Parent-Teacher conferences are coming in full swing with the start of November. P-T conferences were frequently disappointing in our districts, as parents had busy schedules and were keeping track of grades online, thus decimating participation. Even requiring parents to come in to P-T conferences in order to get the student's report cards didn't work; parents came in, got the paper, and immediately left. I had a similar experience with a face-to-face parental advisory group when I was a principal.
About 2003, I stopped putting any hope in P-T conferences or Parental Advisory Groups, and instead prioritized online communication. And it worked, tremendously. I had near 80% participation rate in my parental advisory group with an online communication format. I found online communication better for two reasons. I could initiate the conversation at any time, and parents were more likely to respond.
The takeaway was this. Parents care. They want what is best for their children, and they want a voice in that education. There was something about the convenience of interacting online that made it possible.
What I realize now is that I didn't offer them a forum to talk to each other online. All communication was back and forth via email with me. A discussion group or a blog would have produced more authentic sharing.
Which brings me to what Russ Goerend is doing. In addition to his other online professional learning activity, he uses blogging as a centerpiece of his teaching. His blog serves as ongoing writing instruction for students as well as a springboard for student discussion. Moreover, the blog offers parents a chance to not only find information and access notes, but also to participate in the discussion about how to improve the classroom.
STUDENT INPUT
Come to think of it, there was one compliment (I take it as a compliment... those who disagree with my pedagogical outlook will consider it a weakness of mine) that I received at the P-T conferences I had that was very rare for other teachers. Parents really liked the fact that I asked students for their thoughts on what we were learning in class and how we learned it.
We went beyond just offering multiple project choices for individuals. We actually had discussion about the format to instruction and the way we learned best, and sections of my courses were taught completely different from other sections based on what the students argued they learned best with. These usually spilled over into individual discussions with students, both inside and outside of class. For me, frankly, I felt like I was doing what I should have been doing; it was their education, after all.
Russ of course does it better than I do. I love his open threads for students and parents alike to contribute to. Teachers and administrators need to do more of this. It creates more empowering, ongoing dialogue and creates a culture of continuous improvement. More on the responses from students about the technology teachers should use tomorrow.
To do this requires a teacher to be open to criticism of their teaching, that they indeed do not have all the answers and are looking for input. I won't be naive; this is a major hurdle to most teachers, whether we want to admit it or not. But it is one we need to overcome.
Related Post:
Why aren't we asking students?
Showing posts with label community involvement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label community involvement. Show all posts
Monday, November 2, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Diminishing Enrollment
In case you missed it (and could not predict it), Iowa's enrollment went down for the 11th straight year.
The news of course is not all bad, not when Microsoft is coming to West Des Moines, IBM to Dubuque, and Google to the Council Bluffs area. Those three will bring many high-tech positions to the state. But what do you do if you are Olin and you lost 14% of your students this past year? What do you do when your community is hemorrhaging citizens?
Our rural districts don't have to be destined for extinction. Communities can specialize in certain needs, such as TPI Composites windmill blades in Newton. What's more, with the portability of knowledge and the ability to work from distances, small communities do not need a corporate headquarters.
What they do need is collaboration with the K-12 district. If Newton High School, for example, provide courses that help prepare students for TPI, the corporation will have a higher trained work force in its own backyard and won't have the difficulty of recruiting. Which, they can repay by assisting the school with equipment for those courses. Pella has worked very closely with both Pella Windows and Vermeer Manufacturing, and both have helped Pella schools keep modernized.
We could say that schools should not be subject to the local community's industry, that they provide education for students encompassing the whole world's choices. But the reality is, if they don't partner with the local community, their best and brightest leave. Which, ends up driving down enrollment.
This is one respect where the Iowa Core lets us down. Despite its good qualities, the Core doesn't draw heavily upon the input of business leaders, and certainly not outside an Urban 8 setting. Fully implementing the Core will not bring students into your seats. And in this respect, it is forseeable to see rural districts paying more attention to its survival.
The news of course is not all bad, not when Microsoft is coming to West Des Moines, IBM to Dubuque, and Google to the Council Bluffs area. Those three will bring many high-tech positions to the state. But what do you do if you are Olin and you lost 14% of your students this past year? What do you do when your community is hemorrhaging citizens?
Our rural districts don't have to be destined for extinction. Communities can specialize in certain needs, such as TPI Composites windmill blades in Newton. What's more, with the portability of knowledge and the ability to work from distances, small communities do not need a corporate headquarters.
What they do need is collaboration with the K-12 district. If Newton High School, for example, provide courses that help prepare students for TPI, the corporation will have a higher trained work force in its own backyard and won't have the difficulty of recruiting. Which, they can repay by assisting the school with equipment for those courses. Pella has worked very closely with both Pella Windows and Vermeer Manufacturing, and both have helped Pella schools keep modernized.
We could say that schools should not be subject to the local community's industry, that they provide education for students encompassing the whole world's choices. But the reality is, if they don't partner with the local community, their best and brightest leave. Which, ends up driving down enrollment.
This is one respect where the Iowa Core lets us down. Despite its good qualities, the Core doesn't draw heavily upon the input of business leaders, and certainly not outside an Urban 8 setting. Fully implementing the Core will not bring students into your seats. And in this respect, it is forseeable to see rural districts paying more attention to its survival.
