I had issues finding a blog that I liked and wanted to share with you guys. I found this one that mentioned students sharing what they did at school with their parents. The blog itself isn't very "loaded," if you will, but it does bring up a valid point at the end. This was the main part that got me thinking:
A principal of a special project school of kindergardeners described some of the fabulous things going on there and I asked, “What do those kids say at dinner, when their parents ask, ‘So what did you do in school today?’“
The initial answer was, “Oh, nothing!”
But then they corrected themselves realizing that we were talking about kindergardeners. These young children are excited about school — and their parents are excited about school. So might we ever expect middle school or high school students to talk excitedly about what happened in school today?
I suspect that the answer to that question, with notable exceptions, is, “No!”
But can we help parents to instigate those conversations, to break through their children’s adolescent cool, and get them to talk about learning experiences that defy boundaries, generate curiosity, and where innovation and creativity are common and not the exception.
I wonder how a school or classroom might start that dinner table conversation by sharing everyday glimpses of teachers and learners exploring, experimenting, discovering, and sharing passionate and inventive learning.
What do you think?
I remember when I was growing up, my parents (both educators themselves) always asked my sister and me what we did in school that day or what did you learn today. This question is even asked of me now. My mother and I talk every night. On nights that I have class she literally asks me "so did you learn anything new in class tonight?" I think that this question was a very important aspect of my childhood. It not only made me feel like an important/valuable part of our family, but it made me have to sift through the information that was presented to me that day. When I was in elementary school, the things I learned were something to the effect of "I learned to write my name" or "I learned that you fall off the monkey bars when you try to go across them wearing mittens" etc. As I got older, I was a little less enthused to share the details of my day. But, I had to find something to share because that was a common supper time rule. At that point it was alright if it wasn't something that I learned from a teacher. So sometimes it would be "Mr. Padilla told us about a cathedral that is made entirely out of human bones. It kind of freaked me out, but the reason behind it was pretty cool because..." or it would be "Well, I found out that there really is some substance to the rule 'don't chew gum in choir class' because Rashawn accidentally sang his gum out into Kelly's hair."
My parents were always VERY involved in my education. They wanted to know what exactly we were discussing, what projects we were doing, how it was going, what I was having issues with, and so on and so forth. Thinking back, sometimes, I didn't even wait for the "what did you do today question" and just shared my most important experience.
As a teacher I feel we can initiate this conversation between parent and child by doing something in the day that really sticks in the students mind. I also encourage my parents to ask their kids what they are learning and if it's something they want to see first hand, they are more than welcome in my classroom at any time. Doing something in class that sticks in the students mind works really well because, sometimes the parent hasn't seen it before and it's like a rare gem of a secret the child just wants to include their parent (s) in. I know when my high school chem teacher lit the ceiling on fire, I couldn't wait to share that tid bit of information that night.
I think the big thing is encouraging not only the parents, but the students. I have even told my students "now you can go tell your parents we did this" or shown them something and told them "go impress your parents by..." etc.
I think parent involvement is important and am very thankful that my mother started my day with "learn something new today!" as I was walking out the door in the morning, and both my parents ended my day with "tell us what you did today in school or what you learned." I think that simple statement in the morning and the question at night made education that much more valuable to me.
