Yesterday, our school district sent home a schedule for its Parent Academy, workshops that give parents “the tips and tools to help their children be successful in school.” There were 34 listed, from a question-and-answer session with district staff at a local Walmart to one called Brush Up on Algebra with The Math Dude to a more traditional session called Understanding the Maryland School Assessment to a behind-the-scenes tour of the district’s bus depot. I better attend the workshop Learning to Use Social Media.
What parent workshops are offered by your school district?
Shameless self-promotion: Want more of The Math Dude? See this webcast that I did with him, Harvard’s Jon Star, Jim Rubillo from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and others on algebra, called Making Algebra Work: Instructional Strategies that Deepen Student Understanding. And if that floats your boat, see this one on fractions, called Beyond Slices of Pizza: Teaching Fractions Effectively.
Is your school a US Department of Education Blue Ribbon School? The 304 2010 recipients were announced two weeks ago.
Lastly, an op-ed in last week’s Education Week alerted me to this group, Attendance Counts; in the piece the group’s director Hedy Chang debunks five common myths about school attendance. I liked what she said about this myth, that there’s “not much schools can do to improve attendance; it’s up to parents.” She wrote: “While parents are certainly essential, schools partnering with community agencies can make a real difference when they work together. Some solutions are universal: educating parents and students about the importance of attendance and ensuring that every absence receives a response.”