I recently had the honor of serving for two years as the President for the CHCCS PTA Council - the organizing and advocacy body for all of the PTAs in our district. I also had the chance to serve on the board and several committees for our state PTA as well.
In my capacity as a parent leader I have had countless conversations with parents about their schools - about what they love and about what they would change.
There are two themes that have consistently emerged from all of those conversations. The first is that parents deeply care about their schools and the professionals that work with their children. Parents love to know what is happening so they can celebrate the small victories and carry shared burdens with the school community. The second theme is that parents crave practical and actionable information about how they can better support their schools, teachers and the learning of their children.
One of the things that I really liked about the Russell Street blog was that it provided the information parents are looking for. The "community newsletter" was full of helpful information and several entries gave insight into the specific things happening at the school. The article on how to support math education at home was the kind of specific, actionable information that parents crave.
Blogging can serve as a community building practice that helps brings everyone together - parents, students and staff. Russell Street seems to be doing a great job of this. I think it is a challenge more schools should take on.
Thanks for offering a different perspective! You're completely right; it's such a valuable asset for parents.
ReplyDeleteThanks Amanda!
DeleteI agree with your statement that this is a challenge that more schools should take on. I like to send a newsletter home with my students every Monday. If I posted it to a classroom blog, parents would be able to access it there (since I know not all papers make it home from second grade students) and watch demonstrations. There can be flipped lessons posted to the blog as well, so that if a student misses a day, they can catch up at home with the help of parents.
ReplyDeleteAs a parent, I would love all of that. And I think it would be valuable for you as an educator as well!
DeleteFor years, I used Moodle as a way to involve my second graders and third graders in online learning, but with the advancement of so many technology favorites now, and as a result of being student centered now (the county wouldn't give students rights to Moodle), I moved to using Google Apps like Drive and Classroom because they were interactive. I fell in love with the idea of using a classroom blog as a multi-purpose blog last summer when I was required to set one up in Edtech 501. Unfortunately, my school district isn't open to Blogger (part of GAFE) for the students, so I may need to begin with Kidblog, but I would love to advance to a platform that includes the elements you mentioned above. The best way to get everyone involved is to involve everyone.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this level of parent involvement is much stronger at the elementary level. I teach high school and I rarely see parents getting as excited about the day-to-day activities in classes. This isn't a critique, but an observation.
ReplyDelete