It is important to keep data on your students. One way to keep data is to have a parent contact sheet. Every time you contact or attempt to contact your parent, you should keep a record of it.
Am I good at keeping record of my contacts? To be honest, not always.
I created a sheet that may make it easier. Instead of a lot of boxes to write in, a few of the boxes are places you can check off with one spot of notes where you can write in whether you should follow up on the conversation or any other important details about the conversation.
Let me walk you through the document. At the top of the first page is a place for you to put the demographics of the student – their name, parent’s name, phone numbers, email, and any emergency numbers. There were times we could not get a hold of the parent but could get a hold of another family member. Our database listed other people we could contact.
Since there is plenty of room in the header area of the document, you could certainly write someone’s name that you cannot call because of a court issue or custody issue.
The table for the contacts is pretty user friendly. You need to write the date and time you called them. Writing down both of those will help you if the parent wants to dispute a conversation you had with them. Believe me those things do happen.
The How column is for how you contacted them. There were some parents that I could only get them by talking to them at dismissal. Others I would email. It all depends on how the parent wants you to contact them.
The Contact column is a little different. There were a lot of parents who did not have a voicemail that identified who they were so I’m always leery about leaving messages on those voicemails. Another problem was many parents who change their phone numbers and not update the office to those changes. So that’s what the bottom two choices on the contacts section reflect.
The Reason column is for if it’s for something positive or a concern. You do not need to be specific. You don’t always want the reason you are calling to about concerns you are having about the student. Make sure you are making positive calls.
The Notes column is for anything you want to remember about the conversation. If you checked reason as being a concern, then you certainly need to write down your concern. Don’t write a book just give specific details. If there needs to be a follow up, write that down.
The document continues onto the next page. If you would like a copy of this parent contact sheet, click on this link.
Happy teaching,
Traci
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