Oct 31 2017

Preschoolers and Natural Disasters

California and several other states have struggled with significant natural disasters during the last two months. Preschoolers can become very fearful when hearing about these disasters. A parents’ responsibility to preschoolers is to assure them that their parents are going to work towards keeping them safe and secure. Parents in the midst of disasters typically try to reassure their children and move them to safety. Ideally, parents can provide their children with daily routines that establish a secure and stable environment.

Help Others

During and after disasters, parents can help their preschoolers learn how to support others less fortunate. Strategies parents can use to help their preschoolers give back to others include:

Children can give their extra toys, clothes, and art supplies to a collection bin for survivors who have lost everything.
Children can learn how to collect for a cause when trick or treating or as part of a Thanksgiving Drive.
Preschoolers can attend a service day at a local school where students organize supplies for families who have lost basic needs.
Preschoolers can meet families who have lost their homes by sharing a meal in their home or a picnic in the park with a new friend.
If a family has an extra vacation home or space on their property, they can offer that home or space as a respite to a family in need.
If a family lives between two houses, one house can be rented cheaply to a family who has lost their home.
Your child’s preschool or church can sponsor a fundraising event to buy new backpacks filled with school supplies, craft projects, and gift cards for necessities that can be given to the school’s children who have lost their homes.
Schools can highlight the culture of giving by organizing culturally sensitive assemblies with local agencies and churches. The preschoolers can participate by helping with the distribution of donated gifts to the school’s families in need.
The children can create cards and write messages of appreciation and gratitude to families receiving gifts and the first responders.
Preschoolers can increase their empathy for each other by teaching them how to help a child that has fallen off a swing or hurts himself while playing on the playground.

[Read more…]

Joyce Iwasaki, Early Parenting

Joyce Iwasaki has over thirty years of educational experience working with diverse students in grades from preschool through high school. Joyce’s extensive background includes teaching elementary school, serving on early childhood advisory boards, and advocating for educational initiatives as a legislative aide. During her tenure as a legislative aide, she helped create legislation that allowed incarcerated mothers to keep their newborn babies with them while in prison. Additional legislation was enacted to allow incarcerated pregnant mothers to remain unshackled during labor and delivery. Ms. Iwasaki established and served as the president of an educational scholarship foundation for fifteen years. Her foundation awarded college scholarships to emerging student leaders who provided service to their schools and communities. Joyce is active in performing arts and cultural organizations. She also provides ongoing support to her daughter and family by raising her grandson in her home.

Oct 24 2017

5 Things Parents Should Know About Assessment

5 Things Parents Should Know About Assessments

1. Tests and Assessments Are Not the Same

A test examines a student’s knowledge, understanding, and skills to determine what level of learning has been reached. It generally results in a numerical or letter grade.

Assessments involves gathering, analyzing, and responding to a student’s strengths and misconceptions about their learning. It includes feedback to the learner and also informs the teacher’s practice.

An analogy would be your BMI that provides a number but not a health analysis or fitness plan. Sometimes we need a test and sometimes learning requires assessment. [Read more…]

Laura Greenstein, Ed.D.

Laura Greenstein has been an educator for over 30 years serving as a teacher, department chair, and school leader in multiple grades and subjects. She combines this background with her experience as a school board member and professional development specialist to bring fresh and original ideas to educators about teaching, learning, and assessing. She consults with schools and districts and presents at workshops and conferences locally and nationally. As an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut and the University of New Haven, she teaches Human Development and Assessment to undergraduate and graduate students and more recently, Teaching, Learning, and Assessing with Technology in the 6^th year Digital Literacy program. She has a B.S. from the University of Connecticut, an M.S. from the State University of New York at Oneonta in education, a 6th year from Sacred Heart University in administration, and an Ed.D. from Johnson and Wales University in Educational Leadership. Her website, http://www.assessmentnetwork.net, is a valuable source of information on issues and topics in assessment. She is the author of multiple books on assessment including What Teachers Really Need to Know About Formative Assessment, Assessing 21st Century Skills: A Guide to Evaluating Mastery and Authentic Learning, Restorative Assessment: Strength-Based Practices to Support all Learners, and Sticky Assessment: Classroom Strategies to Amplify Student Learning.

