I really enjoyed being able to share my passion for social media with a couple of my families... I learned that even though folks sign up, reminders are important! My class has been very sick, so unfortunately that impacted attendance at my gathering, but what I was able to do with a couple of parents was remarkable...
This was a cartoon shared with me on Twitter!
The parents that did come wanted to set up a Twitter account and did! Then I was able to navigate more individually with parents in regards to the different features that Twitter offers and the value. I think now that some have had an opportunity to set up an account and will begin to explore on their own, that I will offer another time for parents to engage again.
I enjoyed hearing about the value and connectedness that parents feel about their child's day. Some were fearful of too much screen time, but then after experiencing how I am using Twitter and other digital tools, parents felt it was worthwhile and important.
My impact has had reach... Click here to read my ideas and a mention in this blogpost. #grateful
So moving forward....
1. I need to offer more gatherings in regards to the digital tools I am using as well as opportunities for parents to connect and support each other as well. A lasting impact will be important.
2. Transparency is important, but also being able to be explicit about how the tool can be engaging and bring families together, outside of our year.
One of the ideas I had awhile back was to begin to start offering opportunities for my families to have some support and understanding into the how and why I use digital tools and technology to help them begin to not only feel comfortable, but also navigate themselves so they are also able to support their children as they grow. So I decided to do 2 things.
1. Tomorrow I am hosting a Twitter gathering for former and present families. Through this experience I hope to be able to support parents in their use of Twitter and also the value of using social media to connect, engage and enrich learning. I have created a presentation here using Google.
2. I will be facilitating an online chat on Twitter with an America Achieves and #gpsnetwork colleague, Troy Rivera. We will be using #familyconnect, from 7-8 PM, EST. I look forward to facilitating this very important conversation about what you're doing to engage and enhance learning opportunities and family engagement with the children you work with.
Here is the flyer I created for our chat. I am hoping that after tomorrow's gathering present and former families will have an opportunity to connect and engage in this conversation because they will have lots to contribute and some recent training/support!
I look forward to adding to this post tomorrow after our gathering!
