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Onboarding parents
The presentation discusses blended learning initiatives at Lawrence Public Schools, highlighting the involvement of parents and the importance of communication through social media and platforms like Blackboard. It includes insights from teachers and students, as well as strategies for building partnerships with families. The document emphasizes the positive feedback and engagement from parents regarding the blended learning approach.
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Onboarding parents
- 1. Presentation Title: You AreNow Free to Move About the Classroom Angelique Nedved: Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, Lawrence Public Schools Diana Bailey: Blended Learning Classroom Teacher Grade 5, Lawrence Public Schools Paula Barr: Blended Learning Classroom Teacher Grade 2, Lawrence Public Schools
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- 3. Blending Learning inPictures
- 4. Who Are YourStudents?
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- 8. Parents Get aPeek
- 9. Parents Appreciate Invitationsto be Involved
- 10. Blackboard Keeps Parentsin the Loop
- 11. Easy Access toBlackboard
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- 13. Parents Requesting BlendedLearning
- 14. Word of Mouthas Support
- 15. Blended Learning Buttonon District Website
- 16. FAQs About BlendedLearning
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Editor's Notes
- #3 Connecting with parents begins in the classroom and at the beginning of the school year. Try flipping the Parent Information Night. Parents are provided with links to video clips, websites, and teacher created information about Blended Learning before the scheduled Parent Information Night. We’ve found that parents arrive with some background information and excellent questions to guide the discussion. One of the ways in which we get our parents on board is to flip our parent nights, we invite them in to “play” with stuff and get to know the room, just like their students would
- #4 Provide a parent information night using pictures and video clips to illustrate what BL looks like in your classroom. Utilizing blackboard we put all the information like, curriculum overview, mindsets, and sneak peeks so parents again experience what their students will in the blended setting
- #5 Gather information from parents about your students including internet access, student interests, and parent concerns. This helps you make the parent a partner in designing and supporting the learning path of students. We also understand that getting to know the parents and family in a positive manner first—right in August—is a crucial component to developing our community and blended environment.
- #6 Allow parents a virtual snapshot of your Blended Learning Classroom through the use of Social Media. Parents quickly become Blended Learning supporters when they see evidence of student collaboration and authentic learning experiences. Finally we utilize what our parents already are tuned in to, to help inform and keep in tune with the classroom happenings.
- #7 Weekly Electronic Newsletters provide another opportunity to give parents snapshots into their child’s day. By highlighting curricular goals, student investigations, student celebrations and classroom information.
- #8 An extremely powerful tool for helping parents understand and support blended learning is to simply invite them into the classroom. In this classroom parents are invited to drop-in without appointment one day each week. Most parents enjoyed joining their children as they worked in collaborative groups or on investigative projects.
- #9 An unexpected bonus to inviting parents into the classroom… most parents were happy to help the group and became valuable resources in the classroom.
- #10 Parents express their appreciation for being invited to be involved in the classroom. They often mention how amazed they are at the degree of student engagement and production as well as the overall positive atmosphere in a BL classroom. They witness first hand the choice and collaboration that is typical in a BL classroom.
- #11 Because students have access to Bb at home parents are kept in the loop. Students share links and information connected to their investigations at school. They also continue their learning at home giving parents the opportunity to see what and how they are learning.
- #12 Providing students with How-To instructions or video clips to make accessing Bb at home easier allows students to continue their learning at home and show their parents what they are learning.
- #13 Informing parents from the beginning about BL and connecting them through Bb to the personalized learning path designed for their child, creates informed parents who are partners and participants in conferences, enabling the teacher and parents to further fine tune and support the student’s personalized needs.
- #14 Administrators are receiving letters from parents expressing how BL has transformed their children. Parents are seeing their children as more engaged and enthusiastic students than ever before. Parents are requesting BL environments for the upcoming school years.
- #15 Parents are sharing the BL experiences of their children with other people in the community.
- #16 A section is devoted to blended learning on the district website. Parents may find answers to FAQs and watch video clip interviews of teachers, administrators, and students.
- #17 On our district website the FAQs are addressed by teachers, administrators, and students through short video clips. These video clips are much more powerful that written answers, especially when involving students.
- #18 The district website also offers parent interviews where parents express the changes they have seen in their children and advantages of blended learning
- #19 Student interviews are also available for parents on the district website. Hearing students speak about their experiences with blended learning a perfect way to help parents see the advantages of blended learning.
- #20 And finally, video clips of teachers explaining the impact of blended learning in their classroom are available to parents on the district website.
- #21 Walking tours led by district administrators are offered to community groups and members. Tours include blended learning classrooms kindergarten to high school. These tours give a unique glance at blended learning in action.
- #22 Whatever you do to include parents in your journey with blended learning is a positive move.