Yes, you read that right. I don't require a parent signature on our middle school class disclosure/syllabus.
But before you think I'm crazy... hear me out.
Let's be real, majority of parents don't actually read the disclosure anyway. They just sign it. So if you're wanting to give parents important information, I don't think the best way is through the class disclosure.
As a teacher of middle schoolers, I believe they should be taking responsibility for knowing the class policies and procedures. After all, they are the one who is in my class, not their parent. The students are the one who need to know the information in the class disclosure. So you bet I have my students read the disclosure. I even give them a little quiz on it!
Do I let parents read the disclosure if they would like to know that information? Absolutely!! I allow students to take home a physical paper copy to their parents (I just don't require them to bring it back with a signature) and I also have it posted on our LMS, Canvas. Anytime a parent wants to read it, they easily can!
I personally would like to have parents actually read the information I want them to know and I also sometimes have slightly different info for the parents of my students then for the students themselves.
These are all reasons why instead of signing our class disclosure, I have parents take a parent survey. I have them fill out the Google Form the first week of class.
This allows me to get parent information and ask parents questions about their student. It also allows me to still let them know anything important about our class. I put a QR code to the parent survey on my disclosure document and I also link it directly on Canvas.
I have LOVED doing this because I actually have been told critical information about students that I probably would not have gotten otherwise.
If you think you'd like to give it a try, I have a Parent Survey Template and a Disclosure Template available in my TPT store that you may find helpful.
As always, thanks for reading! Let me know if you try this and how it goes for you!
