Tips for Parents who Want "Better"

  Ask these questions to when you meet with your child's principal The print version  (go ahead and download this document) Here is the PDF version More files How can we improve my child’s experience of school? Relationships: Do my child’s teachers, and others who might serve as my child’s teachers, know about my child and my child’s interests and talents? Relevance: Does my child find what the school is teaching to be relevant to my child’s interests? Authenticity: Is the learning and work that my child does regarded as significant outside of school by experts, our family, community members, and employers? Application: Does my child have opportunities to apply what my child is learning in real-world settings and contexts? Choice: Does my child have real choices about what, when, and how my child will learn and demonstrate new skills? Challenge: Does my child feel appropriately challenged in the learning and work? Play: Does my child have opportunities to explore and to mak...

 Five Steps for Parents Watch the slide show. We agree with Seth Godin :  Ship it.  We have compiled information for you to consider. www.TINYURL.com/5stepsPowerpoint .  You can start there. He has an ebook called "Stop Stealing Dreams". HERE LINK to "Best Practies for Teachers" (and Parents) Here are screenshots from the "Five Steps" slide show Visit the Wiki called Wiki for Parents who want BETTER."

John Clarke and Joseph DiMartino wrote Personalizing the high school experience for each student.    LINK to Amazon What is personalizing? Teaching is Listening, Learning is Talking. ~  Message painted on a Met advisor's truck by his students Being a teacher—and building a system of education, for that matter—is about creating the best possible environment for supporting kids and learning. It is not about finding a way to fit your goals into the traditional methods of schooling. Here's an example of how educators can miss the point: There are people who believe that learning to be a moral human being is the most important goal of education. So all these curricula have been developed around teaching moral character. There are textbooks with “moral conflict scenarios” that sound good on paper, but may have nothing to do with where a particular kid is at right now. Then there are multiple-choice tests to assess whether the kid knows what is moral and what is not. Morality is...