Shule101

Get involved in your kid's life

1. Give positive feedback and show appreciation for teachers and the principal.
2. Approach interactions with a positive attitude and an open mind.
3. Listen to others’ viewpoints.
4. Share your child’s strengths, talents, and interests with your child’s teachers.
5. Share expectations and set goals together for your child.
6. Make appointments as needed to discuss your child’s progress or concerns.
7. Attend parent-teacher conferences with specific questions you want to ask.
8. Indicate the best way to giver you information (phone, e-mail, notes, etc.).
9. Understand and reinforce school rules and expectations at home.
10. Participate in informal opportunities to talk with and to get to know school staff and educators.
11. Address concerns or questions honestly, openly, and early on.
12. Attend PTA or parent meetings regularly.
13. Read classroom and/or school newsletters.
14. Visit your school’s web page.
15. Know school staff’s extensions and office hours.
16. Read and know your school’s handbook.
17. Request that information be available in all relevant languages.
18. Share your family’s culture, values, and parenting practices with your child’s school.
19. Share your perceptions with educators and school staff of how parents are treated.
20. Work with school staff and educators to revise and improve perceptions and school climate.
21. Meet your child’s friends and get to know their parents.
22. Contact your school for information on family programs and resources.
23. Help establish a parent center at school and use its resources.
24. Help create a toy/book lending library and visit it regularly.
25. Assist in developing parent support programs/groups and attend them.
26. Attend workshops or seminars on various parenting topics.
27. Participate in parenting classes on child development, expectations, discipline, etc.
28. Attend parent fairs and other events especially for parents and families.
29. Start a parent book club to discuss current publications.
30. Help create and/or contribute to a school newsletter on parenting.
31. Assist in creating and/or offer your services to before- and after-school programs.
32. Build a child file with medical records, pictures, fingerprints, etc.
33. Make donations and/or offer to work at clothing drives or swaps, food co-ops, etc.
34. Ask teachers or counselors about how to talk with your children about tough topics.
35. Discuss your child’s school day and homework daily.
36. Learn your child’s strengths and weaknesses in different areas of school.
37. Provide a quiet, well-lighted place with basic school supplies for studying/homework.
38. Help your children break down projects into smaller, more manageable steps.
39. Develop a consistent daily routine and time for studying and homework.
40. Provide encouragement and approval for effort and schoolwork.
41. Share your interests, hobbies, and talents with your children.
42. Provide children with books, magazines, and so forth, and develop a nighttime reading routine.
43. View selected TV programs together and then review and discuss them.
44. Make family trips to the library, zoo, museum, or park a fun learning experience.
45. Talk with your child’s teacher on creating home learning games and activities.
46. Complete interactive homework assignments with your child.
47. Attend meetings on learning expectations, assessment, and grading procedures.
48. Help set goals and develop a personalized education plan for your child.
49. Participate in activities that help you understand school technology.
50. Help plan and attend family nights on improving study habits, doing homework, etc.
51. Help develop, visit, or offer services to your school’s study/tutor center.
52. Participate in fairs and fests for math, science, history, and so forth.
53. Respond to school surveys on your interests, talents, and skills.
54. Let school staff know your availability to volunteer (days, times, and how often).
55. Supervise and coordinate evening and weekend volunteer activities at school
56. Assist your child’s teacher in the classroom or on field trips when you are able.
57. Work with school staff and teachers to develop volunteer activities you can do from home.
58. Assist school staff and educators in creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere for parents.
59. Help provide child care and/or transportation for volunteering parents.
60. Help develop creative ways to use volunteers at school.
61. Actively help school staff recruit parents and community members as volunteers.
62. Attend training and orientation on how to be an effective volunteer.
63. Learn and uphold school discipline, confidentiality, and other policies as a volunteer.
64. Plan a regular time each week to talk with school staff and educators with whom you are working.
65. Help developed volunteer job descriptions and evaluations.
66. Participate in organizing and planning ways to recognize and appreciate volunteers.
67. Respond to school surveys/questionnaires on how effective volunteer programs are.
68. Help develop and distribute a volunteer directory to parents, school staff, and teachers.
69. Provide volunteer consulting services to school staff or educators in your area of expertise.
70. Learn of school and district policies and practices that affect children.
71. Voice your support or concerns on any issue that will affect your family.
72. Be involved in decisions on student placement and course and textbook selections.
73. Participate in meetings to determine special educational needs and services.
74. Attend workshops on problem solving, conflict resolution, public speaking, and so forth.
75. Serve on school advisory councils or committees on curriculum, discipline, and so forth.
76. Serve on a site-based school management team with teachers and the principal.
77. Encourage and support older children in serving in student leadership positions.
78. Help your school create a student’s rights and responsibilities guide for families.
79. Attend PTA, school board, and/or town meetings and speak to issues of concern.
80. Learn representatives’ backgrounds and participate in school board election.
81. Work with teachers and school administrators to develop a parent involvement policy.
82. Write, call, or travel to the capital to support or oppose proposed legislation.
83. Participate in petition drives or letter-writing campaigns to Congress on legislation.
84. Give testimony at public hearings in support of or opposition to education legislation.
85. Vote in local, state elections for public officials who support education.
86. Help your school develop a directory of social and community services.
87. Find out information on community resources and organizations and use them.
88. Help develop and/or distribute a community newsletter to local agencies and businesses.
89. Help coordinate and participate in an event to raise money for a local charity.
90. Talk with employers about holding parent meetings or parenting workshops on-site.
91. Advocate for flexible work schedules and leave time to attend school functions.
92. Encourage employers and local businesses to make donations and support school programs.
93. Help organize and/or participate in community health fairs.
94. Help recruit community members (seniors, business people) to volunteer at school.
95. Become active in community groups such as YMCA and Boy and Girl Scouts.
96. Serve on local community advisory councils and committees.
97. Work with local authorities and public officials to sponsor community events.
98. Help organize and/or participate in a community “clean up” or “beautification” project.
99. Encourage and help facilitate your child’s participation in community service.
100. Be a role model—be active in community service yourself or together with your child.

