It Takes A Village: Facebook in the Classroom

We’ve known for a long time that part of offering the best education to our students means involving parents and families. We have also known for a long time that this isn’t always an easy thing to do! School hours and parent availability don’t always line up. We live in a time where most parents are working and are not always available in the way that they were a generation ago. This is not anybody’s fault. It’s just the way it is. Having said this, keeping everyone on the same page is just as important as it ever was.

To solve this problem in my class I have tried many things. Blogging, Edmodo, more regular notes home, regular ‘just checking in’ phone calls after hours. All of these were successful for awhile, but none of them have proven to be long lasting. The thing that all of these have in common is that they have to be ‘fit in’ to someone’s day. Either the teacher or the parent has to make specific time in their day for this to happen.

Earlier this year I launched a Facebook group to communicate with the parents in my class. I realised that the answer was literally sitting right in front of me. I have Facebook access on my phone, my iPad, my laptop and it was also a space that I knew that most parents were already in. Instead of asking parents to come to our spaces, we went to theirs. This has been hugely successful.

Facebook is still a space that seems to scare us in the education system (at least here in Australia). We are worried about keeping professional boundaries with students and keeping some of our personal lives private from our students and their families. Personally, this is not really an issue for me. As we know, there really isn’t a ‘private’ space when it comes to being online. There is only ‘offline’ and ‘online’. When entering these spaces I made the decision that I wouldn’t post anything that I wouldn’t be happy for students, parents or my Grandma to see. I do understand, however, that not everyone feels the same way. Using a Facebook group is still a good option for these people. When starting a Facebook  group you don’t need to be ‘friends’ with the members of that group. In my class group, I have no interaction with parents on my or their timelines. All communications happen within that group.

Our Facebook group is used for a few purposes. I will post reminders about homework and events (the boring stuff) and also post photos and information about what we’ve been up to in class (much more interesting). Having this regular communication helps to build better relationships with families and allows MUCH easier communication in both directions. When I post something, a notification appears for all members. The same happens for me when a parent comments. Having the ability to communicate freely in this way has made life in the classroom much easier and relationships with parents much stronger. I highly recommend giving it a go.

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