Facebook in the Classroom

Facebook has been a part of my kinder classroom for the last five years. It began as a communication tool with parents. I found that traditional communication methods with parents were not working as they were not reading newsletters or responding to messages in the student's communicators and mailbags. I was spending copious amounts of time creating letters and writing to parents/guardians only to find out that families were uninformed of our daily happenings. Facebook allows a post to be created within only a few minutes which would save a lot of valuable time! I knew that almost everyone had facebook and utilised it daily, so why not begin a class facebook account?

I began adding families in our classroom and let them know about the account as well. I soon had the majority of families looking at the facebook account on a daily basis which was apparent by the number of likes to posts as well as comments.

I would post each day about something that had happened throughout our school day as well as include photographs with the student's faces covered for privacy reasons. That being said, our account was private and only those associated with the classroom were welcome to join. Both my principal and vice principal are part of the group which keeps them up to date in regards to what is happening in our classroom. 

In addition to the comments and likes from families, I had many parents/guardians using the messenger function on a regular basis to share information with me about their child or to check in with regard to their child's progress.

At the end of my first year utilising facebook as a communication and family engagement tool, I began to wonder if it was effective enough and if families were receiving enough information to be engaged in their child's school experience. After speaking with several parents it was noted that they would like to have pictures posted that showed their child's face. I then sent out permission letters to be signed by parents/guardians so that I could then post images of children without any editing. I had all forms returned indicating that each family would like to have images of their child posted. It was agreed upon that the photos could not be shared or printed due to privacy. If an image only included one child, the family of the child was welcome to share or print the image.

Relieving the account of image restrictions also allowed me to begin posting videos of our day. Families loved watching each clip and it allowed many parents/guardians that work during the school day to feel like they had joined us in the classroom.

The students and families that were part of my initial facebook trial fell in love with this method of receiving documentation. The families actually requested that the following year teacher create a class facebook as they had become accustomed to the daily communication.  

Currently, I have two facebook accounts to share documentation and information with families. I have one account or my pre-kindergarten class as well as one account for my grade one math class. Families are still so appreciative of this practice and make a point of letting me know on a regular basis. Our kindergarten teacher and grade four teacher now use facebook as a means of communication and engagement as well.

 For those families that do not have facebook, they are welcome to access that account while they are at the school. During family engagement days/evenings I have the account open so that families can look at what we have been doing. This is also a great way to promote the use of the account as it serves as a reminder to all of the families.