contacted? (days/times) _________________________

If you do not have access to phone or e-mail, how may I contact you? ___________________________________________________________________________

Below are 3 designs for telephone logs to help you organize the use of the phone to contact parents. Adapt these to your own situation. These forms may also be adapted to organize your use of e-mail (see the Managing e-mail messages tool).

Telephone callback log
Date/time	Call from: Regarding:	Date/time	Call returned Action:

Sometimes it is helpful to set up a telephone communication agreement with parents to support a student in areas such as getting homework done, managing their behavior or bringing materials to school. During a busy school day it can be challenging for teachers to stay on top of these agreements. A log can help you keep track of how you manage your end of the agreement. It can also help you analyze and balance out the type of communication that is taking place. Parents may want to use the form too.

Telephone communication agreement Student’s name: ______________________ Teacher’s name: ____________________ Home contact person: ___________________________________________ Best day/time to call: __________________________________________ Purpose: _______________________________________________
	Nature of the call
Date/time	Good news exchanged	Informational	Problems discussed

Sometimes teachers feel that all they do is make phone calls to parents when there are problems to discuss. By keeping a log of whom they call and the types of interactions that take place, they can make conscious choices to notice and change telephone use patterns. Some teachers even set a goal of making sure they call each family with “good news” on a regular basis to offset the times when other types of calls need to be made.

Telephone communication log
		Nature of the call
Class list	Date/time	Good news exchanged	Informational	Problem discussed

PDF version for printing .... MSWord version for revising .... RTF version for revising