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Social Media Savvy for Educators - Resource Round Up

 

Social Media Savvy for Educators from VolunteerSpot

Click here for McGraw Hill Webinar Recording!

Tap into the power of social media to increase professional effectiveness, student engagement and parent participation!  K-12 educators and leaders, learn how to integrate Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Edublogs, Google Hangout and more into your everyday repertoire.  

Thanks to McGraw Hill Education for Sponsoring this and other terrific webinars for educators!

 

Social Media Resource Round-Up:

General

Becoming a Connected Educator by Joe Mazza

Students Debrief Their 1st Social Media Summer by Joe Mazza

Connecting Cultures by Joe Mazza

Mo. Tech. Specialist Pushes Power of Social Media by Edudemic

Making the Case for Social Media in Education by Edutopia

Twitter

Parents Guide to Twitter in Education by Joe Mazza

25 Ways To Use Twitter To Improve Your Professional Development by Edudemic

Popular Education Hashtags

Twitter Handbook for Teachers by PLP Network

Twitter In Our Classroom

Global Research: KindergartenTwitter  by Matt Gomez

Google+, Pinterest, Facebook

50 Ways Schools Can use Google+ Hangouts by Edudemic

Educators Guide to Google Reader by EduBlogs

Educators Guide to Facebook by EduBlogs

Educators Guide to Using Pinterest by Education Technology

Pinterest for Teachers by Jess Young 

Pinterest for your PTA or PTO by VolunteerSpot

Skype

So You Want to Do a Mystery Skype by Pernille Ripp

Educators Guide to Skype by EduBlogs

Blogging

Student Blogging Challenge by EduBlogs

Educators Guide to Blogging by EduBlogs

Engaging Parents

Home & School 2.0 - Monthly LiveStreamed PTA Mtgs by Joe Mazza

Social Media to Engage Families by TVOParents

Schools are Using Social Media to Engage Parents by EdWeek

A Parent's Guide to 21st-Century Learning by Edutopia

Teacher Professional Development

PD from your Peers: Exploring Edcamp with Lisa Dabbs

New Teachers: 20 Tips for Success by Lisa Dabbs

New Teacher Mentoring Project by Lisa Dabbs

 

Special thanks to our presenters - please connect with them on Twitter and check out their blogs today!

Lisa Dabbs (@TeachingwthSoul) TeachingWithSoul.com

Lisa is an educational consultant, blogger and speaker. She has served as an elementary school principal for fourteen years, a federal programs project director, English Language Arts consultant for Kaplan Educational Corporation, and adjunct professor for Concordia University. In her work as an educational coach and consultant, she supports new teachers and educational organizations utilizing leadership experience in the areas of curriculum and instruction, educational technology, English Language Learners, Early Childhood Education, and parent education. She is currently a Core Blogger at Edutopia.org and Edutopia’s New Teacher Connections Group Facilitator, blogger at KidsDiscover.com, and vice president of an award-winning literacy nonprofit in her community. Her personal blog is teachingwithsoul.com and Lisa is active in social media and is the leader of a weekly New Teacher Chat on twitter (#ntchat).

 

Joe Mazza (@Joe_Mazza) eFACE Today

Joe is lead learner at Knapp Elementary School in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. He has spent his career working with students, teachers & families as a 3rd grade teacher, bilingual assistant principal, middle school vice-principal, an elementary principal, while serving as a TV studio producer, webmaster and technology integration coach in each setting. He will graduate the University of Pennsylvania with a doctoral degree in May 2013. Dissertation topic: Principals’ use of social media to strengthen home-school partnerships.  Joe’s blog, eFACE Today, was created to share ways educators can use innovative tools to compliment face to face communications between home and school, and do this in a transparent and collaborative way. Joe leads a weekly Parent Teacher Chat on Twitter (#ptchat)

Ronnie Burt (@RonnieBurt, @Edublogs) TheEdublogger

Ronnie is a change catalyst who is always looking for new ways to help educators engage students. He serves as the Director of Operations for Edublogs, with more than 2 million blogs and growing, the largest blogging platform for students and educators. He also blogs at TheEdublogger. Prior to joining Edublogs Ronnie was both a High School & Middle School Math teacher in both Durango, Mexico and Austin, Texas.

 

  

Jon Samuelson (@ipadsammy) iPadSammy

Jon is an iPad lover, educational technologist for Eanes ISD in Austin, TX, and 17 year elementary teacher.  He blogs about education technology and iPad implementation tips for the classroom at iPadSammy. Jon is a father of 4 (under 8 years old!), a Chicago Bulls fan and proud member of the #edtech community.

 

Karen Bantuveris (@VolunteerSpot & @VSpotMom)

Karen is the founder and CEO of VolunteerSpot.com, a free time-saving coordination tool and parent-teacher conference scheduler that makes it easy for anyone to get involved in their local schools and communities. Karen launched VolunteerSpot in 2009 to simplify the volunteer experience and it has quickly grown from mom-to-teacher-to-team-to-nonprofit, boosting turnout with more than 2.5 million users nationwide.  Karen is a frequent conference speaker about increasing parent participation in schools, engaging parents to fund education technology, and using new media tools to inspire social action in the ‘real’ world. Karen lives in Austin, TX.

Gifts for Teacher

Forget the Apples and Other Teacher Gift Ideas

By: Pernille Ripp of PernilleRipp.com (This post originally appeared on PoorOgRich)

Every holiday season without fail I pick up a well renowned women's magazine and find gift suggestion for teachers.  And every year I am surprised that magazines continue to perpetuate the myth that teachers like apples.  I am not sure what the history behind this supposed infatuation is, but I am here to say it is not true.  I like apples, don’t get me wrong, but I do not like apple-shaped things, no matter how expensive they are.  So upon some pushing from my husband and friends, I present to you some gift ideas for the teacher in your life.

First a note; this does not mean you need to buy teachers gift, I am not advocating that, this is merely a guide for those who do choose to give teachers presents.

First the don’ts:

• Stay away from the apples.  Some teachers do find apple shaped things cute, most don’t.  I am amazed at the sheer market of apple shaped things that are out there, who would have known that you could get a crystal encrusted hard perfume shaped like an apple for a mere $80.  No thank you.

• Be aware of scented things.  Some people are allergic to certain scents while others just have incredibly delicate noses, I fall in the latter category.  One year I witnessed a colleague receive an incredible gift set of lotions, candles, and home fragrance stuff, and while she was indeed incredibly grateful, the scent made her sneeze violently so much so that she ended up giving it away.  

