Chapter 15: Parents as Partners in 21st Century Learning Synthesis and Analysis

Synthesis

This chapter was about how to bring parents closer into the classroom. With the help of technology, innovation, and invitation, parent communications can be improved now and in years to come. The internet is a powerful tool in the hands of teachers and parents because it can help teachers post homework assignments, test and quizzes, project directions, samples of students work, reminders... the possibilities are endless! The author describes many electronic bulletin boards that he finds useful such as MyClass.net, Schoolnotes.com, Funbrain.com, and of course Blackboard.com. Emailing parents is another way of contacting them if they tend to forget to check the assignments on these bulletin board sites.

Even though the author raves about the wonders of the internet, he does recognize that some parents and families do not have computers or access to the internet. With this in mind, he still keeps a personal touch when talking with parents of his students. Wormeli suggests sending postcards to the parents about how their child is doing. He also suggests having parents come in to visit whenever they can and sometimes visiting the student's home to fully understand that student. Index card inquires seemed to be a popular approach when having conversations with parents so that the teacher is sure of what the parent and student wants out of his/her class. Having parents fill out a form or answer a few questions on an index card about their child would help the student immensely.

Analysis

People thought it was great that the author put this in the book. There weren't many tips but great ideas. Everyone seemed to agree on how important it is to include parents in the classroom. Using the internet is a great way to post assignments so parents can check on what their children need to do for that class and everyone agreed this is a good way to communicate past, present, and upcoming projects. Everyone realized that not all parents and families have the internet so the Post Card idea was so great. Another way to have parents discuss their concerns with their children is to fill out forms. Some people did not agree with the suggestion of going to the students' houses to talk with the parents.

Boys and Girls Learn Differently

I really liked the beginning activity with putting the pictures in order and splitting up the groups into girls, boys, and mixture. The activity made sense when the group explained the difference between how boys and girls would put the pictures in order. The different stations all had valuable points about different styles of teaching and procedures being done at some schools. Separating boys and girls for some classes such as math and science would make sense, but separating them all during the day or having just girl school or just boy school would stir up controversy. Even though boys and girls are distracted by the opposite sex around this time, I still feel that it is important for them to interact together in order for them to strive socially. The mandatory uniforms or sports sections of the book brought up such gray area. I could see how each of these could be beneficial and how they could be troublesome. Lastly, the guidance section was really important. I liked how boys do better when talking when they are doing something else, like walking. I also liked the fact that boys open up more to male counselors and girls with females. This made sense to me. Out of all the book talks I found this one to be the most controversial.

Parents as Partners in Twenty-First Century Learning

This chapter had many awesome ideas on how to connect with parents of students. I like the idea of having some type of online resource parents and students can use to keep up with the class. I'm pretty sure most high schools or middle schools have sites where parents can track their students' grades but it would be great to have a discussion board where parents can talk to the teacher and with each other. Also, if the homework is posted online, students can be reminded and parents can monitor the homework being done. I also liked the index card inquire where the author asked parents questions about their child/children such as "What do I need to know about your child to teach him/her better?" Sometimes it would be better to ask this throughout the year to get feedback. The only concern I would have is that parents may not participate.

Chapter 9: Involving Parents and Communities

I really like the statistics in the beginning of the chapter. Students are more likely to achieve in school if the student's family is able to create a home environment that encourages learning, express high (but realistic) expectations of children's achievements, and become involved in children's education at school and in the community. Doing these things benefits students by increasing their grades and test scores, better attendance, and higher graduation rates. Some key aspects for effective parent-school relations are establishing continuity between home and school, monitoring students' work (both the parent and the teacher), directing children toward constructive learning outside the school, and assisting directly in school's effort to improve.

Chapter 8: A Safe and Healthy School Envirnment

Creating a safe and healthy environment in school will ensure students themselves are safe and comfortable. Managing your classroom and discipline important for creating that environment. The criteria mentioned in the book included clarifying the consequences of misbehavior, having all staff members assume responsibility,and increasing consistency and follow-through. I especially think the follow-through is important because I have had so many teachers not follow through on their disciplines and therefore students would walk all over them and not take them seriously. Another thing I found interesting in this section was the peer mediation. This process brings in a third person perspective. I see this working in a middle school more so than an elementary or secondary school. I also see this working more if the "mediator" were a member of staff or administration.

Chapter 5: Designing Instruction to Improve Teaching and Learning

This was a hefty chapter about designing instruction. What sticked out to me in this chapter was the three models for organizing instruction: authentic instruction, WHERE, and differentiated instruction. For authentic instruction, I liked the criteria the book described such as constructing their knowledge, engaging in cognitive work that requires them to rely on knowledge, and accomplishing value beyond the classroom. I feel that no matter what authentic form of assessment or instruction you have, if students can do these three things, then they fully understand the material. The WHERE design tool is something I'm sure everyone who's done Practicum. The system has guidelines such as: Where are we heading? Hook the students, Explore the subject and equip the students, Rethink our work and ideas, Evaluate results. Differentiated instruction is another form of instruction that we learned in Practicum. This caters the lessons to students' specific needs and backgrounds. As the book says, it maybe difficult for teachers to have the time, skill, tools, and resources needed to use the model correctly.

In my opinion, the WHERE design is a very effective way to design lessons.

Becoming a "Wiz" at Brain Based Teaching

AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME job guys! I really enjoyed the entire presentation and all the stations. I learned a lot from each exercise. With the memory station, I saw that repetition may not be the only way to memorize something. The facts on the cards were really helpful and resourceful! The activity for the assessment portion was so creative and really got the point across. The point being to let students know what they are going to be assessed on and to use portfolios once and a while rather than tests. Emotions are important to know when dealing with middle schoolers. I liked the idea about having students putting like sticky-notes or post-its with different colors to show that the teacher and other students will know who's having a good day or bad day. The atmosphere section of the presentation gave me some great idea about how I will set up my classroom. I really thought the idea of playing music will make students more comfortable in my classroom.

Again, fantastic job guys! The food, the games, the lessons were all excellent!