Okay, show of hands...
How many of you teachers out there send out a weekly or monthly newsletter updating your families about the "goings on" in your classroom?
Elementary school teachers, put your hands down.
How many of you are left? I'm guessing not many...
I have found that middle school teachers and teachers of subject specific disciplines fear the classroom newsletter (almost as much as they fear classroom jobs or any other idea that might be interpreted as "too elementary.")
As for me, I LOVE em! Again, maybe it's the elementary school teacher heart of mine, but I love informing my parents all of the awesome things that are happening in our classroom! I knew I wanted to incorporate them into my classroom, and I think I've finally found a system that works best both for me and for middle school in general!
I make my newsletters by unit instead of by week or month. In them, I include projects/labs included with the unit, important dates/reminders, and a little "blurb" about my objectives for the unit and any other information that I think families would find handy! I send them home with my kiddos on the first day of our unit, and I also digitally post them online on my classroom website! Parents have given me GREAT feedback and have told me that they find it helpful to have a "Unit at a Glance" on my newsletters and the "Week at a Glance" on my classroom website! Winning!
Here is an example of my latest newsletter for my Minerals Unit. I use Microsoft Publisher to create my newsletters-which is super user friendly!
The more communication between school and home, the better! If you don't already have a classroom newsletter-I encourage you to take the plunge and go for it! It's great having everyone on the same page!
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