• Say no to the lotion - unless you know the brand that they use.  I have been  to a fellow teacher’s house who had an entire cabinet of various lotions, so much lotion that she would never be able to use it all in her lifetime.  I like lotion but I am very picky with the one I use, back to the whole scent point, so these crazy gift-sets with all the body goodness?  Maybe not the best idea.

• Be wary of jewelry.  I know a lot of teacher with nickel allergy, myself included, which means that pretty much any jewelry that is not sterling silver or 14k yellow gold will give us a nasty allergic reaction (because of the nickel mixed in the metal to make it look like silver).  Therefore, jewelry is often not a great idea because we want to wear it to show our appreciation.  I have had friends that have gotten such bad rashes from their gratitude that they had to go to the doctor.

A note on handmade.  I like handmade things, if they are useful.  I once received a pair of hand-knitted socks and I use them every night for sleeping.  These socks remind me of the student and the care that they took to have their grandmother knit them for me.  I love those socks.  Handmade, however, should be something that can be used and not as a decoration.  I have a very sparse home and I feel incredibly guilty when I do not display things that have been made for me, however, I would never be able to relax in my own house if I did.  

So then the do’s:

• Do write a note.  Often this is the best present we can get.  If a teacher has shaped your life somehow or if you like what they are doing - tell them. This present beats all of the other presents hands downs every year.  I have half of a drawer filled with the notes I have received and I pull them out on days when I need a pick me up. .  They are treasured and so is the child or parent who wrote them.

• Giftcards.  I know this seems greedy and cold, but the gift-cards I get I most often use for things for the classroom.  Barnes & Noble means more books for the kids, Target means bins, pillows, and other things to make our room more useful.  Starbucks - yeah that’s to keep me awake and energetic.  And it doesn’t have to be anything big - again, teachers do not expect presents.  

• A Charitable Donation - Times are tough and budgets are slashed everywhere, so how about making a charitable donation in the teacher’s name?  You can pick the charity and just let them know.

• An Event.  I was once given a free babysitting of my daughter pass so that my husband and I could go on a date - that was incredibly thoughtful.  I have also seen teacher’s receive restaurant gift-cards or massage passes, trust me, those are appreciated so much.

• Something personal.  I know a teacher that loves Shakespeare so whenever her students’ are able to surprise her with something new for her collection she just beams.  Not all teachers have collections; I love scarves and have received beautiful scarves in the past, as well as other swoon-worthy things where I couldn’t believe that the parents and child knew so much about me.    

Finally, to repeat; teachers do not expect gifts.  Ever.  Some people choose to give gifts and it is for those people this post is written.  I know that my friends often call me to ask what they should get a special teacher in their lives and for them I wrote this post.  Keep it simple, keep it small, and keep it meaningful.  

 

 

Pernille Ripp is a passionate teacher that realizes she knows very little about teaching. A 5th grade teacher in Middleton, Wisconsin, USA, whose students are her greatest assets, and who continues to challenge herself and her students to be better and do more. The coming year promises to be one filled with even more technology, more honesty, and definitely even more learning. She muses on education on her blog “Blogging through the Fourth Dimension” and is the creator of the Global Read Aloud Project.

Parent Teacher Relationships | Parenting Monday

How to Build a Good Parent-Teacher Relationship

By Deborah Skolnik and Lyssa Sahadevan (This post originally appeared on Parenting.com)

Want to know how to build a good parent-teacher relationship? We share teachers' top pet peeves, how to score brownie points with teachers and more

Avoid these teacher pet peeves:

Chances are they'll be too nice to tell you this stuff to your face, so read it—and don't do it!

1. Not knowing the school's discipline policies, and then getting upset if they're different from yours. If the teacher uses time-outs, and you protest because you don't like them, your child will be very confused. When choosing your child's school, make sure its philosophies match your own, or that you can at least respect them.

2. Pressuring your child not to mess up or misplace her clothes. “It makes me feel bad when a child gets nervous about outdoor recess, and says, ‘My mom told me I can't lose another pair of mittens,’” says preschool teacher Lisa Andersen. “Most centers offer kids their own cubby and box. If you can, buy extra hats and gloves and leave them there.”

3. Trying to discuss a problem during dropoff or pick-up. Your child's teacher is busy saying hi and goodbye to a whole bunch of kids and parents. And if you want to discuss a subject that isn't appropriate to talk about in front of your child, he could pick up on it, even if he seems to be busy playing or talking to his friends.

4. Being late for Circle Time. Many preschools start the day by gathering all the children in a circle to do things like discuss the weather, and also to preview the schedule of the day's events. It's a crucial part of the routine, and if your child misses it, she might feel a little lost, especially if she's the only one who isn't clued in.

 

How to score brownie points with the teacher:

1. Share your child's special interests during any tours or visits you make. That way, the guide can steer your kiddo toward the parts of the classroom that will appeal to her the most.

2. Label what kind of sandwich you've packed, if it isn't obvious. “We have a no-peanuts rule, and if you've used another nut butter or sunflower butter instead, it'll save us a call home to double-check,” explains preschool teacher Sarah Connor.

3. Let your child know each morning who will be picking her up at the end of the school day. It will keep your kid from feeling anxious that no one will show up.

4. Check the spare clothes in your child's cubby every couple of weeks to make sure they're still right for the season and your child hasn't outgrown them.

What your kid's teacher wants you to do at home:

What are the most important things you can do to help your kid do well in school? Behold, a teacher's ultimate wish list…

1. Ask Specific Qs Swap “Did you have a good day?” for more detailed and specific questions, such as “What have you been doing in math?” and “Who sits at your table?” These conversation-starter queries will give you a better glimpse into her world, as well as help her gain the social skills she needs for school.
2. Play Games Kids spend so much time using technology that the basics of playing fair and taking turns are often going by the wayside—hence more frustration and tears in the schoolyard. Pull out your classic board games or play rock, paper, scissors to teach fundamental game-playing skills and rules.
3. Stop Trying to Wipe Shoes and Noses She can do it! Maybe not the first time, but hang in there and be consistent. The task will require your guidance initially, but slowly remove yourself from the situation. Her sense of independence may even rub off on her classmates. Your kid, the trendsetter!
4. Read What the Teacher Sends Home Take time every day to check your child's backpack for permission slips, class newsletters, and the like. It'll help you know what's going on at school and help her be prepared. Neither one of you will be happy if, say, you forget it's school picture day!

