What if...

What if kids were not freely handed the opportunity to forget what they learned all year over the extended summer vacation?

What if teachers left the profession the very moment they felt disconnected to the students, and didn't waste classroom space just to wait out retirement?

What if the government truly realized that they wouldn't exist without funding education properly?

What if we treated schools like palaces instead of less than prisons?

What if instead of making little changes here and there, we made monumental, gigantic changes to the HeartCore of the institution?

What if we made the teaching profession fierce, and paid teachers six-figure salaries?

What if we made schools incredibly expensive for the government and absolutely free of charge to the citizens, just like national defense? (thanks West Wing)

What if we held a whisper of a moment in our guilty, tired, sodden hands--stopped throwing stones at the sinners, finally ceased our incessant bickering over blamegame roles, metaphorically annihilated those that seek to uphold corruption over education--and actually transformed our dialogue-anger-depression-madness into action?

Four Weeks In; Reflection on Differentiated Communication

To be honest, this year is more than I expected, and not what I thought it would be. I have instituted several online tools to meet the 2.0 needs of parents; I've also found not all parents want 2.0. I found myself guilty of attempting to reach the masses, but instead I fell short and provided a severe lack of differentiated communication. What I mean by this is, simply put, most parents are offline. Just as students need me to plan my lessons so that each child receives the best instruction, parents need communication in multiple forms. Here is a brief overview of the tools I employed, and how well they "worked" (or didn't):

GoogleDocs
Objective: To create an excel spreadsheet that contained sortable contact information that could be used for virtual communication about individual students, or mass communication about classroom needs or events.

Implementation: I created an online form for parents to fill out, providing their name, student's name, how best to reach them, and an extra space for them to fill out additional information about their child. I posted a link to this on my website, as well as in my oblig sig on my email. I also opened up the laptops on back to school night and had parents fill this in. (I had papers out as well, just in case the tech died...which it did.)

Pros and Cons: While some parents filled it out successfully, most at B2SN opted for the paper version, especially once the computers began to fail. I ended up taking those sign in sheets and entered the information myself- very time consuming, but still worth it for me to have the sortable list I envisioned at the get-go. Unfortunately, some parents still haven't been reached to fill out the form, so it's not a 100% attainable method of collecting parent information. But then again, what is? I am still waiting on phone call returns and info packets to be brought back from home.

Twitter for Homework
Objective: For students to "follow" so as to receive daily tweets about homework, or reminders for class. Also for parents to follow for up-to-date information in case students were absent.

Implementation: I posted a link to this on my website for an auto-updated gadget so that if parents access the site, they can see on the homepage (and on the "tonight's homework" page) that the homework is listed in an easy to read format. This is also written in the syllabus and in students' planners. I update it daily and haven't missed a day yet- something of an accomplishment, to be sure.

Pros and Cons: I created the site. I'm up to four followers. Enough said? I guess not. In researching the demographics behind twitter users, I found that many students don't have a twitter. Most users are between my age and 35. I could be wrong with the specifics, but I'm correct in saying that not only do my students not have twitter accounts, but nor do their parents. This is a frustrating dilemma considering the ease with which I use it and the convenience that it affords me. In reflection, I'll continue to use it. Parents are coming around and actually creating twitter accounts just to follow me, and I assume that many are seeing the updates on the home page of my site, since the "most visited" page is that very one. I'll continue to ask parents as well, to see what their reaction to it is. One stark difference between last year and this, related or not, is the homework completion rate. Perhaps parents are holding kids more accountable because of their access to this tool, or perhaps I'm just getting into my teaching groove, so to speak. More on that in a few weeks, I suppose.

WordPress- Class Site
Objective: To create an online arena where all class information is posted, distributed weekly for subscribers, and a place where pertinent school information is available.

Implementation: I began building the wordpress site over the summer, and am still creating new pages, adding content, and accumulating resources for parents. I also linked this site to the school web page and to our "team" web page where other teachers' materials are also posted. I sent the link to several community members, parents and other teachers before launching to see if it was easily navigated and clear in its content. If you would like the link, please email me at mrsryansclass1@gmail.com. I can send it to you, so long as you're legit.

Pros and Cons: So far, I have yet to see a downside to this tool. While it reaches only about 50-60 views a day, accounting for only half of my students, I can't see who is viewing it yet. So it may be parents, students, or even other teachers borrowing content and resources. I hope it is indeed parents, since I have received 11 subscribers and several emails about certain content they would like to see on the site. But this all boils down to differentiated communication. Am I reaching all parents? Are their other tools that I could be using more effectively? Or others that I could use in addition to these?


Final Thoughts:
Any input from my readers would be greatly appreciated. Any ideas for more tools that are easily used in class? Or tools that could be added to better reach non-tech parents? How about more person-to-person tools? By the time I next post on technology in the classroom, I'm hoping to have used a wikispace or evernote or stixxy with the students to see what works best for online collaboration and journalling. Please follow me on twitter.com/jryanteach for more updates, tools and resources.