Nov 12 2019

Keeping Balance in My Daily Life

Last summer, I made a commitment to expand my own personal growth when I discovered that I would not have my college son living at home during the summer break. When reviewing the list of activities that I planned to complete during the summer, I found the following mixed results:

I increased my exercise routine by walking at least three times a week. Now I am focusing on moving and exercising daily. I am also committed to finding a friend to walk with to increase my exercise goals throughout the school year.
Although I read many work-related books, I still have not found the time to enjoy leisure reading. I plan to find more time for relaxing with books in the future.
As a commitment to make time for visiting friends, I walk every Saturday that I am home with my cousin. On Sundays, I started meeting a friend for coffee. I am also participating in a series of leadership seminars in northern California and plan to see friends when traveling.
I continue to take the time to be a kid for a day with my spouse. We traveled to Chicago and bicycled along Lake Michigan. We took leisurely walks along the Santa Monica Pier. We visited Northern California and Camarillo for added play dates this fall season.
Finally, I excelled at getting my house organized for another school year. I cleaned out my kitchen cabinets and one of my bathrooms. I gave away over 10 sacks of papers, brochures, and collectibles. And I donated over 100 professional books to the library or gave them to teachers.

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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.

Oct 22 2019

“Out-Growing Their Age” – How to Initiate Self-Reflection for Your Child

It is my firm belief that self-reflection can be nurtured in children while they are young. It’s different for each child since children mature at different rates, but in general, kids are independent enough around age five to start reflecting for personal growth and accepting responsibilities for their actions. Here is a strategy I have used with my children as they approached each birthday. In our home, we call it “Out-growing our age.” Even as my children are pre-teens now, we continue this practice to encourage self-reflection. [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 15 2019

What Works in Urban Charter Schools?

What Works in Urban Public Charter Schools?

Youth Policy Institute Charter Schools (YPI) in Los Angeles County has met major growth achievements during the past two years. When preparing for our charter petition renewal, the leadership team analyzed extensive data and feedback from key stakeholders to identify what was working in YPI schools.

Best Practices

We identified the following five best practices:

Our newly hired teachers are highly qualified with 15 – 20 years of teaching experiences and added years of professional experiences beyond teaching.
Our teachers provide differentiated reading support and literacy instruction based on each student’s tested reading level. We have closed up to six years of grade level reading gaps in shorter amounts of time.
Our teachers and students review grade level performance data daily to identify their strengths and weaknesses. This analysis helps students identify what they learn each day.
Parents are critically important to their school’s success through varied levels of leadership involvement and engagement.
Parents and their students are taught how to support each other in preparing for a specific career path that will include college and career preparation.

[Read more…]

Yvette King-Berg, College Readiness

Sep 24 2019

Helping Your Youth Respond to Difficult Situations

Now that my kids are ages 10 and 12, they are becoming more aware of politics in the news (like gun violence and gun control) and are even eye-witnesses to social issues (like homelessness). Youth today may even hear of news from other classmates while in the school quad or they may get their news from videos on the internet. With such immediate access to news (fake or not), youth and pre-adolescents may notice they are getting affected by it. As parents, how can we help our children process this new input and respond to it in healthy ways? Here are some tips you may consider: [Read more…]

Jaime Koo, Encouraging Literacy

Sep 17 2019

Parents Are Their Children’s First Teachers

Parents are their children’s first and primary teacher. As the primary teacher of their children, they are responsible for nurturing their children’s healthy development.

Parents As First Teachers

The following strategies can assist parents in providing their children with loving guidance and support:
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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.