 

Related Articles:

10 Best Educational Websites for Kids (that are free!)

How to Make the Most of Parent Teacher Conferences

We Need to Talk: Parent Teacer Communication

Post Courtesy of Parenting.com

Parent-Teacher Conferences and Partnerships: FREE Webinar

 

EdExchange Webinar Series:

Best Practices for Parent-Teacher Conferences and Partnerships

Tuesday, October 2, 2012 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM ET

Register Now (click here)

20 magic minutes.  That’s the time-span of a typical parent-teacher conference.  Done well, parent-teacher conferences build trust and set the stage for cultivating positive long-term partnerships among teachers, parents and students. Done poorly, they’re a waste of everyone’s time -- or worse, they can spark conflict and mistrust among participants causing parents to lose confidence in their children, the teacher and the school as a whole.

Thanks to McGraw-Hill Education, we’ve put together an all-star panel of thought-leaders in the education, parent participation, and EdTech community to share Best Practices for Parent-Teacher Conferences and Building lasting Partnerships.

This one hour webinar for educators (and interested parents) will cover best practices, new media and helpful tips and tools for conducting powerful parent-teacher conferences.   

Please join us and bring your questions and tips to share!

Register Now (click here)

Webinar Topics include:

• Parent-Teacher Conference as the formal kickoff of the parent – teacher – student relationship to last the year and beyond
• What’s new in conferences (using Skype, including students, etc.)
• Tips for teacher prep before the conference
• Tips for preparing parents
• Sample Parent-Teacher conference game plan
• Tips for engaging challenging parents
• How to build the parent – teacher – student relationship moving forward
• Free time-saver and coordination tool: parent-teacher conference scheduling by VolunteerSpot

 

Meet the Panelists:

Lisa Dabbs (@TeachingwthSoul)

Lisa is an educational consultant, blogger and speaker. She has served as an elementary school principal for fourteen years, a federal programs project director, English Language Arts consultant for Kaplan Educational Corporation, and adjunct professor for Concordia University. In her work as an educational coach and consultant, she supports new teachers and educational organizations utilizing leadership experience in the areas of curriculum and instruction, educational technology, English Language Learners, Early Childhood Education, and parent education. She is currently a Core Blogger at Edutopia.org and Edutopia’s New Teacher Connections Group Facilitator, blogger at KidsDiscover.com, and vice president of an award-winning literacy nonprofit in her community. Her personal blog is teachingwithsoul.com and Lisa is active in social media and is the leader of a weekly New Teacher Chat on twitter (#ntchat).

Pernille Ripp (@PernilleRipp)

Pernille is a 5th grade teacher in Middleton, Wisconsin, proud techy geek, and honest to a fault. Creator of the Global Read Aloud Project and believer in all children. “I have no awards or accolades except for the lightbulbs that go off in my students' heads every day.”  Pernille is experienced in and a champion for student-led parent-teacher conferences. She blogs at mrspripp.blogspot.com.

 

 

Joe Mazza (@Joe_Mazza)

Joe is lead learner at Knapp Elementary School in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. He has spent his career working with students, teachers & families as a 3rd grade teacher, bilingual assistant principal, middle school vice-principal, an elementary principal, while serving as a TV studio producer, webmaster and technology integration coach in each setting. He will graduate the University of Pennsylvania with a doctoral degree in May 2013. Dissertation topic: Principals’ use of social media to strengthen home-school partnerships.  Joe’s blog, eFACE Today, was created to share ways educators can use innovative tools to compliment face to face communications between home and school, and do this in a transparent and collaborative way. Joe leads a weekly Parent Teacher Chat on Twitter (#ptchat)

Greg Garner (@classroom_tech)

Greg is a change catalyst who is always looking for ways to challenge the status quo. He serves middle-level teachers in Austin, TX as an Educational Technologist and enthusiastically supports the use of student-led, technology infused learning environments. Greg is experienced with parent engagement using digital portfolios and SPED/504 applications.

 

 

Glenn Yetter (@coachyetter)

Glenn is in his 28^th year of education, predominantly as a sixth grade teacher in which he strives to instill a ‘Figure It Out For Yourself’ attitude into his students.  He now serves a member of his district’s Digital Resources Committee and has been a soccer coach for 20 years! As a catalyst to initiate student-led conferences, he has trained teachers and students in this extremely effective format. Glenn also is a consultant for Educational Impact, an on-line professional development company.  His blog can be read at bestyett.blogspot.com.

Karen Bantuveris (@VolunteerSpot & @VSpotMom)

Karen is the founder and CEO of VolunteerSpot.com, a free time-saving coordination tool and parent-teacher conference scheduler that makes it easy for anyone to get involved in their local schools and communities. Karen launched VolunteerSpot in 2009 to simplify the volunteer experience and it has quickly grown from mom-to-teacher-to-team-to-nonprofit, boosting turnout with more than 1.8 million users nationwide.  Karen is a frequent conference speaker about increasing parent participation in schools, engaging parents to fund education technology, and using new media tools to inspire social action in the ‘real’ world. Karen lives in Austin, TX.

 

Register Now (click here)

 

Helpful Resources:

Free Parent Teacher Conference Scheduling from VolunteerSpot.com

For parents: 

Must-read parent teacher conference tips

Parent Partnership Tips (from NEA) 

For teachers: 

Parent Teacher conference tips

Preparing for and Conducting Parent-Teacher Conferences (from NEA) 

Math May Look Different | Teacher Tip

Trust Your Teacher and Give New Math a Chance

As parents we know it's not just our kids who shudder at the thought of math homework and tests; we too feel unprepared at times because we do not understand (or remember) how it all works in grade school.  Cindy Hallman-Morris, math teacher, of MildlyManicMom.com is here to tell us that yes math is changing, but her tip is to embrace it, ask questions and help develop your child's "math literacy."  Read an excerpt of her teacher tip below and catch the whole thing here.

What has it meant to learn math in school for the past 50 years?  There were formulas and rules and we would teach one concept at a time.  As teachers we would make links to other mathematical topics when we would start a new concept, but not too many kids were actually following.  Learn a skill, practice it a bazillion times, memorize what it was called so you could do it on the test, learn a new skill, practice it a bazillion times….  You remember.

School math is changing.  Why?  Because the world has changed so drastically in the last 50 years. I can still remember seeing my first cell phone but the children in school now have never lived without the internet. We badly need students with math literacy and a strong number sense to be ready for jobs we have not even imagined.

