Using Letters Home to Foster Classroom Community
As educators, we know that building a community around our students and classrooms has a powerful impact on student learning and achievement. This tends to be top of mind at the start of a new school year, but sometimes we may wonder how to continue to foster that community connection throughout the year, or if the efforts we are making are actually working. A recent issue of The Science Teacher, an NSTA journal, featured an article, The Power of Newsletters: Welcoming Parents into the Biology Classroom Community1, that helped to answer just those questions. In the article, Alexander Eden, a high school biology instructor at a technical high school in Massachusetts, describes how his family newsletters impacted his teaching and classroom community. This brings to mind the Letters Home that are part of VEX curricular resources and how Letters Home could serve the same function that Eden’s newsletters did.
“Parents who feel informed and connected are often better equipped to reinforce classroom learning at home. In turn, teachers may feel more confident reaching out when challenges arise."2
Eden discussed how sending a newsletter to families positively impacted his classroom environment, highlighting benefits like:
- Parents responding to the newsletter directly.
- Better use of time in student-teacher support meetings, as families already knew what was going on in the classroom.
- Greater confidence in reaching out to families about their students, having already established positive communication.
- Students sharing conversations and questions from home based on the content of the newsletter.
- Feeling better connected with families overall because of the newsletter.
Whether you do not yet have a newsletter practice yourself, or are looking for ways to add VEX to your communications, VEX STEM Labs and Courses offer a starting point with Letters Home.
What are VEX Letters Home?
Like Eden’s newsletters, Letters Home can help offer parents and families insight into what their students are doing and learning with VEX in your setting. Letters Home are editable documents that are included in the teacher resources for STEM Labs and Courses across the VEX Continuum. Letters Home are tailored by platform, but have several key features in common:
- A summary of the Unit or Course to communicate concepts students are learning or investigating.
- A breakdown of Lab or Lesson activities to share how students are learning that concept.
- Talking points, prompts, or questions for parents to ask at home to talk with their students about their learning.
- Real world connections, through things like vocabulary words or career connections.
Letters Home are located in the Unit Overview of VEX 123 and VEX GO STEM Labs, and in the Teacher Portal for VEX AIM, VEX IQ, VEX EXP, VEX V5, and VEX CTE STEM Labs. While the specific content differs based on the targeted age range of the students, here is an example of a Letter Home from the VEX IQ (2nd gen) STEM Lab Unit - Up and Over.
When is a good time to send a Letter Home to my classroom community?
The article mentioned getting into a regular routine with family communication, with Eden saying that a 3-4 week cycle of newsletters seemed to work well for him and families. When thinking about how and when you communicate with families, you have to do what works best for you and your community. Remember that this cycle might change from year to year, and that’s ok. The important thing is to open communication lines with families and keep them going in a positive, sustainable way for everyone. Consider things like:
Incorporating content from the Letters Home into your regular newsletter or parent communications
If you already have an established routine, use Letters Home as a part of that. This way parents know when to expect communication from you, and you can include what you are doing with VEX in that context.
Sending a Letter at the start of a new STEM Lab Unit or Course
Transitioning from one unit to another is a great time to communicate to families about what they can expect and talk to their students about in the coming weeks.
Using a Letter Home to include parents in a new team season
The Competition 101 STEM Labs (for VIQRC and V5RC) include Letters Home in the Coach Notes of Session 1 to help communicate team expectations with families, as well as offer links to resources like waiver forms that need to be completed.
Preparing for an event with a Letter Home
Consider using a Letter Home to announce the culmination of a competition STEM Lab, and inviting families to your competition days. For VIQRC or V5RC teams, there is a specific Letter Home for preparing your team and families for their first competition, and setting expectations and guidelines for parent participation.
Making Letters Home Work For You
Whenever you choose to send Letters Home, you want to make sure that they meet your community’s needs, and align with your communication style. While each Letter Home has unique content, there are some things to keep in mind when incorporating Letters Home into your classroom communication.
All VEX Letters Home are editable!
You can adjust them as you see fit to reach your audience in the way that works best for you. You may want to add images of your students using their VEX robots, or include important dates or classroom-specific announcements or reminders.
Consider offering different modes of consumption
You may find that different families have different needs or preferences for written communication. Some may use screen readers, or need to translate content to best understand it. You can try sending Letters Home both digitally and as hard copies with students, to help ensure that all families can access the information.
Put the content of a Letter Home into existing templates or formats used in your school
Since the Letters Home are editable, you can bring that content onto whatever letterhead, format, or platform you need to align with your school’s communication preferences.
Use these articles to help you get started
Not sure how to edit a Google doc? Use these articles to help you customize resources using Google Drive or Microsoft Office.
“Ultimately, fostering a partnership with families can lead to a more supportive and collaborative classroom environment and implementing parent newsletters is one way to take the first step in that direction.”3
No matter how you choose to communicate with families throughout the year, the goal is to open a window to what you are doing in your classroom, so that your community can engage with one another around shared learning. Letters Home are one vehicle to help with that communication, and can be a powerful tool to building relationships and supporting students and families.
Share your communication strategies, newsletters, or Letters Home with others in the PD+ Community!
Including copies of your own digital newsletters or photos of printed letters can help give others ideas for how to make classroom community connections work for them!