On Saturday June 19 , 2010, Classroom 2.0 Live was fortunate to have a team from the Toronto District School Board sharing how they use social media as a school board, school and classroom. Stuart Oakley, T.J. Goertz, Manny Da Luz, Aveline Ristuccia shared some ground breaking steps that they are using to connect and communicate with parents using social media. The Director of Education has a blog and twitter account. The school board has a Youtube channel , twitter account. and a Facebook Account. Winona Drive Senior Public School uses Twitter to update parents on school trips. Manny Da Luz is the Principal and he has his own Twitter account. Aveline Ristuccia is a classroom teacher and the class has a twitter account.
A fantastic demonstrations or open and two conversations with parents and students. Listen to the recorded show to hear the rest of the good news. More links can be found on the archives page at live.classroom20.com.

Classroom 2.0 LIVE – Toronto District School Board, Using Social Media to Support Staff, Students an from Kim Caise on Vimeo.

At least one of them. Today is a very special day for me. Let me tell you why. Over the past 10 odd years I have been working with parents encouraging, prodding and down right pushing at times. Using technology for many parents is a challenge and parents often fear that they will touch the wrong button and crash the computer.
As most of you know, I have had a consistent message. Technology will remove barriers of time and energy to help engage parents in their child’s learning. Remember I said 10 years.

Today, Laurel Allsion, one of my incredible friends (technology challenged – not any more) told me she has started a blog. I am so moved. Really, she took my breath away. I was astounded. She has come such a long way and with considerable courage she is embracing technology in spite of her fear of breaking the computer. It took us a few minutes to find the url for her blog ( lots to learn still). Here is the link to her blog. http://lifeislikechinesecheckers.wordpress.com
I can guarantee you will want to read every word. Her perspective as a parent is outstanding. She is currently the Chair of the Niagara Catholic Regional School Council. Laurel is extremely articulate and diligent in speaking out for parents without alienating teachers. She brings to the conversation an amazing capacity to describe how parents feel. Now she will be able to take her wisdom to the world for all to see and learn.

I have been really fortunate because she has been on my my cheerleaders through out the years. Laurel is one of the Parent “stars” in the Niagara Catholic Parent Reaching Out Project.

Her daughter – ( I will leave it to Laurel to tell you about her) is tech savvy and has helped her get started. An excellent example of letting child teach.
Try this post as a starter.
http://lifeislikechinesecheckers.wordpress.com/2010/06/18/parent-involvement-how-much-can-one-parent-give/

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/23973790/detail.html

Just when you think you have reached a milestone – “WiFi” in Simcoe County Schools meeting the needs of 21st century learning come a a concern by parents about the health hazards of using WiFi, Does anyone using WiFi in schools have the same experience that the parents are expressing>

http://www.theenterprisebulletin.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2628681

The BBC reports today http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/education/10345302.stm on the UK initiative to allow parents to establish “free” schools.

The government in England is setting out how parents, teachers, charities and other groups can apply to set up their own “free school”.

The article relates the statements by Education Secretary Michael Gove saying that the free schools will model after charter schools in the US who have decreased the achievement gap and increased student grades.

Many teachers and some parents have indicated a desire to start their own school. I wonder how many parents will be willing to start a free school and continue to maintain the level of involvement required to operate a school.

1995 the Ontario Government made overtures to start charter schools but stepped from making that decision and establish school advisory councils instead. Parents were not interested in starting and running a school.
What are your thoughts on the success of charter schools.

I can’t wait until Sat for you to listen to Manny Da luz , vice principal at Winona Drive Senior Public School talk about how he uses Twitter to connect with parents. In a pre-show conversation, he shared how he used the school twitter feed on the school’s website (Link)to update parents of students who are on their year end trip.

Much the same way has subscribing to flight arrival and departure notifications. Wish Twitter and Manny had been there when my kids were young. No more crazy long waits in the parking lot not knowing why the buses are late!!

Some parents have all the luck!!!

Saturday 12:00 noon EDT at http://tinyurl.com/cr20live Join us for the rest of the great ideas.

June 5, 2010 Scott Newcomb and Kyle Menchhofer joined Classroom 2.0 Live show hosts Peggy George, Kim Caise and Lorna Costantini to present what they are doing at St. Mary’s With Mobile Learning Devices (aka smart phones – but don’t tell them I called them cell phones) Here is the link to their school and the project. http://www.smriders.net/Mobile_Learning/

I have read so many articles and courses about using mobiles in the classroom and I know that you will get a lot of benefit out of listening to their presentation and the success that they are having. Watch the recording. Follow Scott and Kyle on twitter. They are getting support from Verizon wireless

http://twitter.com/SNewco (Scott Newcomb’s Twitter ID)
http://twitter.com/KMench (Kyle Menchhofer’s Twitter ID)
For those of you going to ISTE in Denver be sure to attend their session.
The full recording with chat and web tour can be found at http://tinyurl.com/smartphones-mobilelearning

The line up for the June 19, 2010 Classroom 2.0 Live show will include Stuart Oakley, T.J. Goertz, Manny Da Luz, Aveline Ristuccia from the Toronto District School Board talking about how Toronto District School Board uses Social Media to Support Staff, Students and Families/ Please join us at 12:00 noon EDT at http://tinyurl.com/cr20live
Find out how their school board is using Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to teach their students and reach out to parents and the community in Toronto, Ontario.

Subscribe to Classroom 2.0 iTunesU channel http://tinyurl.com/cr20liveitunesu for other great shows.

I have been doing a review of school websites and too often I find – no information – the information is seriously out of date – or no website at all. It is so disappointing. School Boards spend money and time to set up websites and I know parents make good use of online communications when there is information. Something is terribly wrong with this picture? What are you doing to stay current and timely with your information to parents and students? Who taught you how to do it?

Image credit:
cc licensed flickr photo by Kristen C: http://flickr.com/photos/barefoot-mama/207575845/