When my daughter was in elementary school and they were learning about division, it was everything I could do not to pull out that old algorithm we all learned in the United States.  Put the first number “in the house”, etc.  Did you ever understand exactly why that would give you the right answer?  I held my tongue while my daughter broke the numbers into chunks and really got to the idea of division.  This is math literacy.

Read Cindy's Entire Post

 

Picture Courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

About Cindy: This is my 18th year in the high school classroom.  I have a masters in Mathematics Education and am National Board Certified.  I am an active member of the Math Leadership Team for our county and help run workshops for county teachers.  Parent of a middle school and a high school child.  Follow me on facebook - twitter - and pinterest!

Teacher Tip for Parents: Be Honest

Back to School Advice

Teacher, Suzy Brooks, of Falmouth, MA Public School Blogs is imparting wisdom for parents everywhere with kids heading back to school this year.  Constructive, poignant and universal, Suzy's tip will make you think and will inspire your relationship with your kids and their teacher for the entire year to come.  Read an excerpt of Suzy's tip below and the entire piece here.

My earth-shattering advice to parents?

Be honest.

Yes.  I said it.  Be honest.

Be helpfully honest with your children, their teachers, and yourself.

Not brutal, insensitive, careless honesty.  The message of honesty is lost when one is hurt or hurtful.

Not evasive honesty.  Specific honesty is necessary for growth.

Not end-of-the-year honesty.  If the message comes too late, change is nearly impossible.

Not mistargeted honesty.  Giving an honest message to the wrong person doesn’t help.

Share your honest, constructive, helpful ideas and feedback, so that we can all work together to make this year an amazing one.

Please be honest with your children.  Every student, in every classroom, has something which needs improving. Whether that “something” is fluency, or penmanship, or math, or behavior, or motivation, or maintaining attention, or appropriate socialization…. it doesn’t matter.  Be honest about their strengths, so they can use them as a foundation to build on. Be honest with your child about what he or she needs to work on.  Be honest about the fact that everyone struggles in some ways, and succeed in others.  Be honest when the work gets hard – let your child know that work IS hard and give them strategies to accomplish their goals!

Be honest with teachers.  I can say, as a teacher, each year I focus a lot of energy on becoming a stronger, more effective teacher.  I develop my own skills and build my knowledge base so I can better meet the needs of my new little friends.  Honest parents help make that job easier by letting me get to know them and their children.  If your family is struggling at homework time, tell me – I’d love to help!  If your child is coming home, or heading to school in tears, please tell me – we’ll work together to develop ideas to change that.  If you’ve lost the lunch menu for the third time, or forgot that the permission slip was due, or left the backpack at the babysitters, let me know.  We’ll have a good laugh and figure out a solution together.  We both have the same goal in mind – a positive, successful year for your child.  Honest communication will help us achieve that goal together.

 Read Suzy's Entire Piece on Her Blog

 

Suzy Brooks is a 3rd grade teacher in Falmouth, MA, where she strives to make strong, positive connections with her students, their families, and her colleagues. Suzy has been invited to present for MASSCUE, EdTechTeacher.com and dozens of regional and district workshops. Participants leave her sessions with a sharp focus on students and an inspired attitude towards technology. Regionally recognized as a teacher leader, Suzy was honored with the 2011 MassCUE Pathfinder Award, is a FableVision Ambassador and Discovery Educator Network STAR. Additionally, she serves on the Massachusetts ASCD Board of Directors. Visit her classroom blog at http://blogs.falmouth.k12.ma.us/simplysuzy.

Back to School | Teacher Tip

Helping Children Get Back Into "School Mode"

By: Steve Reifman of SteveReifman.com

This week's teacher tip is all about best practices for getting kids back into "school mode" so the transition is welcomed and still exciting.  Check out Steve's tip via video below and read his post here.

And don't miss Steve's additional resources for teachers preparing for the best school year they can have for their students.

1) The First 10 Minutes: A Classroom Morning Routine that Reaches and Teaches the Whole Child

A consistent, effective morning routine sets the tone for the upcoming school day and prepares students for high quality learning. In this book Steve describes a three-part routine that reaches and teaches the whole child.

Part 1 introduces the morning check-in, an activity that addresses the affective domain by building a sense of inclusion and mutual caring, strengthening teamwork, increasing class bonding, and helping each child feel acknowledged and valued.

Part 2 features three types of class discussions that focus on moral and character development and emphasize strong work habits and social skills.  The goals of these brief conversations are to inspire children to maximize their amazing potential, build a sense of purpose, and increase student motivation to learn and succeed.

Part 3 adds a physical component to this routine that both energizes and de-stresses children to help them achieve an ideal mindset for academic learning. After completing this warm-up routine, students will be calm, relaxed, focused, and confident.  (23 pages)

2) The First 30 Days: Start Your School Year With Four Priorities in Mind

Giving the following priorities the time and emphasis they deserve in the beginning of each school year pays big dividends for you, your students, and their families. In this book Steve brings these priorities to life with a wide variety of activities, strategies, suggestions, and sample pages.

1. Establish procedures, routines, and expectations so students know how to function efficiently and effectively in your classroom. Keep this training period going until performing these routines and procedures becomes second nature for students. Generally, 4-6 weeks will be sufficient.
2. Build a cooperative classroom culture through icebreaking and team-building activities so students feel safe and comfortable and see one another as friends and assets, not rivals.
3. Establish a sense of purpose in your class so students understand why it is important to come to school each day and work hard. Children who understand the many purposes of their learning will behave better, work with greater motivation and enthusiasm, and find greater meaning in their work.
4. Communicate with your students’ families about the new year. Build a sense of excitement, optimism, and possibility as you share your plans  for the coming months. Be proactive. Doing so gives you the opportunity to package your ideas and articulate them in the best possible light. Proactivity increases your credibility, strengthens your voice, and reaffirms your position of leadership. 

   (40 pages)

About the Author: 

Steve Reifman is a National Board Certified elementary school teacher, author, and speaker in Santa Monica, CA. He has written several books for educators and parents, including Changing Kids’ Lives One Quote at a Time and Eight Essentials for Empowered Teaching and Learning, K-8. Steve is also the creator of the Chase Manning Mystery Series for kids 8-12. Each book in the series features a single-day, real-time thriller that occurs on an elementary school campus. For weekly Teaching Tips, blog posts, and other valuable resources and strategies on teaching the whole child, visit http://stevereifman.com. Follow Steve on Twitter!

