I work in a district where parents are an essential part of the puzzle, and I have grown to believe that engaging parents is one of the keys to success.

At the beginning of the year, parents provide invaluable information through a Google Form.  I ask them to tell me about their child, their experiences in 5th grade, their social experiences, their concerns, etc.

Then, I start responding to those concerns.  

I don't always get to every parent.  I start with the ones who are most concerned, or whose student is already struggling.  

Like most teachers, I talk to every set of parents for students who struggle.  But instead of just talking to those parents, I'm trying to do something I know is good practice but for which I don't always find time.  

My goal is to send 5-10 positive parent emails for every time I contact the family of a struggling student.  

It isn't just about acknowledging positive behaviour and outstanding work; it's also about changing how I view the class and the students.  I know I have a tendency to get negative and critical, especially when things around me are stressful.

These emails don't just impact the student and their parents.  It changes me and can even change how I feel.  

Also, I have a 100% response rate for these positive emails.  Most say that I made their day.  Something so small really does make a huge impact.

Try it.  See if it doesn't change your outlook entirely.

Making puppets may not seem like the obvious choice for building community, but it works.

Each step of the process requires groups to pass on instructions to the next person who needs it. 

We've already established that there are 30 of them and 1 of me, so resources are limited.  So it teaches them that the fastest way to get help is NOT ME.

So they start to rely on each other, and they stop seeing me as having all the answers.  

I also started using ClassDojo to help the groups bond.  There are lots of chances for students to earn some Dojo points, such as figuring out the reading logs using just by website, or subscribing to my Google Calendar, or even just returning their MinecraftEDU permission slips.

Having the entire group finish the task means more Dojo points.  The little bit of added motivation pushes them support struggling classmates.  It's a win-win.

Neither one of these tips is earth-shattering.  But they are the start of a year-long process that builds community.

I was never very good at talking to parents.  I was always closer in age to my students than their parents.  Parents intimidated me.  They always seemed scary, especially because phone calls were the way to get in touch with them.

I'm not a phone call person.  I mean, really.  I'm always shocked when people actually answer the phone, because I don't.  Ever.

But when I moved down to 6th grade, I knew I needed to change all of that.  Except the phone thing.  Still not budging on that one.

So I made a video and sent out a parent form.  This year, I made a video for the whole 6th grade Humanities team and all of used a version of the parent feedback google form.

Frankly, it's one of the most useful things I do all year. 

This week, I've spent a lot of time talking and thinking about emotional labour because of this article.

As a teacher, there is always emotional labour to do.  And there's never enough time or energy to do it all.

When I started teaching, I suddenly found myself unable to maintain the friendships I had built in college and high school.  Now, I've never been the social organiser or connector (like Andrew is), but I did have strong friendships from college that I wanted to keep.  And I was so freaking exhausted by teaching high school English, that I lost touch with almost all of them. 

I was so ashamed by that.  Culture tells us, especially women, that we need to call and send cards and check in on our friends, and no, Facebook doesn't count.  To be fair, Facebook didn't exist until years after I graduated, and it is not something I'm investing time in at this point in my life, either.  In my own mind (and probably in the minds of my friends) I was a failure.

But I had kids whose fathers just died, who had serious eating disorders, who had learning disabilities and emotional problems and medical issues...and I just couldn't do it all.  So I chose my students.

Over the years, the emotional labour I take on has changed.  Teaching 6th grade means fewer life crises with students, but I have far more emotional labour with the parents.  My colleagues are also great, but the school culture can be intense and we all struggle with it.

I also have gotten better about boundaries and making sure I have spaces that work for me and let me stay in touch with friends.  Right now, Voxer works really well for me.  I do get overwhelmed from time to time, but I also don't feel compelled to stay on top of all the chats of which I'm a part.

Something else that helps tremendously is that I don't take work home anymore.  Some of that is that I'm tremendously blessed with smaller student numbers, and all of them have laptops so my workflow can be 100% digital.   And I've also learned when to reinvent the wheel, and when to use versions of the wheel others have created.

This is probably one of the issues that is most important for teachers: learning what activities are worth more effort, and which aren't.  Grading doesn't take all of my time now, and I'm giving far more feedback than I have in any previous year.

But I am far more aware now of the emotional labour, and its toll on me and my life.  I think being aware of it will help me find more balance this upcoming year.

FlipCon is always a significant event in the year.

In 2012, I met Karl, Andrew and Crystal while participating virtually.

In 2013, Andrew and I met for the first time and presented about our year of cross-country collaboration.

In 2014, we spent time in person with all the people we spent years talking to online: Crystal, Lindsay Cole, Stacy Roshan, Kate Baker, Ken Bauer, Brian Bennett, Steve Kelley, Zach Cresswell, David Fouch, Delia Bush, Audrey McLaren...I know I've forgotten people (not on purpose!) but there were just so many that it felt like a giant family reunion, even though we had never met some of these people in "real life."

This year, it was all about presentations. Andrew and I had three: one on student-centred classrooms, one on flipped English, and one onflipping without homework (that one was with David Fouch).

But in between those presentations (which we mostly had done by Tuesday morning...a first for us!), we had a ton of fun hanging out with people.  We ran in the rain to eat in the cafeteria and were so soaked we had to change before presenting that afternoon.  We got kicked out of a Starbucks when we talked until past closing time.  

But we also made puppets.

It’s easy to slip into a routine where I don’t think much about school in the summer time.  While it’s necessary to relax, spend time with family and friends, and have some room to do something of little redeeming value, the summer is also a time to think about the upcoming year and what you want it to be.

There are a few practices that can help you engage with the upcoming school year by joining other educators online.  And while there are plenty of articles about reasons for getting connected, and ways of going about it, those can often be overwhelming to teachers who aren’t sold on Twitter or blogging.  

My own story begins four years ago, when I finally gave in and joined Twitter.  I asked my students to teach me how to “do it right” and they were my first followers.  What I found was that it was more than comedians and celebrities tweeting about their own lives.  It was a powerful medium that re-energised my own practice through times of difficulty; engaging with social media saved my teaching practice and made me a more connected, reflective teacher.

When I joined Twitter, I loved teaching but was burnt out in many ways.  And suddenly I saw tweets from teachers who enthusiastically loved talking about their practice.  I also kept hearing about these “Twitter chats” on education-related topics, where educators would gather for one hour each week, and engage in conversations.

At first, it was a firehose of water in the desert and I was intoxicated. ​

A lot is changing next year.  I am the only returning 6th grade Core teacher; my colleagues are changing grade levels or departments and I have one teacher who started this year with me, and two new hires.

So I asked the experts, my students, what I should do differently.  The first thing I asked them to tell me about is Minecraft.  We used it to build neolithic settlements, we used it to learn about the agricultural revolution and the development of trading and cities, and we used it to build Greek buildings in Minecraftopolis.

But I never felt like I did a great job with the Minecraft work because it was all so new to me.  I was constantly learning and relearning.  I didn't know how to fix the issues that came up, and I had students destroying other students' work.  

So I asked students to help me reconceptualise it.  To start over and see what we could do with Minecraft that would be more meaningful.

They had some great ideas.