Reconnect: Phase 1

The Reconnect Project’s goal is to bridge the gap between families and teachers. We will

use an app, Bloomz, to create a convenient way for parents and teachers to send photos, message

one another, and share a schedule. We believe that with the current system teachers are not able

to effectively teach when parents do not follow up with their child at home. Having parents and

teachers on the same page about new material, behavioral concerns, and scheduling will create a

consistent and more effective learning environment for the students. The app Bloomz is a great

solution to this problem. The messaging system allows for teachers to notify parents of any

concerns or praise regarding their child, and it also allows the parents to follow up with that their

child is learning throughout the school day. Our ultimate goal is to have parents feel secure in

what their child is learning, and for teachers to feel supported by their students families.

Amy Graham, a researcher for Charles Darwin University, in a 2019 study found that

there is a disconnect between what parents think teachers look for in a student and what teachers

actually need to help their day go smoothly. Parents spent a lot of time helping their students

with reading and writing, but many teachers argued that preparing their child emotionally for the

school day was a more effective learning strategy. She adds, “My research also shows that

teachers find around 62% of children starting school have at least one cause for concern, whether

that is their emotional development, social skills, cognitive maturity, physical or literacy

development” (Graham, 2019). This statistic shows how prevalent these issues in the classroom

are, and if parents and teachers work together to discuss and resolve these concerns they may be

addressed much sooner. This study shows that there is a need for better communication between

parents and teachers, but it does not provide a direct solution. It encourages parents to allow kids
time to play and join extracurricular activities in order to further develop their social and

emotional skills. A downside to this solution is that technology is not included, but it is a positive

recommendation because it allows children to be active in learning about their interests.

David Burgess, a writer for Teaching Times, wrote an article explaining the evidence of

positive outcomes that are associated with healthy parent-teacher relationships. He explained that

evidence shows students who have parents that are involved in the school day are much more

likely to do well academically. He writes, “Communicating on matters relating to homework and

passing on details of achievements and rewards can generate positive relationships between

home and school and helps combat the negative image of schools contacting parents only when

things go wrong” (Burgess, n.d.). He goes on to mention that the use of technology may be a

solution to this issue by creating an efficient way for families and educators to communicate. In

recent years, teachers have been able to ensure parents receive these messages by directly

delivering them via apps or websites rather than depending on a child to deliver the message. We

believe that the ability to message, schedule, share photos, and provide additional educational

material through the Bloomz app will allow parents and teachers to solve many existing issues

within the classroom.

The American Federation of Teachers wrote an article about building the relationship

between teachers and parents, and so many of their tips can be solved by using an app that is a

great place for two way communications. The Federation talks about the benefits that are

available for both teachers and parents when a healthy relationship is formed. They mention that

teachers are able to spend much more time teaching curriculum instead of spending that time

correcting behaviors. Without good communication, teachers may not really know about their

students or their home lives, and they aren’t able to support them the best that they could.
Through the Bloomz app, parents would be able to notify teachers of any issues going on in the

home that may be affecting the child’s ability to learn during the school day. Parents also will

benefit from communication with the teacher as they learn new skills to help their students both

in their academic and social development. In order to promote this positive learning space, the

Federation recommends teachers use many different forms of communication. They include,

“The great diversity among families means that it is not possible to rely on a single method of

communication that will reach all homes with a given message” (Meadows, 2007). Using an app

is a great way to build on conversations that happen over the phone, through a newsletter, or in

person.

The Reconnect Project will bridge the gap of communication between teachers and their

parents with the Bloomz app. This project will introduce a universal phone app to both faculty

and parents to enhance communication. The current fast pace lifestyle within this generation of

parents creates a situation which limits the amount of face-to-face communication a parent has

with their child’s teacher. However, 96% of Americans own a cell phone with 81% of that being

smart phone devices. Thus, this project embraces that surplus of technology provided in today’s

society. The Bloomz app will provide teachers with the ability to have complete transparency

between themselves and their students' parents. This app will allow for teachers to privately

communicate specific situations to a parent involving their child rather than addressing these

issues in front of other students or parents before and after school. Bloomz will also provide

private sharing of photos to parents during school activities such as field trips and special school

events. This app also allows for a private way to communicate a child’s behavior to the parent.

While equally allowing general classroom information to be shared by teachers to all parents

invited to the app. This general information will include: Scheduling of parent teacher meetings;
providing a day-to-day schedule of classroom activities; announcements of materials needed for

class; as well as open scheduling of class volunteers.

Teachers have been working to develop relationships with their students and their

families for many years, so this app just creates a more effective way to do this. The app does not

add any more work for the teacher because the teacher still decides how often they will use the

app. Thus far, a problem we face is the use of other lesser known apps by our current teachers.

There are current apps in current use that involve student behavior, or other apps that address

class assignment reminders. However, this project focuses on centralizing our school system to a

single app. Allowing for a consistency throughout school so parents are able to stay with a

familiar source throughout their child’s academic journey.

We both work within the elementary school systems. On a day to day basis we both find

ourselves having to relay any information between teacher and parent. Given that we both work

with student’s afterschool, there are often times where a teacher will communicate a situation

with us and then ask us to relay that information to the parent. Similarly, we see parents whom

pick up their children from school either not come to the classroom to grab their child; Or if they

do go to the classroom, they often do not stay to communicate with the teacher. We both have

experienced situations where current forms of communication have failed. For instance,

newsletters from teachers that are put inside backpacks of their students often get lost or

accidently thrown away before reaching the parent.. Therefore, being able to allow for there to

be a more efficient way to communicate has become a passionate project for us.
 Works Cited

Study Finds Gap between Parents and Teachers on School Readiness,

www.cdu.edu.au/newsroom/school-readiness.

“Bridging the Gap between Parents, Pupils and Schools.” Bridging the Gap: Communication between

Parents, Pupils and Schools, www.teachingtimes.com/articles/bridging-the-gap-communication-

parents-pupils-schools.htm.

“Demographics of Mobile Device Ownership and Adoption in the United States.” Pew Research

Center: Internet, Science & Tech, 12 June 2019, www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/mobile/.

Meadows, Angela, et al. “Building Parent-Teacher Relationships.” Reading Rockets, 26 Sept. 2019,

www.readingrockets.org/article/building-parent-teacher-relationships.

Ross, Doug. “Using Tech to Bridge the Gap between Parents and Teachers.” Medium, Skills
Matter, 28 Feb. 2019, medium.com/skills-matter/using-tech-to-bridge-the-gap-between-parents-
and-teachers-de1c5c9d142d.