 

Back to School | Teacher Tip

Ever wanted to read your teacher's mind?  Wish you had a direct line to what they really wanted or needed from you as their student's parent?  Well we're reading YOUR mind this back to school season and bringing you tips from top teacher bloggers across the country!

Check out an excerpt of our first "tip" from teacher and educational blogger, Dave Guymon of MrGuymonsClassroom:

Now, when I, as a teacher, am asked how parents can best support my classroom efforts there is no sarcasm in my response; Ensure that your child is in class every day.

Duh! That seems obvious, or does it? When I was a student, collecting make-up work from days missed was satisfactory. Complete it by tomorrow, and turn it into the teacher. As long as it was on time I would get full credit. I mastered the three Rs just like everyone else. That was in a 20th-Century classroom. In a 21st-Century classroom, the three Rs aren't all that students miss. Equally important, are the 4 Cs.

Collaboration, communication, creation, and critical thinking are elements of a new millenium classroom that cannot be replicated with make-up work. They are social skills, and education has become social. The learner is no longer isolated with his or her work as I was in my schooling. With the rise in social networking, Web 2.0 technology, collaborative platforms, and problem-based learning, being present in the classroom is imperative to a successful learning experience. Information that is consolidated into stand alone textbooks or worksheets is insufficient. Authentic education has now become crowdsourced. When the whole of the crowd is not present, the quality of learning is diminished.

Read the rest of Dave's Teacher Tip

Dave Guymon is a connected 6th grade teacher in a disconnected district in Idaho. After reading about the importance of developing a professional learning network on Twitter, his love of connecting with other professionals has continued to grow. As a result, he has become an active educational blogger and social networking professional development presenter.
Follow him on Twitter!

Stay tuned for more "teacher tips" that will provide insight and inspiration for your child's learning environment, both at school and at home!

VolunteerSpot Blog | Best of 2011

Blog Series, Guest Regulars and Wonderful Readers Made 2011 our Best Year Yet!

We want to celebrate and thank our guest contributors for a great year of all things service and giving back.  From insightful perspectives on school parent involvement,  non-profit success and benefit auction how-to's, to volunteer management and social media tips, teacher appreciation and fun class party ideas, employee volunteering and corporate responsibility news, faith group and community-building concepts and so much more - our blog proved to be an ever-evolving foundation for sharing timely and desired content.  

 
A favorite summer blog series, Teacher Tuesdays, was a thrilling opportunity to feature guest posts focusing on parent engagement in education from a teacher's perspective.  

 

Our Summer of Service feature gave us the privilege of featuring leading guest bloggers who shared their unique and personal perspectives on service, volunteering and citizen philanthropy.  Topics ranged from volunteering for kids and volunteer management, to the power of story-telling, employee service, supporting military families and so much more! 

 

The My School My Way campaign brought together over 30 bloggers sharing the highs and lows of parent volunteering, and how they did it their way in their school.  From humourous anecdotes to heart-warming insights, our My School My Way blog campaign had something for everyone, and we were honored to share these wonderful parents and writers with our readers.  Wrap-up and roll call.

_______________________________________________________________

April Welch, our resident Mental Clutter Coach, joined us week after week for Tidy Thursday - bringing fresh ideas and bright new ways to approach organizing our lives!

Worship Wednesday guest posts from Sue Brage were a true blessing.  From a faith-based perspective, her thoughts and words shed light on growing one's faith group and the interpretation of service in doing so.

 

 

Sherry Truhlar of Red Apple Auctions LLC brought us countless helpful tips, ideas and strategies when it came to running a successful auction.  From publicitiy, to gathering volunteers, legal refreshers, and best practices, expert advice made auction fundraisers less of a dream and more of a reality for many readers.

 

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VolunteerSpotlights gave us a chance to shine a light on the amazing individuals and organizations who use VolunteerSpot to make a difference in their community.  From school parent leaders to festival organizers, conference coordinators to humane societies, congregational volunteer leaders to regional homeless shelter organizers - the willingness to do good was colorful and widespread and we were honored to share each and every story.

Additional Guest Regulars included:

Chris Jarvis of Realized Worth brought us insights into workplace volunteering, corporate social responsibility, and employee volunteer programs.

Andrea Patten of What Kids Need to Succeed illumined top tips, best practices, fun stories and helpful hints when it comes to running a successful nonprofit.

Myrdin Thompson of RootsandWings Library and MomCongress provided a keen and astute perspective from everything grant-writing, to literacy promotion, and advocating for more school involvement.

Susan Wells of SteveSpanglerScience joined us to share super creative and much-needed ideas incorporating science into the classroom, whether for a class party, school science fair, or the "dreaded science project."

A variety of incredibly talented and knowledgable contributors made our array of free e-books available as a highly sought-after resource for countless volunteers, organizers, teachers, team moms, and room parents!  From healthy snack ideas, to parent-teacher conference, class party, volunteer recognition, bake sale, school carnival, fundraising, talent show, and family volunteering ideas and tips, our e-books continue to be a fun and helpful resource for our readers and we are thrilled to be able to share them on our blog.

Family Friendly Volunteering: Service Project Ideas from A-Z

View more presentations from VolunteerSpot

There are so many more favorite posts and contributors in addition to these listed and we hope you take the time to look around.  Of course, our blog would be nowhere without our amazing readers and those who help promote and share our posts.  2011 was an incredible year and we are sure 2012 will prove to be even better - many thanks and here's to a New Year!

Gifts For Teacher | Fast & Easy Holiday Ideas

Teacher Gift Ideas, Simple & Creative

Four Fabulous Festive types of Gifts for the Teacher in your life!  Need simple ideas for your kid's school teacher this year? We've collected gift ideas that will practically make themselves, getting you back to the task of enjoying the holidays with your family!

Meaningful & Heartfelt!

1. Have your child write a letter with a picture to the teacher, (Tip: make a photocopy for the principal's file as well).   It can be a simple Thank You & Happy Holidays, or their five 
   favorite memories from the semester.
2. Create a group digital eCard from all the kids, created from a VolunteerSpot request for parents to add their thoughts to a Google doc (or just emailed in).
3. Collect donations for ad space and design a special thank you for your local paper or newsletter shouting out your teacher.
4. Wrap up a box of blank Thank You cards. If a teacher has 30+ students who all send in gifts and do special things for them, that's a lot of thank you responses (and extra expsense) he or she might need to send!

