"Reflecting" in order to move forward with Parent Engagement

In order to move any initiative, program, or practice forward you must always begin with the “reflection” piece. As a reflective practitioner I am using part of the summer to learn more about and reflect upon the parent engagement piece of the total school community here at Francis Howell Middle School. To help me with this reflection, I’ve joined 99 other educators from around the world. We are participating in a six week intensified book study. We are gleaning our understanding from Anne Henderson and Karen Mapp, authors of Beyond the Bake Sale.

Joe Mazza is leading out and facilitating our study via #PTcamp, Voxer, GoogleDocs, and ApprenNet.  We’ve learned that there are four types of schools: Partnership School, Open-Door School, Come If-We-Call School, and the Fortress School. The chart below, from Beyond the Bake Sale, provides a clear explanation of each type of school.

In moving our school forward to become a full-fledged Partnership School, we must do the following:

·         Review the current role of our parents within the school setting in the areas of: Volunteering, Student-Led Conferences, Parent Development, Building-wide leadership (Building Improvement Group), Celebrations, Fund Raising, and Community Service.

·         Assess, review, and evaluate PTO and its role within the school

o   How can we take PTO to the next level?

·         Assess, review, and evaluate the Parent Involvement Team (PIT). Our PIT team is part of the National Network of Partnership Schools with Johns Hopkins University.

o   How can we take PIT to the next level?

·         Develop and implement a long-range plan

o   Set it into motion utilizing the skills, talents, and knowledge of each school community group.

This reflection, a growing and changing process, will  take time. In looking at the next three to five years, we can begin now by reflecting on our current practices so that we can move towards becoming a Partnership School.  I am looking forward in engaging as many parents, staff, students, and community members in this process. After all, shouldn’t we include our parents in the “complete” educational experience of their children?

"To Vox or Not to Vox?" that is the Question

Lately I’ve been reading quite a bit on the flutter of tweets, blog posts and chats that are focused on the prospects of “Voxer”. As always we are all over the place in regards to our thoughts, ideas, and opinions. I just want to put it “out there” that when I first heard of Voxer (last fall) I was very apprehensive and skeptical. Now after using it for my professional PLN collaboration, I now see its value and worth through a completely different lens.

Voxer is an application that uses the traditional “Walkie Talkie” format of communication. Voxer has transformed this communication style to blend in with today’s communication needs. Both audio and text features are readily available. So you can send an audio message, a text message, or send a little of both. All audio and text messages are archived within your individual or group list. You can access your Vox reports (as I like to call it) at any time. You can also set up push notification so that you are notified when you receive a Vox.

Here are a few ways to incorporate Voxer into your communication plan:

Book Study: Right Now #PTcamp (under the leadership of @Joe_Mazza) is studying “Beyond the Bake Sale”. We have 100 adult learners participating. This is just one of many tools that we will be utilizing for the book study.

Chat Moderator Team: This is an effective and efficient way to share information with your moderator team. Thanks to @LauraGilchrist4, our #MOedchat team is now using Voxer. It allows us the time to Vox with each other, reflect, and continue our work.

Leadership Team: create a group (for your Admin team, Department Chairs, Grade Level Chairs) so that you can share out information.

Personal Use: Your family can all communicate together. It’s also great to simple “hear” the other person’s voice! This increases the personal contact.

I am just asking that you try it out. You may enjoy using Voxer and again you may not. I think it’s important to at least investigate the possibilities of Voxing. You never know who you may be able to reach or connect with by using Voxer as another 21^st century communication tool. Take time to answer William Shakespeare’s timeless question (modified for us today): To Vox or Not to Vox?

I Love being an educator because...

I get the opportunity each day to open windows of opportunities …listen to students tell their story …to learn something “new” in the classroom from my teachers …to lead out change …and to see the proverbial light bulb turn on!

