Communicating With Others, Not Just Students

Teachers interact with many people during the day, not just students. Open lines of communication need to be constantly maintained with parents, administrators, other teachers and support personnel such as secretaries and custodians. The ability to effectively communicate with all these various people is essential for the teacher to maintain classroom management.
For example: understanding roles and assignments, planning and carrying out learning activities, coordinating approaches with students, providing information to teachers on student progress and behaviors, and building a positive relationship with students, teachers and other staff are fundamental for teacher success.
Teachers, administrators, support staff and parents must work as a team for the good of not just one, but all students. Setting aside a time to meet with fellow teachers and administrators can establish and maintain open channels of communication.
Open channels of communication are important for several reasons.
1. Talking to the lead teacher and administrator can convey special interests, talents, training, or hobbies they might have which could be an asset to instruction or to the classroom.
2. The teacher can also reach an understanding of different backgrounds, experiences, values, cultures, religions and other factors which might affect their working relationship.
3. The educator must be willing to ask for clarification on tasks, if the assignment is misunderstood, and they must be able to confront the supervising teacher with concerns they might have.
Finally, as a team, the educators need to work together to build trust in the working relationship. Just as important as communication skills are, listening skills are also needed for effective communication.