Themed Gifts!

1. Cozy Night In!  Treat the teacher with a basketful of warm goodies including gourmet hot chocolate, teas, and cider with a personalized mug.  Top off with warm and fuzzy mittens and a scarf!
2. Movie Night!  Grab a couple fun DVDs, add a pack or two of microwavable popcorn, frozen Jr. Mints and 2 bottles of cream soda to create the perfect movie night!  Top off with a gift certificate to the movies! (Label it, “Stay In or Go Out?”)
3. Holiday on the town! Ask around town for discounted tickets to a local holiday concert or performance
4. Seasonal Treats!  Special treats like mini pies, gourmet cupcakes, chocolates, or muffins-in-a-jar will help to make the season bright (and the tummy happy)!

Get Crafty!

1. Holiday ornaments are keepsakes which make an appearance year after year - simple ribbon with unique holiday trinkets and a Happy Holidays note on the back create a special remembrance.
2. Create an idea-folder filled with printed up fun classroom-appropriate craft ideas for the upcoming seasonal months.  Scour the internet for terrific ideas including academic related ideas you know will be covered, ex. 5^th grade will be American History, so look up Washington and Lincoln crafts.
3. Gift Card Snow Globes are a super simple yet creative way to present your teacher with some quick cash.
4. Hand-made photo frames can include a class picture or be left open for the teacher to fill with their own personal memories.

Sometimes what they need IS what they want!

1. School supplies - Fill a reusable grocery bag with school supplies the teacher and classroom are low on. (Send a request via VolunteerSpot with suggested supplies).
2. Treasure Chest - Collect donations for the classroom treasure chest; small prizes, stickers and toys are always handy as special rewards and class party activity prizes.
3. Gift cards are always 'the RIGHT size!' Think: grocery stores, office supply stores, favorite restaurants and gasoline.
4. “You Deserve a Winter Break” Kit! Have parents donate gently used ‘brain candy’ books and mindless movies. Add a box of relaxing tea, chocolates, bubble bath and a gift certificate for dinner out.

Please share the best gift you have ever given (or received) to a teacher! Why was it great, how did you accomplish it? We'd love to share it with our facebook readers!

Find more Teacher Gift ideas in our free e-book!

Greatest Gifts For Teachers & Teacher Appreciation Week

View more presentations from VolunteerSpot

9 Great Articles on Parent Engagement in Education | Teacher Tuesdays

Teacher Tuesday Wrap Up

This summer, we were delighted to introduce a brand new blog series, Teacher Tuesdays, focusing on parent engagement in education from a teacher's perspective.

School is starting up now, and it's time to take what we've learned over the summer and put it to good use within our classrooms and families. 

We wanted to thank our absolutely wonderful guest writers who took the time to share their expertise and tips. This was such a great series, from teachers and parents to education thought leaders, we were able to see all sorts of different view points on a truly important topic.

Please explore our line up of powerful guest bloggers that helped us learn how much great work parents and teachers can accomplish for and with our kids when we work together. 

The Teacher Tuesday Line Up: 

• 8 Reasons Why Parents should be Involved at School by Joan Young 

• 5 Ways to Connect with your Children through Technology by Lisa Nielsen

• How to Cultivate a Powerful Student - Teacher - Family Relationship by Suzy Brooks

• 8 Things Your Child's Teacher Would Love You to Know by Pernille Ripp

• 10 Great School-Family Events that Boost Parent Engagement by Darlene Mack

• Fun Summertime Learning by Amy Mascott

• Encouraging Students Beyond Grading by Joe Bower

• Top 5 Tips for Making High School Easier by Cindy Hallman-Morris

• Ways Parents can Encourage Kids to Read by Hilda Stevens

Once again, an enormous thank you to all of our participating bloggers, this fantastic series wouldn't be possible without you!

-Team VolunteerSpot

Ways Parents can Encourage Kids to Read | Teacher Tuesday

Today is Teacher Tuesday! Please welcome Hilda Stevens of Successful Innovations who is sharing four great tips on how to encourage your kids to read at home. Thank you Hilda!

Great Ideas to Make Reading Fun

By Hilda Stevens

Reading is a vital part of your child’s success in school. Providing opportunities to read at home will help to increase your child’s ability to become a strong reader, and a better student overall. Here are some suggestions you can use to make summer reading fun for your child.

1. Make a place in your home just for reading and writing. 

This space can be in any room of the home. You will want this space to be comfortable so have pillows, blankets, or a favorite stuff animal to stretch out with. The idea is to allow your child to enjoy books without distractions. Fill this space with magazines, paper, pencils, crayons, markers, scissors, newspapers, and books. A plastic container makes the perfect storage box for all of these materials.  With the lid in place, now your child has a portable desk on which to write.

2. You can help your child make his very own reading book about the family. 

Collect photographs of the family and help your child glue or tape these to construction paper. Now you can help your child write about each picture. Depending on the age of your child, sentence dictation would be appropriate for younger children. Older children can write their own sentences describing the events in the photos. Now you can help your child to assemble the pages into a book form. The pages can be stapled or tied together with yarn. This family album will become a treasure for your child to read over and over again.

3. Have fun reading for information, in the kitchen!

Why not get cooking with your child?  Let your child help with baking cookies or a cake by reading the recipe. Help your child learn the words: ingredients, directions, recipe, and temperature, to name a few. Your child will enjoy the time spent making plans for the special food dish that you will be preparing for the family and at the same time, learning to read for information.

4. Schedule a weekly family “No TV Night”. 

Gather the family on a blanket or couch and enjoy this time reading and talking about some good books. Have your child read to you, as well. This will build confidence in his reading ability and make him feel special to be able to read aloud to an adult.

Be creative and think of other ways to engage your child in reading opportunities in your home.  You are encouraging your child to see the joy of reading in all aspects of life.  

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Hilda Stevens is co-founder and lead national educational consultant for Successful Innovations, Inc.. She has experience consulting and leading professional development workshops at the state and national levels. As a former Virginia educator with over 30 years of public school experience, Mrs. Stevens has had extensive training in Response to Intervention Strategies, Literacy Coaching, and Differentiated Instruction.

 

 

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Keep Up with Teacher Tuesdays!