I also owe my educational career to the exemplary teachers in my life: Mrs. Steinhoff (3^rd), Mrs. Sanz-Agero (5^th) Mr. Davis (6^th Science) Mr. Oliver (6-12 band), and Mr. Mauer (History). They all set the bar high, they were beyond reproach. Their expectations, love, and passion for teaching were real, sincere, and genuine. They were my “champions”. They instilled in me the belief that I could set challenging goals, overcome obstacles, and become the Leader that was within Me!

 

Today, and every day I learn something new from my students, staff, and administrative team. This is great because I love learning. I am an administrator because I was “called to teach”. I firmly believe being an educator is my true purpose in life. I get to cheer on the learners in my school. I get go celebrate the successes and I get to implement innovation and change.

 

Each August I get to begin the journey again! It is fresh, new, innovative, and exciting. Where else would I get the chance to positively impact so many of tomorrow’s leaders? I get to share in “dream building”, character development, and the cultivation of the “Leader in Me” within all of my students.

 

I love being an educator because each day, week, month, and year I get to experience the “magic" known as education! I love being an educator because I have the best professional mentors in the world – my students and teachers!

Blaze a new trail...

Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of my favorite authors. His writing is truly timeless. He tells us, “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” I firmly believe what he is telling us. It is our duty and responsibility as educators to blaze a new trail for our students and adult learners.

Captain Kirk, of the Starship Enterprise told us, “…to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

Albert Einstein notes, “The only source of knowledge is experience.”

Alan Key explains, “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”

So as you plan your summer for rest, relaxation and renewal (learning from your PLN) take the time to figure out what you can to take your “game” to the next level this fall.  Here are a few ideas…

Book Discussion: Join a book study/discussion. Learn alongside your colleagues this summer. I am fortunate enough to be working alongside @DJrschug, @JoyWright91, and @AnthonyDeblasio as we plan a July Book Study for Danah Boyd’s It’s Complicated. The summer is the perfect time to sit back and enjoy a good book, and take some time to discuss it with your PLN.

Coordinate/Participate: in a combo chat. Join up with another chat this summer. Several states, groups, and organizations have already started this trend in PLN collaboration. Check it out. Several chats are being set up as you are reading this blog post. One example: #Moedchat and #Txed are working to host a July combo chat!

Learn a new social media skill: Take a look at Augmented Reality. Try your hand at LiveBinders or Evernote. Or simply see what you can do with flipagram and Tellagami. They are all powerful tools that can enhance the work you do with students and colleagues.

Write a Blog Post: This is the best way to share out what you are doing, learning, and accomplishing. We learn from each other and a blog post is the best way for us to learn from each other. I know I enjoy seeing what my PLN is doing in the way of blogging!

Become the Lewis and Clark of the 21^st century as you blaze a new trail this summer. I look forward to “reading” all about your journey!

Communication: Keeping Parents in the Loop

One important stakeholder group includes our parents. They are vital to the success of our schools. We send out multiple types and kinds of communication each school day / school week. However, they may be missing out on important information because they are unaware of the different communication channels in our schools. How can this be? Three pieces of the puzzle include: 1) keeping information in front of our parents, 2) Using multiple channels of communication, and 3) Educating parents on the different ways we communicate.

During our recent 5^th Grade Parent Preview Night (where we welcome 5^th grade parents and their 5^th grade children) I began the process of informing parents using these three key tools. I received an email from one parent who offered additional ways to keep parents “in the loop”. This parent helped me realize that we can get caught up on communicating to a degree that we forget the number of ways to reach out to our parents.

Here are a few helpful hints when communication with parents:

Use your electronic news media: We call it eNews. Here daily emails are sent out to parents (who’ve signed up for this service). So now it’s important to let all parents know how to sign up for our school’s eNews service.

Blog Posts: This is a relatively new format that parents may want to learn about. I will now begin to let parents know each time I post to my blog (www.TheodoreHuff@blogspot.com ). They want to know what’s going on in the blog world.

Traditional Newsletter: We all have a newsletter and our parents enjoy reading it to learn what it taking place in the school. Now the question is, “Do they know how to access your newsletter? Especially if you only send it out electronically? We post our monthly newsletter via our school website.

