Preparing for a New Year of Blogs
I recently decided to return to the classroom to help second grade students learn basic subjects. I am also considering becoming a substitute or long-term part-time teacher for a local school. When I write the blogs and parenting articles for families, I need constant contact with kids and their parents. This challenge has been solved by:
- Providing workshops on parent education topics for schools and nonprofits serving families and education
- Distributing reading materials for families at workshops and community fairs
- Reading to kids and families at local events
- Demonstrating how kids learn when playing with toys at toy stores and through community presentations
- Working with teachers and parents in classrooms and modeling how to differentiate learning strategies for children
We Support Our Readers’ Needs
When we prepare for our blogging work in 2020, our blogging team is reflecting on our many successes and how we can support our readers’ ongoing concerns. We find that:
- We must continue to provide parents with opportunities to help their children succeed as learners in the challenging times in our communities.
- Parents can ensure that their children feel safe and secure in their daily lives at home and at school.
- Families should balance each day to find time for themselves and for each child.
- We can help our children explore careers through volunteering, internships, and summer jobs.
- Our community must respond to those in need to foster healthy growth for all through community services, service-learning activities, and family projects.
- Families and schools can help children develop their personal ethics and morality. They can reinforce a family’s values and the school’s guidelines for healthy and supportive learning for all.
- All of us can nurture heathy emotional serenity. We can appreciate all that we have and express our gratitude to our family, friends, and community members.
Much peace and enlightenment this holiday season and the coming year!
Mary Ann
Copyright © 2019 by GenParenting
Mary Ann Burke, Ed.D., Digital Education Expert, is a substitute distance learning teacher for Oak Grove School District in San Jose, California and the author of STUDENT-ENGAGED ASSESSMENT: Strategies to Empower All Learners (Rowman & Littlefield: 2020). Dr. Burke creates digital language arts and substitute teaching K – 12 activities for teachers and parents. She is the Cofounder of the Genparenting.com blog. Burke is the former Director II of Categorical & Special Projects for the Santa Clara County Office of Education that supports 31 school districts serving 272,321 students in Santa Clara County. She is also a previous Director – State & Federal Compliance for Oakland Unified School District, the former Director – Grantwriter for the Compton Unified School District, and was the initial VISTA Director for the Community Partnership Coalition in southern California. Much of her work focuses on creating innovative digital trainings and partnership programs for teachers and families to support students’ learning. These programs were featured as a best practice at a National Title I Conference, California’s Title I Conferences, AERA Conferences, an ASCD Conference, the NASSP Conference, and statewide educator conferences.