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"What Makes a Great Teacher? Image credit: Veronika Lukasova Also in our Special Report: National: "How America Can Rise Again" Is the nation in terminal decline? Not necessarily. But securing the future will require fixing a system that has become a joke. Video: "One Nation, On Edge" James Fallows talks to Atlantic editor James Bennet about a uniquely American tradition-cycles of despair followed by triumphant rebirths. Interactive Graphic: "The State of the Union Is ..." ... thrifty, overextended, admired, twitchy, filthy, and clean: the nation in numbers. By Rachael Brown Chart: "The Happiness Index" Times were tough in 2009. But according to a cool Facebook app, people were happier. By Justin Miller On August 25, 2008, two little boys walked into public elementary schools in Southeast Washington, D.C. Both boys were African American fifth-graders. The previous spring, both had tested below grade level in math. One walked into Kimball Elementary School and climbed the stairs to Mr. William Taylor's math classroom, a tidy, powder-blue space in which neither the clocks nor most of the electrical outlets worked. The other walked into a very similar classroom a mile away at Plummer Elementary School. In both schools, more than 80 percent of the children received free or reduced-price lunches. At night, all the children went home to the same urban ecosystem, a zip code in which almost a quarter of the families lived below the poverty line and a police district in which somebody was murdered every week or so. Video: Four teachers in Four different classrooms demonstrate methods that work (Courtesy of Teach for America's video archive, available in February at teachingasleadership.org) At the end of the school year, both little boys took the same standardized test given at all D.C. public schools-not a perfect test of their learning, to be sure, but a relatively objective one (and, it's worth noting, not a very hard one). After a year in Mr. Taylo

"Last night we held two parent information evenings for parents whose students in years 6 and 7 for 2012 will be involved in our 1:1 iPad Trial. I have placed our 1:1 iPad Booklet for 2012 below, as a PDF version for download, as well as the Prezi presentation that parents were ran through."

One teacher describes her journey after her school decided to use Google Drive to host student portfolios. They began to piece together the steps necessary for this to be successful for all stakeholders: students, teachers, and parents/guardians. Including parents and guardians in the loop seemed more like an emerging trend. This is how they created and shared student portfolios using Google Drive. Student and teacher permissions are set to allow both viewing and editing of content in the folders, while parents and guardians are given viewing permissions. Also, parents and guardians DO NOT need to create a Google account simply to view contents of their child's portfolio folder.

Post by US teacher (@tedrosececi) "Here are 10 ideas I have gathered this summer to kick parent communication up to the next level so that never again will they have to ask, "What'd you do at school today?" and hear the annoying, "nothing." Instead, parents will have already experienced the wonderful things that have been happening in their child's world and dinner table discussions will turn into celebrations and extensions of the learning happening at school."

What should collaboration, creativity, communication, and critical thinking look like in a modern classroom? How can parents help educators accomplish their goals? We hope this guide helps bring more parents into the conversation about improving education

Discover how technology is helping schools and parents to enhance their existing methods of communications

Today's world is full of exciting technology to help families' daily lives and provide opportunities for children's future. But how do you find out what's suitable, safe or educational? At Quib.ly parents can ask questions about the technology their children are using, reply to others with answers, and get great advice from like minded parents and our knowledgeable experts."

"Parent teacher conferences at Wildwood Elementary are actually a time when the teachers do very little talking. Instead, the students run the conferences, informing their parents about how they're doing, what their goals are going forward, and what kind of learners they are."

The netbooks have been popular with teachers and parents alike; hundreds of parents have bought the devices voluntarily so their children could take them home. "The netbooks have exceeded our expectations," adds fourth-grade teacher Eric Greenfield. "To see kids sharing information, working collaboratively, and sharing ideas has been very exciting." HT Ben Jones Esq

a wiki set up to support presentations for parents about Internet safety. It contains links to a range of resources that parents may find helpful in a dealing with their children's use of the Internet

It is relatively easy for someone to SCARE parents away from the Internet. There ARE bad things and people making bad choices on the Internet, but there are many compelling resources and interactive tools available which can be used for learning and communication. In this wiki presentation, Wes Fryer focusses on practical things parents can do with children of different ages to promote safe online behavior and also help young people develop the ethical capacities to make good decisions as well as remain open to communicating about their online experiences with others.

NEW internet technologies like twitter are strengthening family ties and bridging the generation gap between kids, parents and grandparents, according to a new survey. The findings fly in the face of concerns the internet is driving a wedge between families and alienating parents from their kids. According to the Norton Online Living Report, released today, tools like twitter, Facebook, Skype, webcams, photo and video sharing sites and instant messaging are keeping families connected.

The good folk at St Mary Star of the Sea College in Wollongong, Australia have put together this great Slideshare presentation for an education session for parents at the school. As the say in the Slideshare info, "The college works with parents to create a healthy and safe environment for learning and growth." and with well presented information like this they are certainly headed in the best direction.

"Sometimes parents and educators working with special needs students find that there is a lack of resources. The Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center has recently launched a free application for the iPhone, the IEP Checklist, which is the first special education related application."

"Togetherville is a new type of online community specifically designed for kids 6 to 10. However, any kid under 13 can join. Kids play and connect with real-life friends and family in a safe, child-friendly place with parents and trusted adults close by, just like in a real neighborhood. The site mimics the experience of adult social networking sites, but it's age-appropriate and parent-monitored. "

This report from Common Sense Media "reveals that social networking is moving communication from face to face to cyberspace - and that parents have a lot to learn when it comes to their children's behaviors online." You can download a range of associated material here including the press release, executive summary and the report in total. Having checked out the report you might also like to http://www.ypulse.com/parents-clueless-about-teens-lives-same-as-it-ever-was for another take on the figures.

This really common sense commentary on using web filters should be read by all parents and teachers alike.

When schools communicate, and share strategies they are using to develop mindsets, dispositions and competencies with parents and when parents adopt these strategies and elements of a metalanguage for learning and thinking, our students are better able to integrate the desirable attributes. 

It seems that thanks to COVID19, educators, parents and students are in a rush. It seems the rush started moments after the decision was made to promote social distancing by offering remote learning. From quality learning in classrooms focused on deep learning we shifted into top gear. Packets of work were prepared, online tools rapidly expanded, new options for content delivery were examined and quickly deployed. We wanted to make sure that our students would be kept busy. Parents wanted their children to be busy. - Maybe slow looking is the solution?