Twitter: This, as you know, is a relatively new communication tool to use in conjunction with sharing information with our parents. Make sure you share out your school’s Twitter Account (regularly) with your parents. If they don’t know that it exists, then cannot access this information. School Twitter Account: @News4FHMS and Dr. Huff's Twitter Account: @TedHiff

Twitter Chats:  Moving your Round Table Discussions, Book Talks, and other venues for sharing information to a Twitter Chat is just one more way to reach out to parents via Social Media. We host a Parent (and teacher) Chat twice a month. You can find us @ #FHMchat at 7pm CDT on the first and third Monday of each month.

School Marquee: This is another important communication tool. My advice is to make sure it is regularly updated.

I look forward to learning about the different ways you communicate with your parent community!

Waiting to Hear from my Pen Pal...

Remember when we had pen pals? You would write the letter, send it off with the mail man (via snail mail)…then wait…and wait…and wait for a reply. This reply would eventually arrive from your friend who lived on the other side of the country (or world). Fast forward to today… So what does your Pen Pal program look like today? How does that communication differ? What are you learning and sharing?

In a recent conversation with Dennis Schug (@DJrShcug), Principal of Hampton Bays Middle School (Long Island), he made the succinct analogy of “waiting” for a direct message, tweet, or blog post today is just like the anticipation we had as children when we anxiously waited for a letter from our Pen Pal. I told Dennis, “That’s it. You need to write about that!”  Dennis politely declined and suggested that I take up the topic. So… here goes!

My 45 minute PD opportunity with Dennis today was like that Pen Pal letter of yesterday – only on steroids. We were able to share ideas, ask questions, laugh, and learn from each other. It was instantaneous PD. I was able to “connect” with Dennis who is one of my 21^st Century PLN Pen Pals. Now, after several months of corresponding via our tweets, Twitter chat discussions, and retweets we were able to “connect” the old fashioned way… using the telephone.

Next up… a potential GHO as we map out a plan to use Skype to make connections between our two middle schools. One in the Midwest, that’s my school, and the other on the East Coast -Dennis’ school.  The potential is limitless. Our teachers will share strategies, best practices, and learn from one another. Our students will share their understanding and knowledge with their new peers – affirming one another and building relationships with peers from across the country. I’m going to call this “A Tale of Two Middle Schools”.

For those of you who have yet made the “plunge” into the Twitterverse… please take this invitation as an opportunity to connect with a new Pen Pal via Social Media in this new era of Pen Pal letters. I refer to my Twitter PLN as my “PLN Pals”. It’s a phrase I started using a little over a year ago and it just stuck.

You never know who could be around the corner or the world… waiting to connect, learn, and grow with you.

We've Always Done it This Way!

Those immortal words were spoken by Rear Admiral Grace Hopper. This led me to reflect on the practices that are presently in place in the school setting. I know we work hard to advance our thinking and best practices. However, I needed to put on proverbial “reflective practitioner hat” to truly assess my school’s work (as well as that of other schools). What I learned is that “IF this is true in an educational setting, then we must work to reverse that philosophy, practice, and pedagogy.

In our schools we indeed have teachers, administrators, and support staff personnel who are pioneers in their schools. They are forging ahead with the implementation of BYOD/BYOT, Social Media, and APPs in the classroom. They are meeting the learners on a common playing field – and it is exciting to witness.

So what can we do? Simply stated, we should remain focused on the learner. We should continue our implementing the best practices of 21c. In order to counter the “We’ve always done it this way” syndrome you can support:

·         Flipped Classroom

·         Genius Hour (20% time)

·         Google Docs (and now Google Calendar

·         Remind101

·         Twitter use in the classroom

·         Skype

·         Infographics

·         Augmented Reality (e.g. Arasma, Layar, ColAR, Flashcards)

·         Backchannel (e.g. TodaysMeet)

·         Blog writing

·         Building a PLN

·         Student Voice

·         Teacher Voice

This only scratches the surface of ideas that can counter this “non-productive” philosophical practice. Keep posting additional ideas!