I communicate with the students regularly in a variety of ways as can be seen in any of the accounts I have written.  Parents and caregivers are frequently in the building, I see them and speak with them when possible.  When there is an issue that requires contact I contact parents and in turn they contact me when an issue arises for them.  When a unit of study is complete the unit is compiled, sent home for review and signature and then returned to school for me to see.  This way I hope that parents and students and I all see the same end of unit grade and unit work that created the grade.  Report cards go home three times a year.

Also, three times a year there are formal parent-teacher meetings: Meet the Teacher, First Term Reporting period and Second Term Reporting period.  Meet the Teacher occurs in September.  This year I had six parents come to meet me.  I have been in the school for many years and most parents know who I am and how I work within the school.  First Term Reporting period I had Student Lead Conferences.  Every student had a parent/caregiver/adult come to share their work with them.  These conferences take from thirty to ninety minutes depending on how involved both parties get.  They are wonderful for me to watch and wonderful for the students to have the undivided, individual attention focused on their learning by an adult.  Second Term Reporting period I had an  Open House.

I felt the Open House was a success on several levels.  I was able to see the deep understanding the students had of 'class knowledge'.  I was also able to see how capably they shared that knowledge with their parents, across languages and subject areas.  And finally, I was able to see how engaged and connected the parents were to their children's learning. 

After each opportunity the parents have to view student work I ask them to write a 'Three Stars and a Wish' sheet to help both the student and myself understand the parent's perspective, Three Stars and a Wish March 2007 .  When I read over what the parents wrote in regard to their child and their child's learning I read common themes in what I have foregrounded in the classroom.  When we want similar outcomes the student gets similar messages from home and school.  That makes the negotiation of home and school easier for the student, which makes learning easier, which makes the job of the learner easier, the job of the parent easier and the job the teacher easier.

As I continue to learn about teaching and learning I find new ways to communicate what I know, also the more I learn I find the less I know and the more I need to listen and watch.  From the beginning of my teaching career I have not been comfortable in a Teacher Lead conference.  I know what I see at school, in  the school context.  The parent knows what they see at home, in the home context.  The student is the one who has to negotiate home and school.  I bring my perspectives to the conversation but I am not 'all knowing', which is why the Teacher Lead conference is problematic for me. 

I try to understand when learning is easy and when it is not easy for a student; then I try to alleviate obstacles and amplify successes.  Finding ways to communicate this to students and parents is for me vital communication.  I am continuously finding new and different ways to build lines of communication with students and parents, the Open House is one new method and the writing of accounts is another new method.