On Saturday June 19 , 2010, Classroom 2.0 Live was fortunate to have a team from the Toronto District School Board sharing how they use social media as a school board, school and classroom. Stuart Oakley, T.J. Goertz, Manny Da Luz, Aveline Ristuccia shared some ground breaking steps that they are using to connect and communicate with parents using social media. The Director of Education has a blog and twitter account. The school board has a Youtube channel , twitter account. and a Facebook Account. Winona Drive Senior Public School uses Twitter to update parents on school trips. Manny Da Luz is the Principal and he has his own Twitter account. Aveline Ristuccia is a classroom teacher and the class has a twitter account.
A fantastic demonstrations or open and two conversations with parents and students. Listen to the recorded show to hear the rest of the good news. More links can be found on the archives page at live.classroom20.com.

Classroom 2.0 LIVE – Toronto District School Board, Using Social Media to Support Staff, Students an from Kim Caise on Vimeo.

At least one of them. Today is a very special day for me. Let me tell you why. Over the past 10 odd years I have been working with parents encouraging, prodding and down right pushing at times. Using technology for many parents is a challenge and parents often fear that they will touch the wrong button and crash the computer.
As most of you know, I have had a consistent message. Technology will remove barriers of time and energy to help engage parents in their child’s learning. Remember I said 10 years.

Today, Laurel Allsion, one of my incredible friends (technology challenged – not any more) told me she has started a blog. I am so moved. Really, she took my breath away. I was astounded. She has come such a long way and with considerable courage she is embracing technology in spite of her fear of breaking the computer. It took us a few minutes to find the url for her blog ( lots to learn still). Here is the link to her blog. http://lifeislikechinesecheckers.wordpress.com
I can guarantee you will want to read every word. Her perspective as a parent is outstanding. She is currently the Chair of the Niagara Catholic Regional School Council. Laurel is extremely articulate and diligent in speaking out for parents without alienating teachers. She brings to the conversation an amazing capacity to describe how parents feel. Now she will be able to take her wisdom to the world for all to see and learn.

I have been really fortunate because she has been on my my cheerleaders through out the years. Laurel is one of the Parent “stars” in the Niagara Catholic Parent Reaching Out Project.

Her daughter – ( I will leave it to Laurel to tell you about her) is tech savvy and has helped her get started. An excellent example of letting child teach.
Try this post as a starter.
http://lifeislikechinesecheckers.wordpress.com/2010/06/18/parent-involvement-how-much-can-one-parent-give/

I can’t wait until Sat for you to listen to Manny Da luz , vice principal at Winona Drive Senior Public School talk about how he uses Twitter to connect with parents. In a pre-show conversation, he shared how he used the school twitter feed on the school’s website (Link)to update parents of students who are on their year end trip.

Much the same way has subscribing to flight arrival and departure notifications. Wish Twitter and Manny had been there when my kids were young. No more crazy long waits in the parking lot not knowing why the buses are late!!

Some parents have all the luck!!!

Saturday 12:00 noon EDT at http://tinyurl.com/cr20live Join us for the rest of the great ideas.

The line up for the June 19, 2010 Classroom 2.0 Live show will include Stuart Oakley, T.J. Goertz, Manny Da Luz, Aveline Ristuccia from the Toronto District School Board talking about how Toronto District School Board uses Social Media to Support Staff, Students and Families/ Please join us at 12:00 noon EDT at http://tinyurl.com/cr20live
Find out how their school board is using Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to teach their students and reach out to parents and the community in Toronto, Ontario.

Subscribe to Classroom 2.0 iTunesU channel http://tinyurl.com/cr20liveitunesu for other great shows.

I have been doing a review of school websites and too often I find – no information – the information is seriously out of date – or no website at all. It is so disappointing. School Boards spend money and time to set up websites and I know parents make good use of online communications when there is information. Something is terribly wrong with this picture? What are you doing to stay current and timely with your information to parents and students? Who taught you how to do it?

Image credit:
cc licensed flickr photo by Kristen C: http://flickr.com/photos/barefoot-mama/207575845/

Emily McMillan is a PhD Candidate, Human Studies at Laurentian University and she asked me to share with you a request for your support in completing a survey as a part of her research project.

The survey can be found at
http://fluidsurveys.com/surveys/mcmillan/phd-project-copy/
She is looking for responses from the following categories:
* a parent who is or has been homeschooling a child
* a person who is being or has been homeschooled
* a parent who has or has had a child in public school
* a person between the ages of 18 and 25 who has attended public school

Emily asks “If you are interested, please click on the link below and fill out a
web-based survey which should take you about ten minutes. Your
participation is much appreciated and upon completion of the survey, you
may enter a draw for a gift certificate at Chapters bookstore in the
amount of $100.”
Please pass this information onto to anyone else you know.