Monday, August 25, 2008
The first day of school
I stumbled upon (technically, delicioused upon) the blog of Scott McLeod over the weekend. Being new to the area, I haven't met Scott before, but I love his first day of school checklist. He is absolutely right in his analysis.
You roll into a new school on the first day (my former schools included) to see the new labs set up or the new equipment purchased, but spend a week in the classroom, and you see not a lot changes. I've been witness to this on many levels.
However, Scott's list brings to mind the question: how do we fix the problem? It is perhaps the mentality of many that the equipment in schools is there, it is the technophobic teachers that screw everything up. Or even more popular, it is the school leaders, the principals who are screwing everything up. Throw the misuse of educational technology onto the pile that includes the school lunch menu, an over-emphasis on sports, the cheeky attitude of today's youth, and cyber-bullying. I am guilty of a lot.
But, this hasn't been my experience. It isn't necessarily a lack of vision and leadership from the principals. I was the Director of Technology at a 3A district (=1400 students) that had one person devoted to technology. One. For coordinating, purchasing, professional development, curriculum, vision, server maintenance, database maintenance, e-rate, Project EASIER, technical repairs, you name it. One. And, that person taught 2 classes a day.
From reading this, you could say the superintendent or board was short-sighted. On the contrary, they were very supportive and saw the importance of technology in their children's future. But when you have to cut 2-3 teaching positions a year at a school of 120 teachers due to a 4% allowable growth, how can you justify more salary for technology?
I still feel we were very effective. We did many innovative technology projects that gained both local and nation-wide attention. It was due primarily to the willingness of teachers to try something they were not comfortable with. In fact, as I teach graduate classes in the summer, my classes are always full. In this last round of classes I taught, over a quarter of the teachers taking the class were within 7 years of retirement.
What we didn't have was community technology leaders coming in to help out, to offer teachers free assistance and ideas and support. And that isn't the fault of community members... there is a communication issue at play here. It sounds like Ames schools are lucky to have someone like Scott as a resource to help them out in learning new technology, but the bottom-line reality is that many school districts don't have experts from the community helping out. If the community is to benefit from the technological prowess of their children, it behooves them to take an active part in it.
There's one other avenue I have to explore. I graduated from Luther College and received both my Master's and later my administrative endorsement from Viterbo University. The programs were excellent... I thoroughly enjoyed my time! However, there were no classes in instructional technology.
Do young teachers possess more technological skills and therefore have a better 21st century learning environment for their students? Unequivocally, I say yes. Is it because of their college training reflecting the changing times? No. College educational programs haven't mandated courses in emerging technology, web 2.0 or otherwise. There is not a study in instruction design from technology infusion, reading the works of George Siemens or Will Richardson. This too has to change to support technology transforming our students' education
You roll into a new school on the first day (my former schools included) to see the new labs set up or the new equipment purchased, but spend a week in the classroom, and you see not a lot changes. I've been witness to this on many levels.
However, Scott's list brings to mind the question: how do we fix the problem? It is perhaps the mentality of many that the equipment in schools is there, it is the technophobic teachers that screw everything up. Or even more popular, it is the school leaders, the principals who are screwing everything up. Throw the misuse of educational technology onto the pile that includes the school lunch menu, an over-emphasis on sports, the cheeky attitude of today's youth, and cyber-bullying. I am guilty of a lot.
But, this hasn't been my experience. It isn't necessarily a lack of vision and leadership from the principals. I was the Director of Technology at a 3A district (=1400 students) that had one person devoted to technology. One. For coordinating, purchasing, professional development, curriculum, vision, server maintenance, database maintenance, e-rate, Project EASIER, technical repairs, you name it. One. And, that person taught 2 classes a day.
From reading this, you could say the superintendent or board was short-sighted. On the contrary, they were very supportive and saw the importance of technology in their children's future. But when you have to cut 2-3 teaching positions a year at a school of 120 teachers due to a 4% allowable growth, how can you justify more salary for technology?
I still feel we were very effective. We did many innovative technology projects that gained both local and nation-wide attention. It was due primarily to the willingness of teachers to try something they were not comfortable with. In fact, as I teach graduate classes in the summer, my classes are always full. In this last round of classes I taught, over a quarter of the teachers taking the class were within 7 years of retirement.
What we didn't have was community technology leaders coming in to help out, to offer teachers free assistance and ideas and support. And that isn't the fault of community members... there is a communication issue at play here. It sounds like Ames schools are lucky to have someone like Scott as a resource to help them out in learning new technology, but the bottom-line reality is that many school districts don't have experts from the community helping out. If the community is to benefit from the technological prowess of their children, it behooves them to take an active part in it.
There's one other avenue I have to explore. I graduated from Luther College and received both my Master's and later my administrative endorsement from Viterbo University. The programs were excellent... I thoroughly enjoyed my time! However, there were no classes in instructional technology.
Do young teachers possess more technological skills and therefore have a better 21st century learning environment for their students? Unequivocally, I say yes. Is it because of their college training reflecting the changing times? No. College educational programs haven't mandated courses in emerging technology, web 2.0 or otherwise. There is not a study in instruction design from technology infusion, reading the works of George Siemens or Will Richardson. This too has to change to support technology transforming our students' education
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