#RuralEdChat is a chat that focuses on the needs of the rural educator. This chat has been revised by Tammy Neil (@MathNeil), John Martin (@edventures) and Natalee Stotz (@nataleestotz).
Good evening #RuralEdChat! I'm Matt, your humble chat-question-asker of the evening. As we get started, take a tweet or two to introduce yourself and your connection to rural education. Be sure to include the #RuralEdChat hashtag so we can all share in your wisdom.
I teach and do PD as part of an distance/video conference teaching program in WA, helping bring computer science to some of the rural areas of the state #RuralEdChat
I'll be using Q1, Q2, etc. to mark our "official" questions tonight. However, the chat belongs to us all - ask your own questions, follow your tangents, and hammer out a rant if that's your mood! #RuralEdChat
Not a problem! A lot of our discussion tonight will come through a rural lens, but there's definitely common ground for all environments on this topic #RuralEdChat
Had a cool moment last week when a parent asked to come in, sit down w/me, & discuss how I teach Civil Rights Movement / Black History Month unit in my class. Rich discussion. Energizing. Connections made. Good result. #RuralEdChat
A1 they have access to google classroom. We are encouraged to call. Tbh by the time they get to high school a lot of parents aren’t interested at the same level they were in elementary #ruraledchat
A1: In my preschool classroom I use a lot of face to face, texting, emailing. We've tried apps but the old fashion way works best for us. My kids go to a rural school and they do the same thing plus a weekly letter home.
#RuralEdChat
A1: I am not a teacher yet, but I know some ways I'll communicate with my students' parents. Padlet is one way! Another way is I will have my own Facebook Page for my classes and post about the classes and my students in order to allow parents to see and respond #RuralEdChat
You were part of my discussion today, Steve, as I presented #RuralEdMatters to teacher educators - specifically the varying typology that comes with rural - your state vs mine, for example.
#RuralEdChat
In reply to
@johnson557377, @try_rebooting, @TG_Neil, @robinhosemann, @SHuggins67, @stersicteaches, @coachB_MADCO, @ADDEnglishTeach, @Rural_Schools
From my high school experience, they just had the announcements on the home page, social media, and they sent out phone calls/emails. They are now doing text alerts which is really interesting. #RuralEdChat
Some of the A1 are reminding me to mention: what "parental involvement" means varies a lot across ages and grades, so remember to add that to your answers when relevant! #RuralEdChat
A1: Class Dojo, Remind, email, website, in-person, SSTs, Facebook page for school/district/boosters, small town random run-ins, unreliable backpack mail, classroom newsletters, etc. #RuralEdChat
.@NTrevinoMusic, @stersicteaches, and all of our all pre-service folks: as always, feel free to answer these questions through the lens of what you're thinking about doing in the future, how any of your placement schools did it, etc #RuralEdChat
My high school did text alerts, as well! You signed up for them through the Remind program. I still receive updates on my track team from high school because I never unsubscribed! #RuralEdChat
A2: I hope to talk to the parents of my students at least once a week. That is at the very least. Ideally, I would like to hear from them 2-3 times a week, or whenever they feel they need/want to chat with me. #RuralEdChat
This year my parents have been pretty cool. I have a few do not contacts for the sake of the kids— which tbh was the most shocking part of classroom communication coming out of school #ruraledchat
In reply to
@super_sau43, @try_rebooting, @RuralEdChat, @TG_Neil, @robinhosemann, @SHuggins67, @johnson557377, @stersicteaches, @coachB_MADCO, @Rural_Schools, @937Nathan
I'm trying to find this pic that goes around FB a lot. It's perfect. Side-by-side photos. Left is parents surrounding class, peeking through window at Kinders. Right is parents leaving skid marks as they peel out & drive off from the high school parking lot. #RuralEdChat
A2 I don’t. At all. Unless there’s an IEP meeting. The perils of being the teacher with the same planning as the special ed teacher lol #ruraledchat
Wow! This is so true, at least for me. My parents were extremely involved when I was in elementary, but when I got to high school, they became less involved! #RuralEdChat
In reply to
@SHuggins67, @ADDEnglishTeach, @try_rebooting
A3: As a HS educator, not often. Two nights of conferences - one parent. Would be nice to have an alternate method to talk with parents that would benefit the community and teaching/learning.
#RuralEdChat
A2: I make a point to try and talk to every parent everytime they come in. Usually it's at least 6 times a week. Some less because of their schedules.
#RuralEdChat
For good reason. That's also exactly what I call it when speaking with parents. One of the services my parents like is that I take pictures of what we put in 'unreliable backpack mail' & I post them on ClassDojo & Facebook. #RuralEdChat
I prefer teachers contact me by email or text. My DD’s teacher sends me an email to say she sent a note. I wish she’d just say what the note was about #ruraledchat
My DD's teacher did that to me. I wrote a reply and emailed her telling her that there was a reply to her note in my DD's folder. We email back and forth now. #RuralEdChat
In reply to
@ADDEnglishTeach, @SHuggins67, @try_rebooting
OMG, you looked! #RuralEdChat
A lot of that is also stuff kids can do & explore at home (eves, weekends, summers, snow days, etc.) I also use that link to direct kids to class content or for independent work time upon assignment completion.
