Computer Classes for Parents

I had so many parents sign up for computer classes that I had to run two sessions! We began this week with the first group attending on Tuesday evening and the second group coming on Wednesday. Donna has posted some excellent resources on the technology wiki to help run an information session for parents. Thanks, Donna for putting in the research time. We talked a bit about internet safety, how to check a computer's history, blocking access from children and other pertinent topics. Parents had lots of good thoughts and questions. The first night my wireless connection wasn't very strong so the Youtube video clips didn't play smoothly but I moved my router into the computer lab on Wednesday and the clips played fine. By the end of the evening, each person had created a blog on Blogger as well as played a bit with Imagechef. Next week we will create wikis. I gave parents a survey to fill out prior to starting the first class and it turns out that they are interested in a variety of topics including Microsoft Office features, social networking, and using email. I plan to set up a schedule to cover off the topics over the course of the next several weeks so that parents will only attend the sessions that they are interested in. I think that next time I will do that right from the beginning. All in all, I am excited about the success of the project!

Meet the Parents Meeting

Well, the meeting went very well. Parents were receptive to listening to me and several have indicated interest in attending an adult class. Each has found a child willing to attend with them. We had 40 families out of 92 so I am extending the invitation to the parents who weren't able to attend. I hope to have at least 15 participants. I'm excited to teach them some new and exciting things!

Random Ramblings

Okay, so, on the trip home from the inservice I had lots of time to think about everything that I had experienced and learned. One thing that kept coming back to me was what Alan November said about children learning about technology from their friends. I began to wonder what our responsibility is to informing parents about the wonders of the Information Highway. If I can hook them into learning along with their children, maybe I can alleviate their fears about what their children are doing on the internet. We happen to have a "Meet the Teachers and School Community Council" evening next week. My principal, who is very supportive of this venture, has granted me some time to talk to the parents about the wonders and worries of the technological revolution. She wants us to target this as a school initiative this year. I will be offering evening information sessions for parents over the next month and will be requesting that they bring a child with them to assist them in their learning. My goal is to educate them on internet safety and authenticity as well as teach them to set up their own blog. One of the things that parents in our community want more of is better home/school communication. Perhaps we can begin an open conversation between teachers and their students' parents through blogging. I think it's worth a try. Any thoughts?