Two periods a week, I am asked to engage in parental outreach. I have always engaged in parental outreach. In and of itself, this is not a problem. I am a parent. I understand the need.
I've now set the groundwork for contacting parents. I made a phone book of numbers. I've checked which parents have e-mail addresses on Daedalus. Far too few are available for quick and easy mass e-mailings. So, I drafted a letter and printed 163 copies to suggest that parents who are not signed onto Daedalus might do so.
Although I have no problem with contacting parents, I do mind the data entry now being asked of me. Last year, I logged my contacts on paper and handed it in as an artifact. This year, I have been told that I need to log all my parental contacts onto the Daedalus computer system as well. It is an additional step and it makes me uneasy on several counts. First, I will spend half my parental contact time logging in contact data, rather than figuring out which parents to contact and actually contacting them. It may also be in violation of my contract. Most importantly, in my opinion, I don't like creating data files on students which, for all I know, may forever be enshrined somewhere in cyberspace. If some kid is negligent in his homework in my class for a time, it isn't a matter that I want recorded for all time--either as a teacher or as a parent. Parental Outreach? Yes. Data Outreach? No!
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