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-Be an active communicator!
-Anytime an important paper goes home in the students' folders, I follow it up with an email
-Communicate your appreciation for your class community/team that you are forming with their child to help their child become the best version of him/herself!

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- I send an activity called, 'In A Million Words Or Less" home to my parents/guardians and they can write down anything they'd like me to know about their child. The activity is returned to me in an envelop during the first week or two of school. This helps me learn about my students and become aware of any concerns or hopes their parents/guardians may have.

-I also create a monthly newsletter with reminders of events/special dates. Parents love to see the pictures of their children in the newsletters!

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- Relationships, relationships relationships - it's everything!
- Know their names and be empathetic
- Don't take anything personally
- Stand at your door before class and greet students in the hallway
- Have a great sense of humor
- Pay attention to the details of their lives so you can ask them about their sports, new puppy, etc.
- attend sporting events, plays, etc. to show support

- Email and call parents for positive feedback on their children (ask for help when writing emails)
- Let parents and students know what you expect and what they should be doing
- Bring in administration to assist with any challenging parents; important to keep them in the loop
- Contact parent as quickly as you can and don't put it off
- "I'm calling because I'm concerned about NAME, and I want your suggestions to help make this situation better

- show flexibility

- Be ready immediately when bell rings to show how you value  time

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- Fostering relationships with students is a number one priority.
- Go to their events and activities; notice things on them (bandaids, sports shirts, plans for the weekend, etc.)
- Every Monday ask about the students' weekends/sports
- Tell a little bit about yourself so they can get to know you
- Stand at door and greet students
- relationship of respect for the students
- Positive phone calls home first

- A sense of humor is a must!

-It is important to have high expectations and clear guidelines

- You can't do it all, do what you can.  Revise every year and improve

- Establish routines such as sharing the agenda and assignments with Google Classroom daily

- Don't get phased by bad behaviors - allow students to have off days just as you do

Challenging Parents
- Speak with a colleague and make sure administration is aware; you don't have to do this alone.  When first writing emails to parents, make sure the tone and language are checked by a colleague and/or administrator until you become more comfortable
- important to keep parents informed about excessive tardies and missing homework

- Try to be productive every minute you are here and use every minute you have. Set boundaries so you have some famiy time.

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I use a variety of activities to learn about each student’s strengths and interests. I keep track of this and make sure that I spend more time getting to know students whose strengths and interests I haven’t learned about yet. I make a point to spend more one-on-one time with students I haven’t learned as much about yet. I use a variety of methods including classroom activities, interest inventories, and home questionnaires to learn about each student so I can anchor off of their strengths.

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-Plan time in the day where I can get to know my students and they can get to know each other

-Spend lots of time walking around and talking to students so I can get to know their interests and strengths.

-Plan "getting to know you" activities and continuing them throughout the school year.

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- Greet students by name each morning when they are walking through the door

- Intentionally create time and space to talk to each student

- Create a classroom website

- Email for good and bad

- Know when it needs a call- err on the side of calling when delivering news

- Communicate (OFTEN)

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-Be proactive. Communicate the positives first, this makes communicating the negatives easier.

-Invite parents in to talk beyond just conference days.

-Emails can often been misconstrued, so I always like to communicate on the phone or in person if the situation is very challenging. Afterwards, I follow up with an with an email about what we discussed so everyone is on the same page and it is in writing (if it needs to be)

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-Newsletters- Share what your class is doing

-Call, email and reach out to parents- before there is an issue.  Let them know that you see how awesome their child is.

-Work together to address issues- but also don't let them walk all over you just because you are new.

-Rose Jackson- a former North Colonie Elementary principal, would always say "Parents send us the best kids they have."  It is our job to take them as far as we can each year- socially, emotionally and academically. Remember this especially on your most challenging days.

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- Be confident to reach out to parents

-If they reach out in the beginning of year with positive, first time reaching out to everyone is doing  in a positive way

-If you are having an issue and you need to reach out to a parent, reach out to a veteran grade level teacher to run wording by her