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| Hillary Liesch |
Classmates, once again I'm bringing you into my PreK, early childhood world for this assignment. This year, our school is actually doing away with weekly, paper copy classroom newsletters and transitioning to publishing information for parents online. Our school will use a website set up through our school site with Mobile County, not a blog.
I've been wondering what it will be like to go paperless in PreK. Of course, I'm talking mainly about parent communication; students still have tons of paper on which to write, color, paint, glue, cut, etc...transitioning away from that will be a totally different challenge.
Discussion:
In your comments I'd like you to include three elements related to going paperless with parents: 1) a foreseeable pro/benefit, 2) a foreseeable con/pitfall, and 3) a strategy or important idea to remember.
Hi Hillary,
ReplyDeleteI think going paperless has its pros and cons. I think a pro would be as you mentioned going paperless would cut down on the amount of paper being used. A con would be families that do not have access to the internet. I ran into this issue in my classroom this year. I started a classroom website thinking I could go paperless with my weekly newsletter. However, most of my parents only have access to the internet from their phone. Three weeks into school I decided to post my newsletter on my class website and send a paper copy home to accommodate all of my parents. An important idea to remember would be to give parents the option to sign up for the paperless option or still receive paper communications.
Amy,
DeleteWe are running into the same problem. Most of our parents only have access via their mobile phones and aren't able to easily pull up and view the newsletter through the school website. We have given the option but still have ended up sending paper copies to everyone.
Hi Hillary,
ReplyDeleteI am actually going through this right now in my classroom. We are shying away from paper to digital. I think that a benefit for going paperless would be that we are in a digital age now, most parents are on their phones, tablets, and laptops more now than ever. If we posted online, more parents might actually see it and read it. Then again, the parents who don't read what comes home in the students folder would probably not read the information online either. What I always try to remember is if it is very important information, I would send an email, post the information online and send it home in the folder. It makes a little more work for the teacher, but not everyone has access to the internet at home. Going a little out of your way to help your students will always benefit them.
Marianne,
DeleteYour statement, "the parents who don't read what comes home in the students folder would probably not read the information online either" really struck me. I feel like we are doing everything we can to make communication with parents more convenient but if there is not a willingness and interest at home, all of our efforts are in vain. Now, we are posting online and sending hard copies.
I agree! It aggravates me so much sometimes. I don't understand why you would not check your child's folder for any important information. It seems that sometimes, the parents just don't care to know what happened that day at school, or to see what there preschooler accomplished. It saddens me that this happens. We also post online and send home hard copies.
DeleteHillary,
ReplyDeleteAs a Pre K parent and first grade parent, I get information through both paper and paperless avenues. One benefit of paperless is that I can recall information that I need to access from anywhere I have my phone- (anywhere) rather than looking for the piece of paper on the bulletin board, fridge, or wherever. One con that I have run has been with format. Either group emails or group texting that has resulted in way too many responses, making it confusing. Maybe a good strategy would be to send a test email ( or app or whatever you are using) to make sure and record that every parent is able to receive the information.
Thanks for your suggestion. We have looked into using an app called Remind 101 which lets you send a group message, but individuals cannot reply to the group. As the year goes on we are realizing each parent's preferred mode of communication, and it is often different than the one they selected on our form that was filled out at orientation.
DeleteI think the parents of your preschoolers would love the idea of going paperless. Most would be at the age that they are comfortable with technology and they dislike paper anyways. They would prefer the instant access of news in the classroom. A con would be the few that are not a fan of technology. We can not assume that everyone is using it because they are young. They might actually want you to use paper to communicate. I think being open in the beginning of the year would be the best approach. Mention how you will use a blog and if anyone would rather get their news through paper, than happily oblige. Great questions!
ReplyDeleteShannon,
DeleteThanks for your comment. We have tried to be open since the start of the school year and some parents have preferred email communication and looking on the website, while others still like to have a hard copy. We know that not everyone has reliable access to internet and that even though that might be their preferred method, access can vary month to month.
Hello Hillary,
ReplyDeleteI agree with some of our classmates as far as going paperless being a great idea, simply because of the times we are living in. We all stay using technology all throughout the day, whether it's on our phones, tablets, etc. Going paperless in that aspect is great. On the other hand, those families that are not internet accessible may have a more difficult time than others in this aspect. I experience this in my own classroom. We have to keep in mind that everyone may not have certain abilities as others.