Monday, November 21, 2011

About Parental Involvement

New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman looks at the findings of a PISA study that looked at how parents raised their kids and then compared that with the test results on the Program for International Student Assessment tests. In How About Better Parents, Friedman relates that the study unsurprisingly found that higher parental involvement early on, especially reading to children, had lasting effects on student learning. Friedman concludes his column:

To be sure, there is no substitute for a good teacher. There is nothing more valuable than great classroom instruction. But let’s stop putting the whole burden on teachers. We also need better parents. Better parents can make every teacher more effective.

Walt Gardner has an attaboy posting today about Friedman's column and the subject of parental involvement on his Reality Check blog, Parent Accountability in Learning. He adds some good comments about the problems with getting some parents involved.

In other words, how do we get parents to read to their children? This question takes on an urgency in these changing times. For one thing, many households depend on the income from both parents merely to survive. As a result, both father and mother are too exhausted when they return home from work to read to their children. For another, an increasing number of parents do not speak English, or are barely literate. It follows that they're not likely to read to their children, or read with the correct pronunciation.

Nevertheless, the challenge of getting parents involved is at least out in the open, thanks to Friedman's column. I hope that his remarks will be given the recognition they deserve in these contentious times in education.

Another Short Week

The fall semester has always provided a lot of short weeks for those following a traditional school calendar. If you start early, there's Labor Day in September. October and November include Columbus Day, fall break in some areas, possibly Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, all the craziness of Halloween, Veterans Day, and the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Then the buildup for Christmas and its long vacation begins.

Creating a routine in the classroom that students understand is vital to building a successful learning environment. Doing so during the fall semester is always a challenge. Do we take a spelling test at the end of a three-day week or not? How much of a chapter can one cover in three days, and how much re-teaching is required after each short break?

It's all part of the art of teaching which we all wrestle with and do without much notice. But you're there in the trenches doing the job. So, hat's off to you for finding your way through the holiday madness.

Odds 'n' Ends

There's not a lot here today. I'm a bit under the weather and trying desperately to get well by Thanksgiving!

• The Los Angeles Times: Californians willing to pay higher taxes for better schools by Teresa Watanabe
• eSchool News: School districts struggle with laptop repairs
• NPR: A Gift Given Back To Audie Cornish's Teacher by Audie Cornish
• NPR: More To Learn From Linda Wertheimer's Old Prof by Linda Wertheimer

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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

As we sail into the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Valerie Strauss's 5 myths about Thanksgiving is an interesting read. While she's probably right that "the women dressed in various colors," I'd guess that "violent" wasn't one of them. Larry Ferlazzo's The Best Resources On "Gratitude" and More On Thanksgiving might steer you towards something useful and/or interesting about the holiday.

Paul Hamilton's Starfall.com Revisited – Still Great for Early Readers is a good review of a site that our grandchildren love.

Tom Hoffman should get the line-of-the-day award for this one from his Quick Response on #Occupy and School Reform posting on Tuttle SVC:

Contemporary school reform is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the 1%. If the 30 richest people in the country and their money were raptured tomorrow, it would have a devastating effect on the school reform enterprise.

Have a great Thanksgiving holiday!

Thursday, November 24, 2011 - Thanksgiving Day (U.S.)

Like many of you, we will be sharing this Thanksgiving holiday with friends and family and celebrating the many blessings the Lord has bestowed upon us.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Happy Thanksgiving

See you next week.

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