In October 2009 I blogged about the success of the practice of student led parent teacher conferences. http://www.ourschool.ca/student-lead-parent-teacher-conferences.html and was frustrated by the small number of schools using this method of communicating student progress.

Well I am proud to report that Canadian Curriculum Services along with the Province of Ontario has prepared some excellent resources for teachers to use to shift from the standard report card and grade review. They have prepared a video series that explains what a student led parent teacher conference looks like, how teachers can use them as well as informing and guiding parents through the process. Certainly a great resource to use in conjunction with a meet and greet night or School Council meeting. I particularly like the use of Voice Thread to demonstrate learning and also to allow parents to comment.

These videos are available for download in a variety of formats and can be embedded into a PowerPoint presentation. Isn’t technology wonderful?

It was, however, interesting that yesterday’s tweet about this resource produced a response. “teachers are afraid to be frank and the report cards need translating from PC back to English” Clearly there are some hurdles to be overcome in making this approach successful.

I believe in the premise that students presenting a portfolio for parents to discuss is a far better approach then describing what a “A” or “B” means and why they received a “D”. What a wonderful way to celebrate achievements and discuss places to improve. From my understanding students are motivated all through the year in preparing best work to file in their portfolio ready to present.

Please share your experience with student led parent teacher conferences? Positive or Negative?
No time to comment than cast your vote in Today’s Poll question.

http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/life-skills-every-child-needs/

Mind in the Making – The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs – by Ellen Galinsky is reviewed in the New York Times today. Down to earth advice that recognizes the day in the life of a parent. Here is peek at the content of her new book.

Galinsky, a child-education expert and co-founder of the Families and Work Institute, has subtitled her book “The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs.” She breaks those skills down into chapters — “Focus and Self Control,” “Perspective Taking,” “Communicating,” “Making Connections,” “Critical Thinking,” “Taking on Challenges,” “Self-Directed Engaged Learning” — and lays out the activities of everyday life that foster those goals.

Self-control, for instance, can be taught through games likes Simon Says. To encourage perspective, which Galinsky defines as “figuring out what others think and feel”, you can read to your children then talk about what the characters were thinking and feeling. communication means asking “who, what, where and why” questions. Making connections can be strengthened through sorting games. Critical thinking results from such things as watching TV with older children and asking them to evaluate the truth of the ads. Taking on challenges means praising their efforts or strategies (“you worked hard to find the right piece of the puzzle”) rather than their talents (“you are so smart.”) And learning from decisions and experiences means allowing children to make plans — what toys they want to play with next, what activity they want to do next weekend, how they will allot their study time — then look back and evaluate those plans, with an eye toward what worked and what they would do differently next time.

Sounds simple, no? With no need for fancy gadgets or the involvement of professionals? Perhaps it sounds a lot like what you are doing now, just a bit more directed?

That is the point, Galinsky says. Too much of the parenting conversation has served to raise the bar beyond what is reasonable or necessary, to tell parents there is one right way, and you’d better learn it fast before you ruin your child for good. Galinsky’s goal, as she writes in a guest essay today, is to ratchet down that frenzy and reduce the guilt by sending parents the message that they already know most of what they need to know, and they are already doing pretty darn well.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

If you missed the Parents as Partners webcast, be sure to join Kim Caise, Lorna Costantini and Peggy George as they welcome Mike Herrity to Classroom 2.0 Live. Saturday April 17, 2010 at 12 noon EDT (GMT-4) Mike will be joining us from Dorset UK to share how Twynham school uses Sharepoint to engage students and parents.
Starting with their students input they designed a portal to help track of student data and link parents and students under the umbrella of a student mentoring program.

You won’t be disappointed. Find out how they structured their Options online video series to help students make their course selection process easy. Something all parents dream about.
The session is held in Elluminate. Webcast link – http://tinyurl.com/cr20live

I’m really excited to share the E-book from Twynham School that Mike Herrity promised on our March 11, 2010 Parents as Partners Webcast.
I can’t emphasize enough how the effective partnerships that have been developed at this school are paying off. I made a statement in the web cast that Mike and his school had taken all the parts of the parent engagement picture and had put them together in a way that brings the conversations about school in a setting that invites discussions without the angst of ” what did you do today” questions.

You won’t be disappointed. Read the free ebook and look forward to meeting Mike again on Saturday April 17, 2010 at 12:00 Noon EDT (GMT-4) at Classroom 2.0 Live The session is help in Elluminate so please visit the Classroom 2.0 Live site in advance for instructions on how to participate.