The Importance of Parent Surveys for the new generation of Digital Natives

How can you use google forms or online surveys improve your culturally responsive pedagogy?

Communication is Key

Google forms or online surveys are great tools to begin building home school partnerships with families from the start of the school year. Online surveys and google forms are great assessment devices to get to know the families and children you will be teaching. You can find out about families through personally developed open ended questions, multiple choice questions and short answer questions. Getting data right away to begin assessing your families early in the school year is beneficial to you, your students and their families. This data will allow you to design your classroom in a way that meets the individual needs of your students and their families. Families will appreciate your effort in trying to get to know them and appreciate the inclusive and welcoming setting. I love the idea of communicating with parents through google forms or online surveys because it makes getting and receiving information to and from families a whole lot easier.

According to a survey I conducted, effective communication strategies are:

• Initiation: Teachers should initiate contact as soon as they know which students will be in their classroom for the school year. Contact can occur by means of an introductory phone call or a letter to the home introducing yourself to the parents and establishing expectations.
• Timeliness: Adults should make contact soon after a problem has been identified, so a timely solution can be found. Waiting too long can create new problems, possibly through the frustration of those involved.
• Consistency and frequency: Parents want frequent, ongoing feedback about how their children are performing with homework.
• Follow-through: Parents and teachers each want to see that the other will actually do what they say they will do.
• Clarity and usefulness of communication: Parents and teachers should have the information they need to help students, in a form and language that makes sense to them.

In a social constructivist classroom, it is important for teachers to form bridges with families. Making connections with families will provide families with important information related to their child’s development and create supportive learning environments. The article Funds of Knowledge states, “Many teachers care for their students, but unless they care enough to attempt to learn understand, and know their students’ political, historical, and personal situations (their funds of knowledge) then they are not taking the important steps to use what the students bring from their own backgrounds into the classroom” (Lopez, 2008, p. 35). The data from the surveys support families would like to have regular communication with their child's teacher.