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» How to Revitalize Your School-Parent Compact, Marilyn Price-Mitchell, Ph.D.
» How Do You Know if You're Really Open to Partnership, Anne Henderson & Karen Mapp
»PTA--Gateway to Engagement, Advocacy, and Access, Meryl Ain, Ed.D.
» The Power of Asking-Instead of Telling, Jody McVittie, M.D.
» Empathy in Action, Rick Ackerly, Ed.M.
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This Week's #PTChat: Do Engaged Families Need Support?
By Joe Mazza
You can find quizzes like the one to the right all over the Internet. The questions refer to the balancing act of “Tiger Mom” vs. “Dolphin Mom.” While these words are extreme, they do offer a range of perspectives in play in the homes of today’s students.
What effects do each have on children? Can we push a child too far? Ask them to study or practice too much? Where does the responsibility lie in communicating what is best for the student with parents?
Labels like “dolphin,” “helicopter,” & “tiger” used to describe parents can demean the work of well-intentioned parents. The fears of school staff with regard to the over-engaged parent and how it acts as a barrier to engagement of others is a driving force in staff feelings and opinions about family engagement.
During most #PTchats, we devote time to understanding and improving disengagement. However, it’s equally important to harness the power of the over-engaged. This week, we'll discuss the strategies to work with those who over-control their children or those who, because of any number of perceptions, make unreasonable or unrealistic demands of their child and or their child's education. The topic is worthy of discussion and will help us understand and respond to the diverse perspectives we see from day to day, and how to better funnel our family engagement efforts.
Join us this Wednesday, September 26th at 9PM EDT / 6PM PST for #PTchat. Past chats & resources have been archived here.
New to Twitterchats?
After logging on to Twitter, visit Tweetchat and simply enter "ptchat" in the box at the top. Follow along and participate as you as much as you like to join others around the world in this weekly chat. We look forward to engaging your unique and important parent and/or educator perspectives.
Posted on September 24, 2012 by Joe Mazza
Joe Mazza (@Joe_Mazza) is lead learner at Knapp Elementary School in suburban Philadelphia. He is a doctoral learner at the University of Pennsylvania studying social media’s impact on home-school partnerships. Participate in a weekly #PTchat (Parent-Teacher Chat) that he hosts on Wednesdays at 9 pm. Eastern. He writes a blog aimed to share innovative family engagement ideas for schools called eFACE Today
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