Home School Connection

Many of President Trump’s tweets have recently been scrutinized by bullying experts, notes a recent article on CNN.com. The article states that while his tweets about television personalities like MSNBC’s Mika Brezinski and Joe Scarborough would probably not be enough to get him suspended or expelled were he still in middle or high school, they would be enough for school officials to intercede and make him accountable for his behavior. The experts remind parents and teachers that the most important message to give young people who are fascinated by his questionable tweets is to remind them that other people stood up to him, including members of his own party, and pointed out that just because someone has a position of authority does not mean they are entitled to belittle and shame others online.

As a parent, when you sit down to have a discussion with your child about the ways social media can get them into trouble at school (or with the police), it can be really helpful to have some examples. Education Week has taken the time to examine ten such incidents that made recent headlines. From references to school shootings to racist rants to complaints about water quality, students’ social media posts this past school year have resulted in suspensions, expulsions, arrests, and lawsuits. It is an eye opening read including how much trouble students can get into for filming videos on school grounds (even if it was to expose the bad quality of the water supply in school water fountains, or as a backdrop for a rap video), or even for posting images of texts sent by others in an effort to expose racism. After you finish reading this article you may feel like telling your kids to refrain from posting anything at all! That, of course, is very unrealistic, but these examples do provide context to the advice “think before your post.”

School districts across the country are using machine translation, human translation, or some combination of both to help bridge the barriers for English-language learners. Some districts are using Google's Website Translator plug-in for translations on anything from homework worksheets to school lunch menus, while others have adopted mobile apps such as TalkingPoints to translate text messages, allowing non-English speaking parents to communicate with teachers in more than 20 languages.

Are you wondering what happens to data collected on your child at school? Do you know what data is collected, why, or how it is protected? One resource available online that can be useful in learning the rights of parents and guardians as part of the information gathering process is the Data Quality Campaign site. 

You can sign up for text alerts for everything from bad weather to shipping updates, so why not a text alert for when your kid skips class? New studies show that text alerts to parents regarding students' academic performance and absences do work and increase parental engagement. Peter Bergman and Eric Chan of Teachers College at Columbia University recently found that among middle- and high-school students whose parents received such texts, course failures were down 39% and class attendance was up 17%.

The mobile app Science Journal, ideal for ages 10 and up, is a tool that uses the different sensors on your Android phone to conduct experiments and record findings. Parents and teachers can check out the Making & Science website for activity ideas that go along with the app, such as building musical instruments that respond to light.

Are your kids interested in using technology to enhance projects for school? Take a look at the article 5^th grade teacher Jesse Buetow has written on Edutopia site entitled Using Technology to Inspire Independent Readers. Although the piece is written for teachers, the list of apps is a great resource for parents as well. Many of the apps he suggests are free like TouchCast, an inclusive video production app that has features such as video graphics, text, and links. The green-screen option in the app also allows your kids to place themselves in the book and even create a professional-looking commercial.