Parenting Archives - GenParenting

Aug 28 2023

Keeping the Peace at Home

School is starting in the next few weeks. I am having various combinations of grandkids spend the final days of summer in my home. As a parent educator and teacher, I have learned a variety of effective classroom management strategies that work well at home as well as at school. Here are my top 10: [Read more…]

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.

Jul 04 2023

Moving with Kids

In a few weeks, our family will move across the country, back to my hometown. Our family has experienced the spectrum of emotions about the move: excitement, hope, anxiety, and sadness. Sometimes a few feelings all at once!

Looking Forward To Hellos As We Say Goodbye

I have always sensed the weight and importance of walking my children through this move in a healthy way, allowing time to discuss all the feelings as they surface. I felt a little lost about how to do this. I wanted my kiddos to process leaving friends and our home here but also look ahead to the new opportunities waiting for them in the Midwest. [Read more…]

Jo Baldwin

Jo Baldwin first considered teaching as a career in seventh grade after helping a cousin survive summer school homework. Jo’s high school English teacher also inspired her love of teaching and continues to be one of her mentors to this day. After graduating with a B.A. in English and a secondary teaching credential from Northern Illinois University, she moved to California and taught in a private secondary school and then a public middle school. Jo now spends her time homeschooling two of her children, chasing animals on her hobby farm, and writing children’s literature. She loves to travel and explore wherever life takes her, wander through used bookstores, drink strong coffee with plenty of cream, and use newly sharpened pencils. She agrees with William Butler Yeats’ viewpoint on learning: “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

www.GenParenting.com

Mar 14 2023

Parent’s Guide to School Communication from an Educator

I have found that often times parents of all backgrounds and educational levels have difficulty in understanding how they should communicate with schools regarding their children. So, I have put together some quick guidelines that I think will improve the school – parent partnership. To be clear, I believe that in the IDEAL circumstances it is the responsibility of the school to take the lead on this. That said, I think this can be beneficial for everyone involved.

Establish Communication Protocols and Expectations

As a parent it is important to understand that your child’s teacher likely has between 20 and 150 other students that they are working with every day. That said, it is fair to expect that you receive communication from the school if and when they notice any change in behavior, mood, or performance. As a parent, I believe that this is a fair expectation to share with your child’s educators and also a responsibility to share the same communication under the same parameters with the school as a courtesy if you noticing something at home. [Read more…]

Phil Caposey

PJ Caposey is a dynamic speaker and a transformational leader and educator. PJ began his career as an award-winning teacher in the inner-city of Chicago and has subsequently led significant change in every administrative post he has held. PJ became a principal at the age of 28 and within three years was able to lead a small-town/rural school historically achieving near the bottom of its county to multiple national recognitions. After four years, PJ moved to his current district, Meridian CUSD 223, as superintendent and has led a similar turnaround leading to multiple national recognitions for multiple different efforts.

PJ is a best-selling author and has written 8 books for various publishers. His work and commentary has been featured on sites such as the Washington Post, NPR, CBS This Morning, ASCD, Edutopia, the Huffington Post, and was featured in a Global Leaders Forum thinkpiece alongside the likes of General Petraeus and General McChrystal. He works in the Education Department of two universities and in a myriad of capacities with the Illinois Principal’s Association including Principal Coach and author of the first complete stack of MicroCredentials offered in Illinois.

You can find him on most social media platforms with the handle @MCUSDSupe or his name PJ Caposey. His website www.pjcaposey.com also archives many speeches, blogs, podcasts, and articles for your review.

www.GenParenting.com

Jan 17 2023

The Balancing Act of Afterschool Activities

It is cold outside and we struggle with balancing our daily lives. How can we keep our kids active in their daily lives even in the dead of winter? Most of our kids are over scheduled with sports, homework, afterschool activities, and screen time. Other children come home to empty homes and waste away hours waiting for parents to come home from work while eating snacks and watching television or playing video games. And other children have overwhelming household responsibilities to help their family with sibling care, dinner preparation, and laundry chores. [Read more…]

Mary Ann Burke, Digital Education Expert

Nov 29 2022

Safety Plans for High-Risk Kids

As our students become more anxious with home and school challenges, we find that we become fearful about their health and well-being. Some children will demonstrate their anxieties and stress by having nightmares, not eating, over-eating, sleeping too much, spending hours on screens, or isolating. As parents, it is our job to try and understand what is troubling our children and seek support when needed. We should not be afraid to ask for help. The longer we ignore or avoid a problem, the more frustrated and troubled our child may become. [Read more…]

Mary Ann Burke, Digital Education Expert