I have been looking through the website for the Russell Street School. I am impressed with how much the staff posts about activities at the school. They really want to communicate with parents and the outside world to share what they are doing. I worry about having so many pictures and videos on the site; my school has a consent form that guardians have to sign off to allow or prohibit students from appearing on websites, television, newspaper articles, and even school bulletin boards.
I liked some of the student blogs. Some students seemed to be keeping a photo-journal of their experiences during the year. I want to see those students write more than 1-2 sentences with each photo post to practice with their writing as well. Other students are getting into the writing more and elaborating on the details of their experiences and feelings.
Amy, I too was impressed with the amount to staff interaction and post. I love how this gives parents easy access to see what is happening in the classroom. This also opens up discussion between administrators, staff, and parents. What really got me with the student blogs is how they were able to capture their learning. I love how this gives them the ability to look back at the end of the year, and see how they have come a long ways away. Something that I am truly thinking about doing.
ReplyDeleteThis certainly opens up the lines of the communication for parents. It should cut down on the amount of emails that I get asking what the homework assignment for the evening is.
DeleteI wonder if students really will look back and reflect on their learning at the end of the school year or later on in their academic career. I think about people who scrolled way back through their myspace or facebook accounts when it was all on a desktop computer to remember what was happening at that previous time. I see very few people reliving memories on those social media fronts now that they post so much directly from their phones. It worries me that it is information overload; we want to save so much, but we will never use it or go through it again.