Improving Parent Communication with Technology Summer 2006 Workshop
Dec 26, 2015
Course Introduction
• Instructor• Participants• Registration for Credit
• Jenny will discuss issues in obtaining credit• Sign-in Sheets Provided Daily• Assignments Collected Daily &/or on Friday• Parent Communication Tools
• Teacher Websites• Class Newsletters• PowerPoint Presentation for Special Occasions• Parent Letters and Surveys• Phone Logs• Online Resources for supporting student learning
• Overview/Introduction• Course Requirements
•Daily Journal•Attendance•Presentations and Products from Activities
• Best Practices in Parent Communication/Involvement
•Brainstorm Communication using Inspiration in groups
• Focus on Web-based Parent Communication Tools• Explore Teacher Created Websites
•Group exploration and creation activities• Develop a Personal Plan for Improved
Communication• EZ Website Introduction and Website Creation• Daily reflection/journal assignment
Agenda – Day 1
Best Practices in Parent Communication/Involvement
Guiding Question: What are examples of Best Practices in Parent Communication? What technology could you use to create, encourage, and/or support each practice?
Divide into small groups of 4-5Brainstorm a list of Parent Communication Practices
• Use Inspiration to create a web of practices• Add second level symbols &/or Notes describing Technology
use
Prepare to present your findings• Save your presentation to the shared folder for this course• Use Inspiration webs to share
Activity 1 –Parent Communication and Support with Teacher Websites
Guiding Question: What role can the web play in school-home communication?
Divide into small groupsExamine list of web sites
• Parent-Focused Examples• Instructional Extensions• General Content
Prepare presentation of findings• Use PowerPoint or Internet Browser
Teacher-Created Web Content
15%
13%
10%
10%9%
9%
8%
6%
4%
4%
4%4%
4%
E-mail link to teacher
Links (teacher/student/parent)
Classroom projects/activities
Curriculum info
Class photos
Calendar/events
Teacher bio
Newsletter/announcements
Supply List
Field trip photos/info/slips
Spelling lists/word lists/phonics
Classroom policies/expectations
Daily/weekly Schedule
Elementary
Teacher-Created Web Content
Secondary
12%
11%
8%
7%
6%6%5%
5%
5%
5%
5%
5%
4%
4%
4%4% 3%
Links (teacher/student/other)
Course listings/curriculum/syllabus
Teacher bio/information
E-mail link to teacher
Classroom policies/rules
Teacher photos
Grading scale
Teacher quotes/philosophy
Class activities/calendar
Class goals/objectives
Student work/projects/awards/portfolios
Homework/assignments
Class/project/student photos
Webquests/hunts/projects
Supply lists/materials/notebook
Student Club information
Study guides/worksheets
Outstanding Teacher SitesWelcome To Mrs. Schwuchow's ClassNorth Harrison High School Visual Arts DepartmentMr. Allen's MathematicsJourneys to Antarctica & BeyondMr. Smith’s High School World History and Geography
Web Pages Support Learning
Inviting & MeaningfulProvide RelevanceInspire CreativityInform ParentsStrengthen school-home communicationReflect classroom & community
School Web PagesInformation about school & communitySchool calendarSchool rules/student handbookAnnouncementsFaculty & staff Link to district siteLinks to class pagesProjectsWeb sites for parents & studentsSchool achievements & awards
Classroom Web Pages
Class routines, special eventsPhilosophy of learning & teachingHow teacher organizes & implements instructionLinks to school & district
Units taughtOpportunities to publish student writingOpportunities to collaborateSpecial projectsLinks to web sitesClass projects
What Do Parents Want?
Whole-Group BrainstormingWhat do parents want to know?What resources, information, pages should we provide?How can teacher websites impact parent communication/involvement?
Activity 2 –Planning Your Website
Guiding Question: What would you like to include in
your website that you feel would improve parent communication and support learning?
Divide into small groups (3 to 4)Review Teacher WebsitesBrainstorm list in MS Word using Numbering or Outlining format of pages/content you will includeShare ideas with class
• Prepare an Inspiration web for participants of ideas
• Print, copy and hand out resultsCircle or Highlight Ideas you would like to pursue on your site
“In the long run, men hit only what they aim at.” -Henry David Thoreau
Annoying Web Site Traits
Whole Group BrainstormingWhat drives you nuts when looking at websites?What drives you nuts when navigating a website?What would keep you from returning to a website?What other traits annoy website visitors?
What does your district say about…
Student photosStudent workCommon contentReviews/authority to publishPublishing processTimelinessFile size limits
Others?
Introduction to EZ Website
Create accountsReview page typesExamine adding special content
PhotosDocumentsCalendar
Work Time
Daily Reflection/Journal
Keep a daily recordClass notesReflectionsWebsites & other resourcesOther information
How do you think a classroom web page can help you improve your personal communication with parents?
National PTA/PTO
National Standards for Parent/Family Involvement ProgramsGuidelines for schools
When parents receive frequent and effective communication from the school or program, their involvement increases, their overall evaluation of educators improves, and their attitudes toward the program are more positive. http://www.pta.org/parentinvolvement/standards/index.asp
HTML Tags
Use < and > to mark elementsOne-sided
<b>
Two-sided<font size=2>This is arial</font>
AttributesParagraphFontBackground
Markup TagsLinking TagsRequired elements
Basic HTML Document<html> <head> <TITLE>A Simple HTML Example</TITLE> </head> <body> <H1>HTML is Easy To Learn</H1> <P>Welcome to the world of HTML. This is the first paragraph. While short it is still a paragraph!</P> <P>And this is the second paragraph.</P> </body> </html>
Now, let’s try to create our own HTML document!