1. Blog consistently. Every year I help teachers create new blogs and every year by the time winter holidays roll around some of those blogs have withered and died on the vine. That happens because teachers get discouraged when their blogs aren't an instant hit with students and parents. Even if they already read other blogs, checking your blog for updates is a new habit for your students and their parents. Give them time to get in the habit. You also have to give them a reason to keep coming back. Post important content consistently and with time you'll have students and their parents checking your blog consistently.
2. Text message. Give students and parents the option to reach you via text messaging. If your students are anything like the under 30 crowd mentioned in this USA Today article, they prefer text messages to email. Give them the opportunity to communicate with you via text through a service like Google Voice (read about how I've used Google Voice) or a service like Remind 101. Both of those services allow you to text from your computer without revealing your personal cell phone number.
