“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” ~Lao Tzu~ We hosted an un-conference last week with a collection of some of our district’s strongest teachers to explore and engage in conversational learning. Sixty or so members of the York Region District’s Literacy@School team gathered for an edcamp-type day and tweeted out using the...
Last week, I had a chance to meet with some parents from our school, and plan an upcoming 60-minute meeting in April – only this is not going to be like any other meeting we’ve had in the past. On Monday, April 23rd, our Home & School Meeting will be broadcasted over the web...
Many schools are beginning to use social media to send out information to parents. Examples include twitter feeds and facebook pages. These initial forays into social media are a first step. They provide parents and the community with greater access to information regarding the school and the learning happening within its walls. A key facet of school...
Early during the 2010-2011 school year, my Principals Advisory Council came up with the idea to engage parents and community members by teaching technology classes once a month. We were cognizant of a potential gap that was occurring in terms of technology tools our students use, we use, and our parents use. If we...
At Kent we provide many opportunities for parents and families to stay informed and involved in their child’s education. Nothing is better than face to face communication but many times this is not possible. Therefore, I believe it is important to provide a variety of ways that parents and families can both receive information...
“We do not remember days, we remember moments.” ~Cesare Pavese~ We forget, in the rush of school days that hundred of lives are lived every day in our buildings. And, since schools are places where youth and energy are the norm, we are not always well suited to meet the challenges that death and...
Cross-posted at “The Wejr Board” blog. I recently had the honour of presenting to a neighbouring school district about my journey in developing on online personal learning network (PLN) and becoming a connected leader. The slides from the presentation are below but here is a brief (ok, this is LONG for a blog post)...
On October 21st at 8:30 am, George Couros and I will host a workshop / discussion at The Educational Computing Organization of Ontario’s Conference exploring how leaders and aspiring leaders in the field of education can use online tools and social media to develop leadership competencies across the Ontario Leadership Framework. Watching the pre-conference chatter on twitter, I noticed...
Have you ever read one of those emails that just got under your skin? You know that email or post that just elevated your blood pressure to the point where you felt like your head was going to explode? You then frantically type out a response and hit the send button only to think,...
This summer, I wrote a post discussing the world of social media, and how our administrators need to jump in and lead our schools in this “new world”. Here is one of the things that I wrote in that post: There can no longer be an “opt out” clause when dealing with technology in...
Our school recently underwent our accreditation process and reviewed the foundational documents that direct the vision for our school. As a school, we decided to use the Middle States Association’s, “Excellence by Design” protocol to drive this process and I am happy to report that our school has improved our planning ethic and successfully...
This is a revised version of a post originally to my own blog. When I’m doing math homework, I just really go fast and crazy, and in the end I still don’t understand it, really. It’s just a lot of pressure. And it shows: I’m always tired in class, because I...
As our school moves to attempt to add another stream of communication to parents via SMS (text messaging), I have been asked – “how many ways do we need to communicate with parents?” Should parents not just try harder to stay informed of their child’s education? My responses are twofold: We need to differentiate...
Parent involvement and engagement are areas in which I have been trying to grow as an educator. Through families at my school as well as online, our school has begun to try to be more inviting and to actually listen to the voice of our families. This post was originally posted on The Wejr...
“Instead of worrying about the message your school is sending on social media platforms, consider the message your school is sending by NOT engaging with social media at all.” M. Peacock via Ferriter, Ramsden, Sheninger. A few years ago, I was speaking with a friend of mine who has a strong online presence, Kye...
Education reform is a hot topic. The media is all over it. So many stories, editorials, features, columns and documentaries revolve around the “drop-out factories,” as some urban schools are infamously referred to, and what should be done to reform these institutions and their practice. I’ve been wondering when all this talk is going...
As the summer break quickly approaches in the Northeast I have come across various articles focusing on summer learning loss and the negative impact that time off has on students. In 2010 Time Magazine published an article that clearly articulated The Case Against Summer Vacation. Even though there is a great deal of research on the...
Cross-posted at the Huffington Post. A few weeks ago I was fortunate to have the NJ School Boards Association (NJSBA) visit to produce a live event called Learn@Lunch: Technology as an Engagement Tool. You can view the archive of the event here. A little over two years ago something like this would have never happened at New...
I attended a very interesting workshop discussing successful schools and the “Four Paths” that they take in leadership. As Ken Leithwood discusses these in “School Leaders’ Influences on Student Learning: The Four Paths”: The Rational Path – Based on the understanding of learning, teaching, and curriculum. The Emotional Path – The development of relationships...
Yesterday at Forest Green School/Connections for Learning, our staff and several parents took part in our annual Education Planning process. Based on our three-year Education Plan, we take the opportunity as a whole to take a look at our plan for our school, and discuss what is going well, what can be improved, and...
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