Answering as a parent: Not often in person, but for our elementary schooler, plenty through other means (such as email). Little contact with our high schooler’s teachers but made an effort to meet with all of them at parent conferences. #RuralEdChat A2
Possible a community event which combines social and academic. One district I was with did something like this with arena scheduling. Largest turnout of parents that had meaningful discussions taking place.
#RuralEdChat
I prefer that too, but school still relies heavily on weekly & biweekly 'unreliable backpack mail' printouts/Tues folders. This way I can alert parents to look for it. I will say I never text/email notes that say 'check this other source for my actual message.' ;-) #RuralEdChat
A3: To me the difference is an informed parent knows what going on the the classroom as far as their child. An involved parent knows what's going on in the classroom as a whole.
#RuralEdChat
A3: Recently, while doing observations at another district, a parent came in to help teacher create bulletin board. That was an INVOLVED parent! #RuralEdChat
A3: A parent being informed is just sending home newsletters or sending out emails and not ever asking for a response or feedback. Actually chatting with the parents and asking them for feedback and allowing them to make some decisions is parents getting involved. #RuralEdChat
I love ClassDojo texting. So do my parents. I've had people use them for usual school business & teacher-parent messages & student-parent messages. But I've had them used to ask me for tech support & to call 911 too. #RuralEdChat
In reply to
@JenATLC, @ADDEnglishTeach, @try_rebooting
That's a good question, especially since some means of communication aren't the most reliable. I'd start with considering any of the ways you communicate with parents now (any of your questions from Q1). Perhaps part of "involved" means know when they're informed? #RuralEdChat
A3: A parent being informed is just sending home newsletters or sending out emails and not ever asking for a response or feedback. Actually chatting with the parents and asking them for feedback and allowing them to make some decisions is parents getting involved. #RuralEdChat
As a high school parent (and an elementary school one), I struggle with how to feel as engaged with our older daughter’s classroom experience as much as with our younger daughter’s. Appreciate your ideas! #RuralEdChat
This is a good angle I really worth taking in. "Involved in their childs education" doesn't just mean "involved with me as their child's teacher". I can (and should, at the high school level) encourage involvement I'll never see. #RuralEdChat
A4: We can create polls on our Facebook and Twitter pages and allow for parents to vote on what goes on in our classrooms. Maybe you're deciding where to go for a field trip or maybe you have two ideas on how to teach the same concept - let them have a say! #RuralEdChat
A1: Depends on me, yes, but depends on the parent 2. Some I see everyday because they come for drop-off & pick-up or volunteer. Others, almost never. Once put my arm thru a car window as she was rolling it up & driving away to get a parent to talk to me about kiddo. #RuralEdChat
For me, part of this might be specific to teaching HS level tech, but I'm trying to get my students to show off what they create to their families more, and so I'm trying to communicate to parents that I'm open for any questions they have about it too. #RuralEdChat
In reply to
@JeremyDBond, @937Nathan, @super_sau43
A4: We encourage parents by taking all their questions or suggestions seriously. We ask their opinions about things that happen in their child's classroom. Try to include them on everything. Some like helping others would rather not.
#RuralEdChat
The reality is some parents won't try to learn from their kids about a tech topic they don't understand, and some students might not be the best explainers to their parents (though, I'd like to grow them to be) #RuralEdChat
In reply to
@JeremyDBond, @937Nathan, @super_sau43
A4: I send home via ClassDojo text & via 'unreliable backpack mail' suggestions for continuing school-topic discussions at home including possible activities. Parents say it is helpful & overcomes the "nothing" answer to Qs to students about school. Surfaces stuff. #RuralEdChat
A4b: We also take an active interest in things that the parents are involved or interested in. Some of the dads are really handy so they've built a few things for the classroom, some moms have made dress up clothes or blankets since they sew.
#RuralEdChat
I love this attitude. If a parent expresses a way that they'd like to contribute, we should absolutely try to find a way to make it happen #RuralEdChat
I've had some great moments during Physical Science-Ramps unit where parents extend the lesson by building ramps at home & sending me pics of home projects on FB or ClassDojo. Warms my little teachery heart. #RuralEdChat
Q4 I read an article a while ago that said we should explain all of the things that have helped the students and then go into telling the parent that we have to find a way to help the student by discussing all of the things that they cant do. #RuralEdChat
That is amazing! Then, the student can come to school and see what his or her dad made and how it is being used in the classroom! That is awesome! #RuralEdChat
We had a new parent this year tell us about her art skills & kiln. We all called "DIBS!" right then & there. Classroom teacher cut us off with home-field advantage. #RuralEdChat
I've had several parents that have told me if I needed help cutting things out, redecorating the classrooms or anything they would be willing to come help.
#RuralEdChat
#Ruraledchat Can you help me with a 4 question survey? I'm preparing for the Regional Science Fair & hope to go to Nationals again this year. My topic is Genetic Modification of Humans. I'm collecting data to analyze public awareness of gene editing tech https://t.co/P4PPKsJ8s2
We use it for a "show and tell" because most of the kids have "helped" with the building process so that way we acknowledge their accomplishments as well.
#RuralEdChat
Luckily it begins with engaging our kids. We hear about great things in school when great things happen. Parents can be engaged without being present. #RuralEdChat A4
Love it! An idea I floated recently was combining exams and conferences through a performance/problem based capstone project which is then presented by the students to the community/parents at the end of each semester.
In reply to
@try_rebooting, @JeremyDBond, @super_sau43
