[kmomteach]

Yes more education discussion!
Are you comfortable with emailing your child's teacher rather than writing and sending notes to school? Had you rather your child's teacher email you instead of sending notes home by your child?

[mcmama]

Email is so much more direct. Stuff gets "lost" by kids. And sometimes I didn't get to see the notes because my ex would take them and not share. With email, you can inform as many people as you need without using the child as a go between.

It's also a great way for schools to inform parents. We have a lot of activities going on with the senior class right now, and the advisors email parents who subscribe to their list. It's also an easy way to ask a teacher or advisor questions without playing phone tag, which happens a lot because when people are teaching, they are not sitting by the phone waiting for your call.

[Alejandros Mommy]

Our teacher has a web site for the kids I love looking at it. He has updates and pictures of what the kids are doing. We also use e-mail to help with the volunteering.

It is a great resource...esp for parents that don't see their child's teacher everyday.

[Samual]

We phone, I don't see the point in emailing unless someone has a parent that sits on their arse all day.

In the UK the goverment are trying to bring in yet another idiotic law, where teachers instead of doing a yearly report have to do a daily report on every student they teach and their form which includes, behavior, participation in discussion and what they said, the grade of every piece of work and homework they did that day and to rate their appearance, school finished at 3:30 we have to have these reports done by 4:30, I worked it out that I would have to mark 125 students work in a day and then write 150 reports, because thats possible . It seems the government is yet to realise teachers aren't super heros.

[MommaColleen]

If it is before or after school I call DD's teacher. But during school hours, even if the kids are out of the room or at lunch, the phone in the classroom will not ring. So during that time I do use email as a means of communicating. Her teacher may not look at it for several hours but at least it is one thing I can't forget to do later.

Now, if it is an emergency or something I need taken care of right away (like a change in dismissal or something I need snet home that day, etc) I call the school office and they communicate the message to the teacher in a timely manner.

[MissyChrissy]

Email is the way to go. I don't sit on my butt all day-but I have a crackberry (blueberry) that gets all my home email messages. Due to the fact that I can't sit at my desk all day, and I'm difficult to locate in the building at times for hours, email is the fastest way to get me.

[mcmama]

A lot of american schools have email and mobile phone notification systems. these are especially good in emergencies. They are also effective when the parent needs to be notified and have the message in their face.

Just last week I had a message to my mobile that the local police had responded to a report of a gunman in the vicinity of my son's school, and that the school had spent the morning on lockdown in cooperation with the police - but the emergency had been lifted. Had it been necessary to evacuate the school, this would have been the most direct way to get parents to turn around and pick up children or meet them at a designated spot.

[pattiewrites]

I've used email as both a parent and a teacher. It works well because parents work and sometimes they can't call during the day, but they could send me a message at midnight if they had something to tell me and I could answer it at a time that is convenient for me. Anything that improves communication is good, IMO.

[kimmiekat1]

I e-mail my son's teachers on a weekly basis. So far it has worked for me. All of them seem to be very responsive. I cannot guarantee that they will receive a note if I send one. I have sent some in the past and have better communication with them through e-mail.

[twinzplus3]

Samual--I think from your perspective (and of course I could be wrong) you're thinking of when you need to speak to a parent about an issue. In that case, I would agree that phoning would be better--especially if the issue is more serious..

But in terms of communicating in emergencies, day to day things, quick questions, etc. I would think e-mail would be better & easier. I'm easier to get a hold of by e-mail and um. . .I have 5 kids. I can assure you I don't sit around all day.