Hey Everyone!
This project has been heavy on my mind since last week! I was so inspired by
Simon Sinek’s golden circle,-all I could think about was my why! Why do I love being a kindergarten teacher? How can I tie my beliefs and my why into a digital tool to help improve my practice.
I’ve been teaching kindergarten for 6 years and I love it! Every year, I start fresh with students and families who are new to our school. Like
Sir Ken Robinson, I believe my students are diverse, creative and curious individuals. I want to support those traits by creating a positive learning environment that embraces diversity and encourages
play and exploration. I deeply value the relationships I create with students and their families in my classroom. I believe that respectful, caring bonds with children and their families are the foundation for a positive kindergarten experience. I see parents as my partners in their child’s education, and we share the responsibility of teaching their child.
I believe it’s important to make myself available to parents to communicate about their child and what’s going on in our classroom. I make newsletters and notices available in each family’s home language, orally communicate with families in their home language (interpreter or myself), use apps like ClassDojo to communicate, and I try to be flexible and understanding of circumstances.
Even though I do all of these things to communicate with parents- I felt like i was still missing the mark. Not everyone read the newsletters, notices and reminders were left untouched in folders, not all parents signed up for ClassDojo.
I wondered what can I do to improve parent-teacher communication and increase parent involvement in my classroom?
This led me to my idea to create a
classroom website. My website will help parents become informed on what’s going on in our classroom, tips and resources to help them extend their child learning outside of the classroom, as well as tools and resources that will help them better communicate with me. I want my website to act as central location where parents go to learn about our classroom and what their child is learning.
This website marks my transition from being a Technocrat to becoming a techno-traditionalist. I’m trying to extend my use of technology to better service my students and their families. The purpose of this website is to increase and improve my communication with families and help them feel informed and involved throughout their child’s kindergarten experience.
My website will consist of the following components:
- A monthly updated Newsletter,
- our school calendar as well as the district calendar,
- meet the teacher section,
- ClassDojo information and resources,
- Academic Content learning sections,
- Websites and apps
- and a comment section.
Monthly Newsletter page:
In the past I’ve used paper newsletters, but I noticed that not everyone read them. Many of my parents use their phones, laptops and tablets to communicate and access information; I believe that making my newsletter available on my website will make it more accessible to parents and families and hopefully they’ll read it.
My newsletter informs parents about:
- what we’re learning in class and what will will be working on next
- list of open ended questions parents can ask their child to start a conversation about the school day and to check their understanding
- And a classroom reminder section where I list upcoming events, classroom requests, birthdays and school closures.
School and District Calendar:
On this page I will display the Pawtucket school district calendar, which has information about parent- teacher conferences, school vacations, closures, teacher PD days, and when progress reports and report cards are sent home. I will also include our school calendar which informs parents of school events like concerts, field trips and picture day.
Meet the Teacher Section:
If I expect my students and families to share their life and experiences with me, it's only right I share about myself. Part of creating a meaningful relationship with my students and families involves sharing who I am. Aside from sharing information about myself, I will also include my contact information and office hours. Holding office hours will be a new teacher practice for me. Like
Turkle, I believe
face to face interaction is important and I want to make myself available to parents electronically and in person. During these office hours I can answer questions, offer assistance on navigating the website or address any concerns a parent or student might have.
ClassDojo Section:
ClassDojo is an app I already use to communicate with parents and to share photos and videos. Last school year, I had a tough time getting 100% participation and I want to change that. This section of my website will offer videos and resources to help parents sign up for dojo. I will also list my office hours and contact info so parents can reach me if they need help signing up.
Literacy and Math sections:
I believe my students are multifaceted individuals who need an array of tools, resources and strategies to meet their diverse and ever-changing needs. In these sections I will include resources and tools parents can access to help them understand the content we’re covering in class, and how they can extend learning at home. Some of these resources include:
Websites and Apps:
In my classroom I have a computer area where students can visit a number of different websites to extend learning during center time. Students can also use these websites at home on a tablet or computer. In this section I want list links to those sites and applications, so students and parents can use these tools outside the classroom.
Comment Section
The last piece of my website is the comment section. I will place a google form on the homepage where parents can to provide feedback about my website and give suggestions. I believe it's important to have open lines of communication and it’s important for me to receive feedback from families about the website- after all this website is a tool for them.
To make sure my parents know about my website and actually use this tool, it’s important that I come up with a plan on how to share the website with them. During open house and first day of k orientation, I plan on giving a mini presentation on my website; what it is, how to use it and why I created it.
With my actions and plan anchored in my “why”, I believe I can use my new understanding of technology and my website to inspire both my students and their families to collaborate and communicate with me to ensure that their child has a positive and meaningful start to their kindergarten journey in my classroom. Thank you!
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Excellent
(9.5-10)
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Great
(8.75-9.25)
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Good
(8-8.5)
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Passing
(7-7.5)
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Unacceptable/Absent (under 7)
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Includes a narrative context about where this project came from, what you did and why it is important to you
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8.5
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Explains how this use of digital technology positions you as a technocrat, techno-traditionalist, or techno-constructivist to enhance or change content/context
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8.5
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Discusses how this project reflects what you believe about how students learn (points x2)
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8.5
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Draws from at least 3 of our course themes, texts or issues (points x2)
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8.0
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Demonstrates something that you could not have done or conceptualized before this course
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8.5
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Includes hyperlinks to at least 5 external resources (academic and/or technical)
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8.0
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Writing Style (creativity, style, flow)
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8.0
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Writing Skills (grammar, spelling, format)
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8.0
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I grew up watching Disney and even now as an adult I still enjoy it. My family had almost every Disney VHS tape, and I loved to watch them with my younger sister. My favorite Disney movie is Beauty & the Beast. As a young girl I thought Belle was the best princess (Moana's my #1 now), she was kind, smart and beautiful. I remember asking my dad if I could change my name to Belle in kindergarten-my car is even named Belle. For me, these movies are nostalgic and evoke feelings of happiness, love, and positivity. (I also loveeeeee the songs!) 
I am definitely a consumer of Disney, and so are my students. My students watch Disney movies, tv shows, have Disney backpacks, and sometimes take on Disney character roles during dramatic play. I look forward to movie rewards just as much as my students do! 😛 
