Parents can often be a teacher’s biggest ally when it comes to helping a student. When both parties have the same goals and methodology in mind, they can join together in a united front to provide the student with a consistent approach to an issue. However, not every parent-teacher relationship goes so smoothly. Some teachers know that parents can occasionally become an obstacle in a child’s education. Because the parent and the teacher are both incredibly important role models in a child’s life and ultimately (hopefully) have the same goal in mind – the child’s happiness and success – this relationship is an important one for teachers to manage and cultivate. It starts with documentation.

For many teachers, the choice is simple – they have to log all communication with parents. Many public schools now require teachers to document in some kind of writing the details of a conversation with a student’s parent. There are many benefits to implementing this routine, and they far outweigh the cost of time:

Stay Worry-Free.

Parent-teacher conversations may get emotional because, of course, both parties care immensely about the child in discussion and his or her future. When you document when, how, and with which parent you spoke, you save yourself the potential mess of a he-said she-said debacle over something that was communicated. With the conversation in writing, you have something specific to reference in case a complaint arises after the fact.

Strengthens the Relationship.

By writing down the details of your conversation, you might be saving personal information about the parent or guardian that you can then follow up on later. For instance, let’s say you speak to a father in October and learn his mother is moving to an assisted living facility soon. If you don’t speak to that father again until the following March, you will be able to remember his mother and ask how she is doing because you included it in your documentation. Following up on briefly mentioned facts can go a long way in a relationship and further shows the father that not only do you care about his child, but you care about the well-being of his entire family.

Secures Evidence.

In the unfortunate event that there is a custody battle or other such legal matter occurring with the family, you have documentations of your communications with the parent or guardian could be useful in court. As the teacher, it’s your job to have the student’s best interest at heart, and by logging your parent communication you could very well help secure a more stable home for that child.

Ultimately, being consistent and proactive in your communication with the parent will help the relationship immensely. Every child is different, so every parent relationship will be different, too.  Try using Go2s to manage parent communication. Go2s is a private social network where you can easily separate your professional life from your personal life and still easily reach the people you need to talk to. Go2s is also extremely careful with user data, so you can trust that anything said about a child won’t be leaked anywhere. Join today at www.go2s.com