•  8 Reasons Why Parents should be Involved at School by Joan Young   
•  5 Ways to Connect with your Children through Technology by Lisa Nielsen
• How to Cultivate a Powerful Student - Teacher - Family Relationship by Suzy Brooks
• 8 Things Your Child's Teacher Would Love You to Know by Pernille Ripp
• 10 Great School-Family Events that Boost Parent Engagement by Darlene Mack 
•  Fun Summertime Learning by Amy Mascott
• Encouraging Students Beyond Grading by Joe Bower
• Top 5 Tips for Making High School Easier by Cindy Hallman-Morris

Top 5 Tips for Making High School Easier | Teacher Tuesday

 Today is Teacher Tuesday! Please welcome Cindy Hallman-Moris who is sharing five great tips on how to navigate the high school years. Thank you Cindy!

Preparing for College in High School

 By Cindy Hallman-Morris

 

High School.  It can bring back all kinds of memories – both good and bad.  Regardless of when you attended high school, I can assure you the drama is still there but lots of other things have changed.  Kids are now turning their English papers in online and using Moodle or other open-source sites to communicate with their teachers.  Getting into college is exponentially harder than 25 years ago when I first applied to the University of Georgia. 

So, what can you do to help your student navigate these four years? 

I asked my seniors to share their advice for making the high school years easier.  I combined their responses with my 17 years of teaching experience and created our top five tips for making high school easier:

1. Get to know your student’s guidance counselor early on
2. Keep in contact with your student’s teachers (but don’t hover)
3. Help your student start to build a resume
4. Remind your student - their transcript starts in 9^th grade
5. Don’t be afraid to ask for help

1. Get to know your student’s guidance counselor early on. 

Many kids can go through all of high school without needing to meet with their school guidance counselor. Get to know him or her; these folks are your secret weapon!  Meet with the counselor early and make a long range plan.  Guidance counselors know all about college admissions, scholarship information, your state’s graduation requirements, and diploma options.  They also can recommend summer programs that meet your student’s  interests and are a great help if your student needs someone to talk to concerning that drama I referred to earlier.

2. Keep in contact with your student’s teachers (but don’t hover). 

Email is an invaluable tool when it comes to parent-teacher communication! I love being able to send a quick note to either an entire class or to individual parents and most teachers welcome messages from parents. Don’t hesitate to ask questions about your child about homework assignments – especially if details aren’t listed online.  Also, be sure you know your student’s schedule and teacher’s names. A friend of mine made a photocopy of her kid’s schedule and kept it in her wallet – great idea!

3. Help your student start to build a resume. 

Many college applications require an essay concerning leadership or a life-changing event.  Help your student look for some kind of volunteer work that they are really interested in and then help them get involved.  Boy Scouts and church youth groups offer great activities but keep looking if that is not something they like.  If they think they want to go into medicine, volunteer at the hospital.  The animal shelter, a food bank, Meals On Wheels are all good choices.  Or look at things already offered at school like Service Clubs.  At our school we have Special Needs students in a program called the Progressive Education Program.  Students can use a class slot to be a peer helper with PEP.  Many students say their connections here and through activities like Special Olympics are life-changing.

4. Remind your student – their transcript starts in 9^th grade. 

So, we used to joke about the Permanent Record File that teachers would hold over our head.  “Beware – this goes in your permanent record!”  Never saw that thing… What will follow your student though is their transcript.  This is a record of all their final class grades and official test scores – state exit tests, SAT, ACT.  Colleges make a big deal about looking at the Junior year grades but all class grades go into the final Grade Point Average.  Course selections and grades from freshman year can affect options later in high school. Be sure your student helps make that four year plan (see #1) so they can understand the consequences of their choices.

5. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. 

Though – in general - high school teachers are not as warm and fuzzy as our elementary counterparts, we love to help.  Teachers, those counselors mentioned above, media specialists, and administrators all are there for one reason only – to help kids succeed!  Jump in if your student is struggling in a class. Teachers and counselors can come up with creative solutions to problems; but, never forget you are your child’s best advocate.  Most schools have student tutors that will help in exchange for service hour credit. 

Parenting is not for the faint of heart and the normal high school student will challenge the bravest of us.  Reach out and be involved. Help your kids find a direction and a passion.  Though they often have a strange way of expressing it, your kids will appreciate your help and involvement.  Good luck to you!

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Cindy Hallman-Morris is a High School math teacher in Asheville, NC.  She is a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT), has a Masters in Education (MEd), and is a mother to a High School and Middle School student. When she’s not teaching math, she’s driving her kids to soccer and gymnastics, cooking up a storm, and blogging all about it at  www.midlymanicmom.com.  Follow her on Twitter @MildlyManicMom

 

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Keep Up with Teacher Tuesdays!

•  8 Reasons Why Parents should be Involved at School by Joan Young   
•  5 Ways to Connect with your Children through Technology by Lisa Nielsen
• How to Cultivate a Powerful Student - Teacher - Family Relationship by Suzy Brooks
• 8 Things Your Child's Teacher Would Love You to Know by Pernille Ripp
• 10 Great School-Family Events that Boost Parent Engagement by Darlene Mack 
•  Fun Summertime Learning by Amy Mascott
• Encouraging Students Beyond Grading by Joe Bower

Encouraging Students Beyond Grading | Teacher Tuesday

Today is Teacher Tuesday! Please welcome Joe Bower, sharing tips on how to encourage students to learn without a grading system. Thanks Joe!

Grades and Learning

 By Joe Bower

A few years ago, I was teaching grade 8 a unit on life in science. We were examining animal cells, plant cells, human body systems, diseases and anything else the students felt like learning about. In my class, I provide my students with a lot of autonomy and choice in selecting what they want to learn.

Some students were learning about Leukemia while others learned about the organelles that make up the cell. Sarah approached me and asked if she could do a poster project showing what she could learn about breast cancer. I said, "that's up to you."

She began her research and poster during class, and come lunch she asked me if she could work on her project during her lunch hour. Again, I said, "that's up to you."

As she continued to glue new information on her poster, she turned to me and asked something very peculiar. "Mr. Bower, will I get an A on this?"

This was very odd because I abolished grading from my classroom practices years ago. In fact, the only time my students ever received a grade was on their district-mandated report card. Sarah had known this since day one and it was now March, which means she hadn't received a grade from me on any project for six months.

Another student overheard Sarah's question and replied, "Why are you asking Mr. Bower that? You know nothing is for grades!"

I too looked at Sarah in confusion and said, "Why are you asking me if your project will get an A? You know I won't grade it." I asked, "Why are you doing this poster?"

She look perplexed and said, "I want to get an A."

