Let’s be real… parent communication is one of those things we want to do more of… until the grading piles up, the coffee runs out, and we’ve got 57 late submissions on canvas to grade. But building family connections doesn’t have to be another item on your to-do list that stresses you out. And we all know, building a POSITIVE relationship with our math grown-ups will benefit us in the future if we have issues with our math students in the classroom.
I’ve put together 7 super simple (and actually fun!) ways that I keep my math grown-ups in the loop throughout the year. And all without needing to write a longgg weekly newsletter, send endless Remind messages, or make marathon phone calls.
I usually rotate the options in my weekly newsletter which is super short update of what we covered this past week, what we’re going to cover next week and important dates of upcoming assessments or events going on in the school. (see below for my examples you can copy/paste into your emails today!)
1. 🎯 One-Question Polls or Quizzes
Starting off with the easiest to implement! Having a quick poll or quiz to see who’s reading and helps you learn a little extra about your parents. You can do this as a “reply with your answer to this question” or if you don’t want to clog your inbox you can drop a link to a Google Form in your email with whatever silly or lighthearted question you choose. It gives parents a reason to read and builds connection without extra work. Again, making those POSITIVE deposits with parents and students alike so that when you need to withdraw for negative behavior you still have some leftover in the bank and parents are on your side!
2. 😂 Math Meme of the Week
Another easy way to build rapport with parents, we see so many memes on the internet you can always find a good one to go with the topic you’re currently learning! Again, rotate! Doesn’t have to be every week! It’s a quick way to make parents smile and remind them math doesn’t always have to be serious.
3. 🔦 Math in Real Life Spotlight
Invite parents to submit a short story or photo of how they use math in daily life. This shows students math matters and is actually used more than just in the classroom! I would save this one for half way through the year once you know your parents and know they’ll respond (because, let’s be honest, parents hate homework for their students and DEFINITELY for themselves!)
4. 🌟 Student Shout-Outs
Share small wins—kindness, effort, good questions, quiz growth. Parents love hearing good news about their students. Sharing things like “Kim S. did great at sharing their work with the class today” or “Seth W. asked the best question this week” in your newsletter lets parents know you’re paying attention but doesn’t require individual emails to parents!
5. 🧠 Parent Challenge of the Week
This one’s my favorite!! Send home a quick, solvable math problem that parents can try with their student. I will usually pick a problem that we did in class for our notes or practice and include it as the parent challenge. And I always include the disclaimer: “It’s a problem that we have done in class so if you need a little tutoring to remember how to do it, your Algebra 1 mathematician can definitely help you!” For example, my Algebra 1 parent challenge the first week was “A pizza place charges $12 per pizza and a flat $5 delivery fee. Write an expression for the cost of ordering p pizzas.” It’s not super difficult but definitely makes them think and their student should be able to do it after we covered translating expressions earlier in the week.
6. 🕵️ Fun Closings or Secret Codes
End your email with something that is interactive like a secret word, emoji or riddle. Include a vocab word from the week at the end as the secret word and tell them to ask their student what it means or ask them to reply back with an emoji of how they felt about math as a student, anything to see who’s reading and paying attention and engaged!
7. 🍽️ Math at the Dinner Table Prompts
Give your families a short conversation starter to use over dinner, in the car, or at bedtime and ask them to reply with any interesting conversations they had or ask students to recount the conversations the next day in class! Could also use this as a warm-up question the following class period to see who says “hey my mom asked me this at dinner the other day”
Wrap-Up: Make Parent Communication Work *For* You
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel each week to keep parents engaged. Pick one or two of these ideas, rotate them, and keep it light. The goal is to forge those connections with your families, not to add to your workload or have to have it picture perfect each week.
When families feel involved, students show up stronger and you get the families in your corner so you can rely on them if/when you have issues down the road. And when communication is fun and easy, you’re more likely to actually send those parent emails.
things to try This Month:
✔ Copy/paste a meme into your next email
✔ Add a one-question poll with Google Forms
✔ Start a “Parent Challenge of the Week” with an easy riddle
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– 10 dinner table math questions
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Fun With Algebra 