Where Do We Stand In Burlington In Regards To Family-School Partnerships?

Last Friday, I explained my involvement in a summer learning experience called #PTCamp.  This six-week summer book discussion centers around the book Beyond the Bake Sale, the Essential Guide to Family/school Partnerships. The discussion has been amazing so far with 100 educators from around the globe sharing their thoughts and resources on improving the way schools build partnerships with families.  

One of my favorite resources from chapters 1 and 2 is the rubric that was created to help schools see where they currently stand in regards to building a partnership with their families. My personal feeling is that we have Open-Door Schools in Burlington and have some work to do to get to the Partnership School status. Of course, I can't help wondering if parents feel the same way.

Beyond The Bake Sale - School-Family Partnership Rubric

This Week's Parent- Teacher Chat - Education in the Eye of the Presidential Candidates w/ Nikhil Goyal

Originally posted on eFace Today:

Image credit: http://www.educationfuture.info

This Wednesday night at 9PM EDT/6PM PST, we'll be talking politics and the future of U.S. Education on #PTchat (Parent-Teacher Chat). Nikhil Goyal (@nikhilgoya_l), a 17 year-old student and author of One Size Does Not Fit All: A Student's Assessment of School will answer questions and offer ideas during our chat according to his lens as a student attending today's schools. 


During the chat, we'll discuss current local and national education policies in place, as well as any future plans and ideas our Presidential candidates plan to implement. Greg Toppo (@gtoppo) of USA Today recently wrote an article on the differing views on education our candidate possess. 


With the final Presidential debate in the books, Wednesday's timely chat promises to be lively and full of perspectives from all areas of education. We encourage you to send sample questions for Nikhil to pennedtech@gmail.com by Tuesday, 10/23/12 5PM. 

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unique and important parent and/or educator perspective.

This Week' #PTchat - Creating an Educational Climate in the Home

Originally posted at eFACE Today:

By Dana Sirotiak

Image credit: http://www.pbs.org

Image credit: http://www.pbs.org

Parents are the driving force behind their child’s education.  The partnership between the home and school is important in the social and educational development of the child.  As a teacher, I am usually asked the question “How can I help my child?” “How can I assist with

the educational process at home so my child can be more successful in school?” 

Many times I have these discussions when a child is already in danger of failing.  Although
parents have their child’s best interest at heart, they sometimes have difficulty understanding the resources their child needs at home.  Members of the school have the responsibility to provide families with tools and resources so that parents may successfully assist in their child’s education at
home. 

Join us this Wednesday, October 3rd at 9pm EDT/6pm PST on #PTChat as we share experiences and tools families need in order to Create an Educational Climate in the Home.  

This Week’s #PTchat: Raising Student Self-Esteem w/ Angela Maiers

This was originally posted on eFaceToday.:

I hope people from the Burlington community will consider becoming involved with #PTChat on Wednesday night. Please contact me if you have any questions on how to get involved with a Twitter chat.

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdkrebs

#YouMatter - These two words hold so much power and potential in supporting kids in today’s world. School students come to us with unlimited potential and oftentimes all it takes is for them to feel a little extra support, confidence and love from their parents and educators to help them rise to the occasion.

This week, we’ve invited @AngelaMaiers to our weekly Parent-Teacher Chat to help provide us the very best strategies in raising self esteem for students everywhere.  Angela’s life path has always been about teaching and communication. Her twenty years as an educator and her passionate pursuit of literacy and learning, gave her a healthy dose of courage and skills that have led to a variety of wonderful experiences, including classroom and University teaching, instructional coaching, research, writing, publishing, corporate training, and starting my own business. More on Angela Maiers can be found on her website here and in her TEDxDesMoines talk below.

Also invited to this discussion is 2012 Blue Ribbon School Principal Tony Sinanis, whose school (Cantiague Elementary), employs multiple “bucket-filling” opportunities for its learning community. We’ll hear from Tony and others on applying these strategies at home and at school.
Please join us on Wednesday night, 9/19 at 9EDT/6PST. Together we’ll create a gDOC school newsletter resource for educators & parents on student self-esteem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FHdHUzRnms

Don't Miss This Week's #PTchat! Parents & Teachers Discuss Digital Citizenship & Internet Safety

We have certainly had many conversations about how we are supporting our students and parents in regards to citizenship and responsibility in the digital age. While our move to a 1:1 high school where every students has an iPad has brought a great deal of positive feedback, there have also been parents who have raised concerns about the increased access to the world wide web that their students now have.

As you can imagine, the questions and concerns that we are dealing with here in Burlington are the same ones that are being discussed in communities throughout our country (and beyond).  This Wednesday night you have the chance to collaborate with parents and teachers from all over the map on this subject.  Check out the blog post below from eFaceToday for more information:

Image credit: mozardien.com

Image credit: mozardien.com

Guest post by #PTchat moderator and New Jersey teacher Dana Sirotiak (@sirotiak02) As we prepare our students and children for the 21st Century, there is a certain responsibility required when educating students on how to practice safe and responsible usage of online information.  The positives of technology integration include collaboration and increased productivity, but in order for students to demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning, we must instill practices when preparing students for appropriate Internet usage.   Join us this Wednesday, September 12th at 9pm EDT/6pm PST as we discuss what it means to be a digital citizen and how teachers and parents can develop a partnership to facilitate Internet safety both in school and in the home.  All #PTchat archives/resource gDOCs can be found here.