I asked her to stop working on her poster so I could ask my next question, "Sarah, why are you really doing this poster?"

She stopped and looked at me. She started to tear up a little, and said, "my aunty has breast cancer."

I was moved by her honesty and sincerity. It was very clear to me that she cared deeply for her aunty. I said, "Sarah, I couldn't think of a better reason for you to do this poster project. You do this poster and share it with your aunty."

Two days later, Sarah and her mom came in for student-led portfolios. I started to share this story with Sarah's mom when she started to cry. Then Sarah cried. I didn't cry, but I was close. Her mom shared with me that Sarah was reading more at home and showed more interest in learning than in past years. 

Honestly, I can not think of a better reason for Sarah to learn about breast cancer. And yet, if I graded students, this whole experience might have ended when she said she was doing this poster to get an A. Another teacher might have smiled and thought to themselves good for you, Sarah. You are such a good little student. 

Can you see how ultimately distracting grades can be? They run interference on our motivation and learning all the time. We owe it to our students and our own learning to minimize the in-your-face characteristics of grading as much as we possibly can so all students can find more authentic reasons for learning. This isn't easy. After all, the odds are not good that your son or daughter have a teacher that refuses to grade; however, as the parent at home, you can do a lot to minimize the inherent damages a grades-oriented classroom can have.

Here are but a few suggestions for how to minimize the harmful effects of grading:

• As much as possible, refrain from asking or talking about the grades your son or daughter are assigned. Instead of asking "What did you get?" consider asking "What did you learn?" At the very least, conversations about their grades should happen after you talk about their learning.

• Come report card time, don't make a big deal of the grades; don't boast about their high grades and don't be disappointed in their low grades. Engage in a conversation that will encourage your child to reflect on their learning -- not their grades.

• Grades can only ever be experienced by students as a reward or punishment, so if you reward or punish your child based on their grades, you are in essence rewarding them for getting a reward or punishing them for being punished. This is the kind of vicious cycle that victimizes kids.

• Consider reading Alfie Kohn's article The Costs of Overemphasizing Achievement and a page on my website dedicated entirely to how we can and should minimize and ultimately abolish grading.

In the end, we could choose to use grades in order to artificially induce our children to learn, but to be honest, I'd rather help them find a real reason for learning.

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Joe Bower teaches in Canada and blogs at www.joebower.org where he challenges "traditional" schooling while exploring more progressive forms of education. You can follow him on Twitter or e-mail him directly with questions or comments at [email protected].

 

 

Keep Up with Teacher Tuesdays!

•  8 Reasons Why Parents should be Involved at School by Joan Young   
• 5 Ways to Connect with your Children through Technology by Lisa Nielsen
• How to Cultivate a Powerful Student - Teacher - Family Relationship by Suzy Brooks
• 8 Things Your Child's Teacher Would Love You to Know by Pernille Ripp
• 10 Great School-Family Events that Boost Parent Engagement by Darlene Mack
• Fun Summertime Learning by Amy Mascott

8 Reasons Why Parents should be Involved at School | Teacher Tuesday

Today is Teacher Tuesday! Please welcome Joan Young, sharing reasons for why every parent should be involved in their children's education. Thanks Joan!

Why Parent Involvement is Key

 By Joan Young

There is a great deal of research and media attention given to the question:

What makes a student successful?

Parent involvement is cited often as a key ingredient to a thriving school community.

As a teacher, I often hear peers talk about needing more or less of it.  As a parent, I listen to other parents who want to help, but don’t know how.  Depending on your school community, parent involvement can look very different: parents volunteering in classrooms, taking prep work home, popping in for school events, and/or maintaining regular communication via email, notes, or face to face meetings.

Here are 8 factors to consider about parent involvement:

1) Your children need to know we are on the same team. 

Often children come home with stories that place blame externally. If you jump on the opportunity to blame the teacher or the school, you can miss out on the important other side of the story. When kids know that we communicate, they will be more apt to ask for help instead of blaming. Also, when we communicate often, we can use the same language of encouragement.

2) We are with your child a good portion of the day.

We have information that is important to you and can help you address your child’s needs both educational and otherwise.

3) Together we have power. 

When up against the beauracracy of a school system that often makes decisions not in the best interest of a child, we can work together to exert the pressure for officials to make the right decisions. I have worked together with many parents to help them advocate for services for their child.

4) We need mutual trust.

Just as you may have had prior experiences with teachers, we have had challenging encounters with parents. Open communication builds trust.

5) When you participate in school events, you get to see a different side of your child.

Perhaps you have never realized the leadership skills your child possesses. Conversely, maybe you are not seeing the difficulties your child is facing socially.

6) Our worlds impact each other. 

Your child’s life outside of school influences his/her home life.  We need to be sharing solutions and challenges that impact your child’s educational success.

7) If we don’t have input from you, we make assumptions.

Not purposely, of course. We fill in the gaps of information by what we think we know. Maybe you have a very good reason why your child is late 3 times a week. Help us out so we can help you!

8) Together we can put pieces of your child’s learning into a puzzle that makes sense.

When you give us the history/background of problems and solutions with your child, we save a lot of time in choosing interventions.

So how do you get involved? Begin by observing the patterns at your school. What are common practices for parent involvement? Knowing the way communication is usually handled or how parents are welcomed into the classroom is key.

What if you want to make change? You can, of course, get involved in the Parent Teacher Association or other mechanism of action in your school. By respecting and knowing about the practices already in place, you will have a much better chance to connect with others who may also want to make positive change in your school.

If you’re yearning to read more check out Education World’s series on parent involvement. Don’t sit back and be an observer: jump in and be a part of your school community!

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Joan Young teaches 4th grade after having taught kindergarten/1st grade for many years. She teaches in northern California in the San Francisco Bay area. She has a M.A. in Clinical Psychology and is passionate about helping kids discover their strengths and become excited about learning. She is the author of Scholastic’s 25 Super Sight Word Songs and Mini Books.  You can follow her on Twitter as @flourishingkids or read her blog.

Keep Up with Teacher Tuesdays!

• Fun Summertime Learning by Amy Mascott
• 10 Great School-Family Events that Boost Parent Engagement by Darlene Mack
• 8 Things Your Child's Teacher Would Love You to Know by Pernille Ripp
• How to Cultivate a Powerful Student - Teacher - Family Relationship by Suzy Brooks
• 5 Ways to Connect with your Children through Technology by Lisa Nielsen