Engaging Parents In School…

By Dana Sirotiak If you looked into today’s classroom, what skills would you see being taught through the doors of a Kindergarten class? 4thgrade class? AP Science class?  When preparing students to be college and career ready, schools normally focus on the skills students will be in order to be successful in a competitive 21st Century world.  [...]

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Guest Post by Joe Mazza Image credit: magicalmaths.org This week on #PTchat brings something new – a conversation that is both on Twitter and visually hosted on Youtube via Google Hangout. Join us as we facilitate a conversation on how we can appreciate and recognize today’s teachers on a daily basis, as well as share some [...]

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  By Zak Malamed    The Student Voice movement is gaining traction. On April 13th, approximately 200 students and their influential supporters gathered in New York to bring what was once a virtual movement, face to face. (See videos from Student Voice LIVE embedded in this post)    With people attending from across the world and [...]

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By Joe Mazza Image credit: westofthei.com This Wednesday night, 4/17/13 on #PTchat (9PM EDT / 6PM PST) we’re discussing how schools can better engage families of students with special needs with Dr. Scott Roth. Dr. Roth (@TheHelpTheyNeed) is licensed psychologist and New Jersey certified school psychologist providing psychological and psycho-educational assessment, treatment, and consultation to children, [...]

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By Joe Mazza Image credit: evbd.eventbrite.com You may have heard about Kathy Newmann, a parent who is opting her nine-year old 3rd grader Jacob out of this year’s PSSA testing. Kathy is also an English professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the latest to join other parents around the country who are finally [...]

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Image credit: voices.yahoo.com By Dana Sirotiak As a teacher, my purpose in selecting this topic is in hopes of changing the behavior of a very small group of educators who are labeled difficult to deal with.  It is in my opinion, and I believe many in education would agree, that there are more wonderful, caring, [...]

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Image credit: mobilismobili.com #PTchat hosted by Dana Sirotiak When you picture a positive learning environment, what comes to mind?   “A positive learning environment is one in which school staff, students, and parents build safe and peaceful environments where people are accepted and respected and where learning is the main focus” (Schauffele, 2007).  Research has [...]

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Guest Post by Joe Mazza Knapp Main Office Tiki Bar – Image credit: @gpescatore25 The following excerpt is from The Community of School (2001) published by the Academic Development Institute.    Another area in which the school could be different, according to some parents, was to be more welcoming and more “family friendly.” Parents, too, [...]

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Here’s the archive of the recent #PTchat archive that Joe Mazza compiled on “Engaging ESL/ELL Families.” All the past chats are treasure troves of information, and you can find them here. [View the story "Engaging ESL/ELL Families w/ @JudieHaynes - #PTchat Archive 3/6/13" on Storify]

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Guest Post by Joe Mazza everythingesl.net This week on #PTchat we will be sharing strategies on how to involve the diverse families of English language learners (ELL) in order to foster the partnership between the home and school.  @JudieHaynes Schools must constantly seek ways to improve the communication with ELL families and recognize how it [...]

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Guest post by Joe Mazza Image credit: stuvoice.org This week’s chat hosted by Stuvoice.org Founder Zak Makamed.  The Student Voice movement strives to create an international network of empowered students by providing them with the tools they need to use their voice in policy discussions. While we are students working for students, the support of adult stakeholders [...]

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Joe Mazza is co-leading an upcoming Ed Week Webinar on Connecting Parents and Schools Via Social Media Initiatives. Here’s the description: Connecting Parents and Schools Via Social Media Initiatives This event takes place on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013, 12 to 1 p.m. ET. From using Skype to run parent-teacher conferences to live streaming PTA meetings, [...]

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Guest post by Joe Mazza This week on #PTchat (Wed., 2/20 9PM EDT) we’ll be working on our school websites and mobile app offerings. Today, most schools have a website. Whether the website is useful to the specific family needs at the school is the real question. Does the site serve as simply an information [...]

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Guest Post by Joe Mazza When: Wed., 2/13/13 – 9PM EDT/6PST Image credit: http://edtechvision.org/ Oftentimes parents don’t ask questions about supporting academic initiatives in our schools because we haven’t provided them enough information on the who, what, when, where, how. It’s up to teachers and leaders to go the extra mile to engage them and show [...]

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Guest post by Joe Mazza Image credit: digitallearningday.org DigitalLearningDay.org On Wednesday, February 6, 2013, educators, students, teachers, parents, and leaders across the country will celebrate the innovation in teaching and learning that digital learning provides by pledging to try something innovative with technology to improve the learning experience. Nearly a half million students will participate [...]

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Guest post by Gwen Pescatore This Week’s #PTchat on Twitter – 9PM EDT – Wed, Jan 30th Tweetchat Link (for non-twitterers) Image credit: 25.media.tumblr.com Literacy is defined as the ability to read for knowledge and interest, write coherently, and think critically about the written word.  The importance of good reading and writing skills will never disappear, and they cannot be achieved [...]

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Guest Post by Joe Mazza Image credit: vle.bexley.ac.uk     1/23/13 #ptchat hosted by Dana Sirotiak In order to monitor and scaffold a student’s growth progress, regular communication between the home and school is imperative to assure that students are appropriately developing academically, socially, and emotionally. Student Learning Plans (SLPs) should ensure strong adult-student relationships [...]

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Guest post by Joe Mazza Image credit: bibliovoracious.com This Wednesday on #ptchat we’ll be discussing apps across all devices to support the best teaching, learning and home support for today’s students. To help with our conversation, we’ve invited several education technology gurus including Steven Anderson. Steven, (@web20classroom) on Twitter, has been a constant resources for [...]

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  Guest post by Dana Sirotiak As children grow up in a digital society, their exposure to information is endless.  Whether it is information for a research report for school or connecting with their peers through social media.  How does social media influence the identity of our children and how can parents guide their child [...]

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Guest post by Joe Mazza On Wednesday, January 2, 2013, weekly #ptchat returns with a goal setting conversation. We’ll discuss short and long term family engagement goals from the classroom, administrative and parent leadership lens. How can we best involve student voice to maximize our engagement goals? Join us at 9PM EDT for our first [...]

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