At their next Group of Eight summit in Toyakocho, Hokkaido, in July, leaders of the world s major countries should commit themselves to helping Africa provide low-cost high-speed Internet access.

African universities could be the continent’s gateways into the global knowledge economy for local diffusion of new technologies. But this potential remains unrealized because universities and research institutes in Africa remain digitally isolated from the rest of the world. This is partly because of government neglect and lack of strategic policies on Internet access.

African universities of the size of Tokyo University have the Internet capability of a single Japanese household. Put another way, it is like 30,000 people trying to use a single household connection. This is impracticable and, as a result, most African universities hardly benefit from the abundant scientific and technical knowledge available in other parts of the world.

Calestous Juma / Originally published in the  The Daily Yomiuri

It is the middle of winter in Kettering, a city located in southwest Ohio. I am hugging the fence in my backyard, trying to find enough courage to skate onto the ice rink my parents have built in the backyard. My parents, as always, are supporting my dreams. After taking a few ice skating lessons, I have developed a new passion and long to be the next Peggy Fleming. My dad stands on the sidelines, taking pictures, while my morn skates with me. I let go of the fence and start to glide, loving the feeling of almost flying.

I soon realized, however, that I lacked the skating talent for serious competition, and so I turned to dance. Like figure skating, dance is a combination of artistic and technical skills, of finding a way to express oneself within the confines of a series of eight counts. I loved choreographing routines, whether the steps were for my own performances or for students in the school musical. As a high school English teacher in Ohio and later as a college professor of future teachers in Florida, I viewed teaching as also consisting of both artistic and technical elements.

Figure skaters receive two separate scores for their performances. Each program has a certain number of required elements, such as jumps and spins, that are judged for the technical score. Each program also requires creativity and artistic interpretation, which contribute to the artistic score. Without the technical elements, skaters have no way of proving they know how to successfully execute a double axel. Without the artistic elements, a skating routine is nothing more than a series of unconnected jumps.

In teaching, required elements of the curriculum exist that teachers must cover during any given school year; this becomes the technical part of teaching. Teachers choose how to present a lesson in order make it interesting and connect with students; this becomes the artistic part of teaching.

In this era of standardized tests, teachers complain that no time exists for creativity. This means the focus remains on the required curricular elements–the technical part of teaching–thus losing the artistic part of teaching. We need to remember that how we teach is as important as what we teach. We all know this, although it becomes easy to forget when the media, government, or school administration discusses test scores; fear permeates schools and communities when money jobs, and school rankings are at stake.

When I wasn’t dancing or figure skating during my younger years,…