There are so many hot topics in education today. Two of them are STEM and parent communication. STEM is the study of science, technology, engineering, and math. Parent communication is the process in which you communicate information to parents. Both of these ideas are important for you and your students, so how can we combine them to make communication STEMulating? Here are 4 STEMulting ways to use STEM to communicate with your parents.
#1 STEMulating Communication
Technology is all around us. While not all of our students are going to grow up to be computer engineers, all of our students are going to grow up and use the basics of technology such as: email, Google, social media, texting, etc. Because we know this is going to be a fact of life, why not use it as a tool to communicate with parents?
Having your students email their parents weekly about what they did that week is not only a great way to teach students how to use email and how to write an email, it’s also a great way to keep parents informed. Other ways to keep parents informed and learn about social media etiquette is to start a Facebook page that your students have to take turns updating daily!
In whichever way you choose to use technology in your classroom, there are easy ways to connect with parents! Keeping parents in the loop can also help with classroom management. Therefore, you’re not just using technology, you’re fostering STEMulating communication.
#2 It All Adds Up!
Another way to use STEM in communication is to have your students bring home notes in code. Then encourage them to sit down with their parents and add up the numbers to create the letter. You don’t have to make this a long message. It can be something as simple as “There’s a spelling test on Friday.” If you don’t want to have this many letters missing, you can just take out the words “spelling test” and have them figure out what is on Friday.
How would you do this? Put a key at the bottom that tells you how much each letter is worth. For example, A=1, then put a math problem on there (whatever you are working on) and have your parents sit with their student to figure out the problem. This can be an assignment or something sent home as an option for parents.
Using this method not only communicates with parents, it can STEMulating good parent-student relationships.
Rear view of a cute little boy wearing a white shirt and dark blue jeans writing or drawing with a marker. A concrete wall background with a colorful brain sketch on it.
#3 Building a Connection
Another way to connect and communicate with parents in a STEMulating way is to build a positive connection with them. One way to do this is with the Brain Architecture Game. While this game can be bought online and used in the classroom, you can also make your own scenarios. This game would be great to play at a parent night and shows how different stressors can affect the way a student handles problems.
Communication happens because parents understand how home life can affect school life, and they work together to build “a brain” that can withstand the stress of life from pipe cleaner, straws, and the luck of the draw. Learn more about the Brain Architecture Game by checking this video.
#4 See the Science
Another way to communicate and connect with parents is to set up a “viewing party” or a live stream of a STEMulating science project. By having parents involved with projects in your classroom, you are welcoming them to your class as well which opens the doors of communication and trust. When you build that trust, parents become more likely to discuss issues or concerns with you which is what we want our parents to be able to do.
STEM is getting to be a bigger and bigger part of our classrooms and including parents is always a bonus! By STEMulating your parents with these great projects and communication styles, you will gain a supporter for your classroom and your student.