Oct 17 2017

Finding Help for Academic Needs

For some students, the start of school is an exhilarating feeling – new teacher, new friends, new subjects to learn. For other kids, the start of school brings about dread and despair – for all the same reasons! As a parent, how can you support your kids who are facing academic challenges?

Set up a consistent place and time to do homework

Kids thrive on structure. When they know what to expect, they feel safe. Set up a schedule where they know it is homework time. Have a place for them to complete assignments, whether it be in their room or on the kitchen table while you’re setting up for dinner. If the kids are going to grandma’s home or to an afterschool day care program, make sure everyone knows that getting homework done is a priority. [Read more…]

Jaime Koo, Encouraging Literacy

Discovering the joy of teaching while in high school, Jaime pursued her B.A. in English at Santa Clara University. She also received a teaching credential and a M.A. in Education Administration from Santa Clara University. Jaime taught English Language Arts at Rancho Middle School, motivating and inspiring young people to become effective communicators and contributors in their community. From being a Middle School English Language Arts/English Language Development teacher to becoming a stay-at home mom, Jaime is an education consultant who presents literacy workshops. Her workshops focus on a combination of her ten years of teaching expertise with tried-and-true experiences that she uses with her own children. Jaime is also a Teacher Consultant with the San Jose Area Writing Project. Jaime’s mission is to share effective reading and writing strategies with families to encourage literacy.

Oct 03 2017

How to Help Your Child Use College and Career Support Services

The new school year has started. As a superintendent of two public middle schools and a comprehensive high school, I have reflected on how I can change some of our school’s procedures and programs to fully support our college and career ready students. Here’s a list of changes that we will implement this year: [Read more…]

Yvette King-Berg, College Readiness

Yvette King-Berg, is the Executive Director of Youth Policy Institute’s Charter Schools. She was the former California Charter Schools Association Vice-President of School Development and Outreach-Southern California. Ms. King-Berg has over thirty years of experience working with teachers, students, parents, and organizations in a variety of positions including Director, Assistant Director, Curriculum Advisor, Bilingual, and Title 1 Coordinators, classroom teacher (K-12) in Pasadena and LAUSD. She has been married for twenty-three years, and is the proud mother of her son, EJ, who attends UC Berkeley.

Sep 27 2017

Fall GenParenting Book Signing Events

Date	Location	Venue	Event
Oct 1–9:30 AM	Costa Mesa, CA	Orange County Children's Book Festival - Orange County, CA	The GenParenting.com team will be selling the Yikes! twin book series and our parenting book with FREE resources.
Oct 8,—2:00 PM	San Rafael, CA	Copperfield's Books	Meet the author, Mary Ann Burke, at this Meet and Greet Event! FREE blog resources will be provided.
Oct 14—10:00 AM	Sunnyvale, CA	Bay Area Kids' Book Festival - Silicon Valley	The GenParenting.com blogging team will be selling their Yikes! twin book series and parenting book with FREE resources.
Oct 15—10:00 AM	Lafayette, CA	Bay Area Kids' Festival - Lafayette	The GenParenting.com blogging team will be selling their Yikes! twin book series and parenting book with FREE resources.
Oct 22—11:00 AM	Oakland, CA	Great Good Place for Books	Meet the author, Mary Ann Burke, at this special story time event. She will be selling her newly published Yikes! Brandon Has Twin Sisters book series with FREE blog resources.

For more information about these events and to purchase books, log onto Amazon.com at https://www.amazon.com/Mary-Ann-Burke/e/B001H6IXXW/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0.

Mary Ann Burke, Digital Education Expert

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.