Parent Trigger News
I still feel very confident in saying that the “parent trigger” is pretty much dead in terms of having any kind of real influence in the education policy debate, but it does seem to appear to have some dying breathes left. You can read about them here:
Adelanto school is targeted in second test of ‘Parent Trigger’ law appeared in The Los Angeles Times.
Florida parent groups question origins of “parent empowerment” bill is from The Tampa Bay Times.
Parents give a thumbs down to NY-CAN and the “Parent Trigger” is from NYC Public School Parents.
Very Accessible Review Of Parent Involvement Engagement Research
The Flamboyan Foundation has developed a very accessible review of the most current parent engagement/involvement research. It includes some surprising info, particularly around issues related to homework. They’ve published it in two parts, and the great thing about it is that both are only two pages long! The first is called Setting the Stage: The [...]
Even Hobbits Support Teachers Making Home Visits!
Jason Renshaw found this video, and I think it does a good job explaining the benefits that Hobbit teachers (and human ones) can gain from making home visits: I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About Teacher Home Visits.
Update On “Parent Teacher Chat” On Twitter
Last month, Joe Mazza wrote a guest post about Parent Teacher Chat on Twitter. Joe has accepted my invitation to write a short post on this blog regularly to announce future topics for these chats: As a school principal, I receive more bullying referrals from the school bus than anywhere else. Unfortunately, the school bus [...]
“Study: Head Start Programs May Increase Parents’ Involvement”
Study: Head Start Programs May Increase Parents’ Involvement is a short blog post at Education Week about a new….study. It might be worth a look…
Chicago Parents Organize Against School Closures
Large numbers of parents are organizing in Chicago against proposed school closings and “turnaround” plans. You can read about it here, and watch a local news report here.
“Parent Meetings: Bypassing the Dance of Blame”
Parent Meetings: Bypassing the Dance of Blame is an excellent article by my Teacher Leaders Network colleague Dave Orphal. I’m adding it to The Best Sources Of Parent Engagement Advice For Teachers.
“Parent Engagement: A Paradigm Shift”
Parent Engagement: A Paradigm Shift is an article by Marilyn Price-Mitchell that’s worth reading. Here’s an excerpt: Many equate parent engagement to volunteering, school governance, and fundraising. While these activities are vitally important to schools, the kind of parent engagement that affects student success is vastly different. This type of engagement involves parents as teachers [...]
New Family Engagement Blog
I’ve written about the Parent Involvement Matters organization in the past, and was pleased to hear that later this month they’ll be starting a new blog on family engagement issues. It sounds like they’ve lined up a great list of writers, including Joe Mazza.
“It Takes A Community”
It Takes A Community is the theme of this month’s “California Educator,” the magazine of the California Teachers Association. It has a number of good stories of teachers and schools working with parents to improve local communities.
More Martin Luther King, Jr. Resources
Here are some new resources I’ve added to The Best Websites For Learning About Martin Luther King: tes, a British-based site for teachers, has some good lesson resources on King. CNN has a ton of great videos. Click “CNN Videos.” … Continue reading →
The Bests Posts & Articles About Why We Like Lists
Yes, you read the title of this post correctly — it’s sharing posts and articles explaining why we like lists. And, as a prolific list-maker (there are now 840 categorized “The Best…” lists), I thought this might be an interesting, … Continue reading →
Amazing Crow That Surfs!
Scientific American posted this video with a short analysis. I don’t know about you, but I was amazed by it. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About Animals.
Banning Books In Tucson
It was bad enough that the state of Arizona forced the Tucson School District to end their ethnic studies classes (which had 700 students enrolled). Now, “Salon” reports that the District is taking it a step further and banning certain … Continue reading →
Making Infographics
I just updated The Best Resources For Creating Infographics. Additional suggestions are welcome….
Diane Ravitch Coming To Sacramento On January 20th!
Diane Ravitch is coming to speak in Sacramento on January 20th! You can contact the Sacramento City Teachers Association or your own Local for tickets. I’ve written a lot about Diane over the years, but I thought I’d have my … Continue reading →
“Round-Up” Of Recent School Reform Posts
There have recently been quite a few good posts and articles on school reform issues. They include: Research Suggests Teach For America Does Not Belong in Huntsville from Living In Dialogue at Ed Week. I’m adding it to The Best … Continue reading →
“What Are The Best Ways To Differentiate Instruction?”
What Are The Best Ways To Differentiate Instruction? is the “question of the week” at my Education Week Teacher blog. Please share your responses there or, if you prefer, in the comments section of this post.
Some New Social Media Guides
Here are some recent additions to various “The Best….” lists related to social media: A Beginner’s Guide to Twitter is from Read Write Web. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Beginning To Learn What Twitter Is All About. … Continue reading →
Photo Galleries Of The Week
Obviously, photos can be great educational tools with English Language Learners and with any students (see The Best Ways To Use Photos In Lessons). I post about many photo galleries, also called slideshows. To do it in a little more … Continue reading →
Willow The Dog Demonstrates The Value Of Perseverance
In this video, Willow The Dog demonstrates the value of perseverance. I’m adding it to The Best Videos Illustrating Qualities Of A Successful Language Learner.
Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL
This is the first post in a weekly or bi-weekly series I’ll be publishing regularly. It will share a few posts from around the Web related to ESL or EFL that have caught my attention: stuck in a lift is … Continue reading →
“Ways To Include Students In The Formative Assessment Process”
Ways To Include Students In The Formative Assessment Process is the title of my newest Education Week Teacher column. You might want to check it out…
Online Video Editing Tools
I’ve just completely revised Not The “Best,” But A List… Of Online Video Editors. Any additional suggestions are welcome.
This Week’s “Links I Should Have Posted About, But Didn’t”
I have a huge backlog of resources that I’ve been planning to post about in this blog but, just because of time constraints, have not gotten around to doing. Instead of letting that backlog grow bigger, I regularly grab a … Continue reading →
Highlights Of Twitter Chat With Daniel Pink
As regular readers know, I’m a big fan of Daniel Pink’s work. Tonight, there was an #HRBookchat with him, and I created a “Storify” highlighting what I thought were key comments that were made (of course, it was particularly nice … Continue reading →
My Guest NY Times Column Today — “Helping Students Motivate Themselves”
The New York Times published a guest post I wrote today, Helping Students Motivate Themselves. You might want to take a look….
The Best Resources On Differentiating Instruction
My colleague Katie Hull-Sypnieski is leading a February 1st Education Week Webinar on differentiating instruction, and I would strongly encourage people to participate. Katie’s the best teacher I’ve ever seen…. In addition, Katie and I have co-authored a piece for … Continue reading →
“clubEFL” Is A Fantastic Site For EFL/ESL Teachers & Students
clubEFL has fantastic resources for EFL/ESL students and teachers, including: * A Picture Dictionary and a Talking Dictionary. These stand out particularly for all the additional interactive reinforcement activities they include. I’m adding them to The Best Beginner, Intermediate & … Continue reading →