Communicate with parents. To involve parents in a student's writing will likely require the teacher to do some initial writing. Modern technology provides a number of efficient ways to communicate with parents that is convenient and not bound to schedule restrictions. Consider communicating by email, an online class website, by text or via mail. Communicate with parents the objective of their involvement, your expectations of them, the benefits to their child's education and a way to provide feedback to you.
Ask other teachers at your school about similar experiences or efforts they have implemented in their own classrooms. Teachers have varied experiences and chances are someone teaching at your school has attempted something similar and has learned from this experience. You will have a head start by learning from their experience before you plan your own.
Survey parents on their reaction to your communication. Their feedback is very important if you want to involve them. Listen to what they say and identify common barriers families have to involvement. Find solutions to the challenges. Let parents know how important it is that they be involved and chances are it will become important to them as well.
Establish a committee of parental volunteers or schedule an informative meeting where guidelines, project objectives, expectations and participant roles are all defined. Either take notes at this meeting or ask someone else to. Follow up with all parents with a written affirmation of what was decided at this meeting and the writing program that developed from it. Emphasize how parents will be involved in students' writing.
Implement the writing program. Since the purpose is to involve parents, parents should be a part of the implementation. Monitor students progress and parent participation. Perhaps parents will be coming into the classroom and proposing writing topics or maybe students will interview their parents and write a report on their parents' lives. Another idea would be to have students journal back and forth with their parents on a topic over a period of time.
Thank parents for their involvement and find a way to recognize their efforts. Teachers can host an awards ceremony or have students present their projects in a PowerPoint presentation at the end. It is really important that teachers recognize the varying demands and responsibilities parents often have and appreciate their efforts so that parents perceive their involvement as a positive experience.
Evaluate the program. Ask students and parents for feedback. Ask for suggestions and ways to improve the project for future classes. Evaluate the student's performance on the project and identify strengths and weaknesses. Reflect on the project yourself and identify things you want to do differently next time and what went well.
Give yourself some praise. Involving a classroom of parents in any project can be a challenge. But once you have done so you will become more comfortable and improve your skills as a teacher. You are also doing your school district a favor, as parental involvement should be an increasingly important factor on the agenda of most administrators.