Student blogs informing the parent-teacher conference

CIS 339 has made big advances this year in terms of increasing the involvement of parents and students in informing the education process. Plans for the April 30 Parent Expo are well-advanced, and this should really showcase what the teachers and students have been doing (especially with technology) this year. Parents will also be speaking to other parents and teachers about positive parenting techniques.

In addition, students have had more involvement this year through a variety of projects. For instance, they run the student newspaper blog The 339 Hard Line, our school leaders have been engaged in a video mentoring program with students from the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, and a small group presented to our teachers in a recent professional development session aimed at developing more engaging lessons.

With this focus on the triad of teachers-parents-students then, I was most impressed to see Jeff Utecht's tweet about using student blogs to inform the parent-teacher conference. This really brings the students into the frame, as their blogs reflect on what they have been learning in every subject.

The sooner we firm up the relationship between teachers-parents-students, the better it will be for all concerned.

Educon and SLA

I've been very slack in adding a post about Educon, but my admiration of the students, teachers and principal from Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia has not dimmed in the slightest. In fact, it's grown.

Chris Lehman generously hosted the Educon conference, and I took away some good ideas from it. However, the biggest bonus was the networking that is now occurring between students from his high school and students from our middle school.

Witnessing these students Skyping, and the SLA students offering their wisdom, was one of the most powerful things I have witnessed as an educator. You could have given these students jobs in the classroom immediately as teachers.

In addition to this networking, I got to enjoy dinner with Peggy Sheehy who described herself as an edutainer, and was espousing the benefits of virtual learning networks such as Second Life. I now can't get this term 'edutainer' out of my head, and would like all of our teachers to embrace it. Engagement is a problem for both teachers and students in mid-winter, but a dose of Peggy Sheehy would pep up anyone.