I really have to get this archived for me and shared with you. I had a great time with this today:
Feedback from participants (in random order):
1. "For me, I was reminded how the agenda should be set up & used. I need to insist on seeing it daily because I always hear homework is finished and then later in the evening there is a Eureka moment when assignments are remembered - causes lots of drama."
2. "Thank you, you gave a good overview. I found the tips you offered helpful and I plan to put some of your ideas in place. Ex: mesh bags, 85% goal, 2 pencils"
3. "Spend less time on Power School ... Great talk; insightful and love your style; will employ your ideas w/ MS and HS."
4. "Knowing that there's going to be help for my son currently in 5th grade when he reaches M.S. He has a big challenge ahead..."
5. "Great talk: Concrete examples of how you get kids to take ownership. What I'd like to see in another talk: Study Skills specifics."
6. "Great job; enjoyed it a lot. Spent too much time telling us what you did with your kids in your class. It wasn't relevant to our kids. Spend less time on Power School specifics and how to manage it on a higher level."
7. "I had no idea how very useful Power School is - very good insight! Had no idea my daughter and I have so many of the same work/study habits in common (a very good exercise...)."
8. "Comment, please, on "child comparison". For example, "Mom, I'm not sibling", "Everybody in the class did bad.", Mom asking child: "How do you think you're doing compared to ...""
9. "Power School info. Time management"
10. "Really liked:
* A lot of truths brought out, but not always realized (i.e. right but still wrong, kids may just pretend to listen, should take risks & do activities early).
* Creativity Box
* Efficiency vs. Effectivity
* Bringing out that electronics can be "time suckers"
Would like to know more about what I do with perfectionism (also a time consumer)"
11. "Walk through on how child to use an agenda - very helpful; simple, common sense. But I have the impression my kids never really learned to use these well (resistance!). Now I better see the need for me to be part of the teaching process - and by example - my own!
Future talk suggestions: parenting tech savvy kids (keeping them safe, giving them freedom with oversight)."
12. "I liked the agenda and time management table. Simple and real tools to help kids to get organized."
13. "Great session!! Helpful to learn about Power School because I'm a new (SAS) mom and trying to figure things out."
14. "I am pleased you brought up the writing down your "stuff" in the agenda. I'm not the most organized person & technology confuses me. I find that one gets lost in it & I actually miss out sometimes. The Creativity Box is something I've employed for a long time - one notebook for all the things I need to remember - and I agree writing it provides ownership."
15. "Outstanding presentation. I found tips on how to begin a conversation very helpful (data, etc.). Points on structure reminded me of what I learned before (*need to be better implementing). Maybe have a session on how to teach kids how to play the game of school?"
16. "Great job! Also grading our child then grading ourselves on the academic tasks scale (handout where we gave rating - not right or wrong."
17. "I got some good tips but felt not targeted to a grade 4 parent. I had wrongly assumed when it was marketed towards "pre-teens". That said, I think it would be great to have this presented to IS parents - so we can lay foundations early."
18. "Thank you for this session; it was very helpful to see: the concrete examples you shared & handouts)."
19. "I agree with your assessment of Black Board. I think agendas should be used and encouraged in HS. I would love to see the school have a lesson for the kids about effective organization. I think your presentation on organizational effectiveness and tools for success (agendas, bins, etc.) need to be taught to all kids - not just those who have been identified as needing support."
20. "I appreciated all the Power School information and advice. I would love to have help/ advice/ a discussion about more of the social/emotional aspects that the kids and parents are dealing with starting in Middle School."
21. "Thank you! Very encouraging lecture. Helpful info... *filling out planner every subject, everyday (This will help!). Feedback vs. Criticism is always tricky. Would like more info on how to encourage kids and gain their trust without being nagging and overbearing."
22. "Thank you for letting me know the inside of Power School. Many general issues that relate to my experience with my children."
23. "More hands on example, new apps for focus on HW"
Thanks to everyone that took the time to give me feedback. Knowing what I know about groups (bell curve natural distribution) these 23 nuggets probably cover the breadth of perspectives in the audience (We had close to 70!). I will address each and every one of these in this blog over the next week. I really do have a passion for this stuff and your comments (both written and verbal give me lots of great talking points).
There were a few pre-talk "Sticky Notes" as well:
Q: To help MS kids out. Why can't all teachers use one HW posting site? My 7th grader has Black Board, agenda book, Google calendar and private emails. It's too many locations to check!
A: By now, you know where I stand on Black Board for parents. I'm going to assume, for the moment, that you're asking this from a parent's perspective (and I get it).
But, I'm going to ask,
"So what?"
I'm out on a limb here, but I have a perspective that might shed some light on the parent - child academic ownership dichotomy.
Every year at Open House I have at least one parent ask about the MS bell schedule. I used to challenge myself to come up with a great way for parents to understand the cycle of Red, White and Blue Days 1 & 2. And then I asked myself why I was going to the trouble of explaining this to parents. Sure, it's possible that they could, in turn, explain the schedule to their child. But, here's the thing; kids learn the bell schedule by the end of the first week - most by Wednesday of the first week. Plus, teachers go out of their way to accommodate kids trying to get from E block to A block to lunch, etc. It's built in to the system - without parental support.
So, when I look at this question from a parent's perspective, I have to ask back,
"Why do you need to know?"
After all, kids are resilient and knowledge is contextual. In other words, if things are consistently inconsistent, kids can figure out the nuances and react, accordingly.
But, again, I get it. Why are we overloaded by multiple locations for, seemingly, the same kind of information?
Ready?
It's because we are human (Dude, you're sooo deep...). The folks (aka teachers) generating the info have Black Board, Power School, the agenda, Google calendars, email and, less effective, but the very-old-school-chic-smoke-signals at their disposal. It's because we can. It's also frustrating. But, in the end, technology moves faster than we can process. As such, we jump to the newer & faster version every year. We are consumers and Apple, Samsung, Starhub, etc. have taught us to expect a new version every year. Count how many new hand phones you've had in the past five years (4 for me). Now, think back to your kitchen wall phone when you were a kid. How many did you go through? If you were like us we switched once - from rotary to push button. Technology reinvents itself. It's what technology does. Why wouldn't we opt for better features?
Not convinced?
Consider this (click on "this" to read Ancient Brains, Modern Dilemmas.
I realize the article goes way beyond the thrust of your question, but it gets to the heart of the matter. In the 21st century we not only have choices, but the choices evolve and improve rapidly.
This is my answer to your question.
Remember, though, this is the world in which our kids are growing up. I don't even have a house phone anymore. All the people living in my home have a hand phone, kids and adults alike, which makes a house phone obsolete.
I am concerned with information overload but I believe our brains would shut down if we were truly overwhelmed. If I were working with your child, I would look for signs of frustration from too many sources of info. This would be a sign for you (as a parent) to intervene. Until then, ask yourself,
"Why do I need to know."
Oct 19 Edit: I received feedback on the above Q & A. Apparently, I went a little too far afield with my reasoning and need to provide some decoding.
1. The blunt answer to the question:
Why can't all teachers use one HW posting site?
is to ask why does a parent need to know this info when it is a student's responsibility to manage this information.
2. I used the example of MS bell schedule to illustrate this point (parents don't "live" the schedule, kids do and they figure it out quickly).
3. I also used rapidly evolving technology as the reason why we have so many tools for academic communication (Black Board, etc.). In other words, it's tough to stay with one tool when the next one does more and it does it better.
4. I further explained this as a human liability by incorporating the LA Times article, Ancient Brains, Modern Dilemma just to keep things interesting. It's far-fetched when compared to homework, but relates to the human/tech interface.
5. Finally, I suggested a caveat. If kids are showing signs of being overwhlemed by too many sources of info then we (as parents, teachers, etc.) have an obligation to step in. It is my opinion that we do a good job of keeping an eye on this in our community.
Hope that helps.
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