EdSuccess

Murphy School District in Phoenix, Arizona is a favorite of mine. I admit it. This time I'm biased. It's probably because my mom taught in the district when I was a child and she had such wonderful things to say about it. Told ya' I had chalk dust in my veins. I come from a long line of teachers.

Murphy's four schools work on Family Engagement like it's a passion with them. Actually, it is a passion. The schools are inner-city, mostly Hispanic, and predominately low-income. In some places, any of those three situations might be difficult, but these folks just take it in stride and keep on looking for ways to make it better for kids and families.

The Family Resource Centers are a huge support at each school. The district uses more than the required funds for family engagement to support the FRCs, and the difference is paying off. Test scores are improving and the families are connecting with school activities, especially learning.

This year our Family Friendly Schools workshop focused on Two-Way Communication. Communication between schools and families is often newsletters, flyers, and report cards, but these folks want more. There's the additional challenge of so many of the families speaking Spanish while the teachers speak English, but, again, they are taking on the challenge. They're finding ways to more than communicate--to talk and to work together.

Watch what happens to these schools. They are Family Friendly and talking!!

At the beginning of our Family Friendly Schools Engage!All Families Conference last week, one of the participants made the comment, "You know you're going to have to sell me on this." In most school or community settings, that statement would mean, you're going to have to prove parent involvement makes a difference. Proving how important engaging with your child around learning is what we at FFS do. It's logical and intuitively it makes sense that modeling reading would help a child to read, and doing math with your child would encourage him or her to do math. The research backs it up. When parents are involved with their child's learning, the child does better in school.

The people at FFS conduct workshops, trainings, and conferences all over the country showing school folks and parents how to make learning better by engaging families. And yes, it does work. Test scores improve, attendance is better, and behavior is better as well. We're constantly selling the idea that parent involvement in learning helps the child, the parent, and the school. So we were fully prepared to "sell" our participant.

Trouble was our participant with the challenging statement, already knows parent involvement works. In fact, his job is to tell other people in his state that parent involvement works. He's a state director of a program that is funded to share that message with schools and families. It's what he does every day. So what did we need to "sell him?"

What he was asking was for us to convince him that Family Friendly Schools has an approach that works, that what we do could be another part of his tool belt to help schools do what he does already. He knows his work well and he was skeptical of ours.

At the end of the training and conference, I checked in with the previously skeptical participant, "Well, did we sell you?" His response, as he added our name to his list of three major resources, "You know you did."

We at Family Friendly Schools take our jobs seriously. Yes, we have fun too, but we want children to succeed. With schools and families working together, we know they'll do better in school. Join us at a future FFS event, or call us to arrange your own Family Friendly event. We'd love to see you there!

I sat down for lunch at the wooden, eight settings table in the Stephanie Alexander kitchen next to Jacob, an eight year old brimming with questions about America.

"Are you really from America? Did you fly here? No, you couldn't fly here, the airport is to small. Did you go to Melbourne? How far away is it?" he asked.

I, in turn, had questions for Jacob. "What did you make for this meal? Did you help grow it and pick what we're eating too? Your class comes once a week to garden and cook, is that right? The other classes come other days."

I answered all of his questions, and he and the other children at the table answered mine.

Yes, they grew all the food we were eating. I had taken a tour of the garden earlier where two girls, Tasmania and Montana, were my guides. They showed me where each of the vegetables were growing among the 60 (!) fruit trees. They tried catching a chook (chicken) to show me how tame they were, but the chooks would have none of that so we settled for finding the eggs that would also be used the lunch.

Brian, the master garden for this project, waved, and let the girls show me around. He was busy helping another group of children with their composting and propagating the next series of plants to be placed in the green house; It wouldn't be long before the green house crop was ready to be planted in the main garden.

My tour of the kitchen before lunch was a major treat. It looked like something out of a chef's dream. Chopping tables, stoves, sinks, rows of bowls and pot and pans. Around the corner hung aprons for each of the children in the class. A bit later 20 second and third grade children would come in from their gardening chores to don their aprons and chefs caps. Under the direction of Helen, they'd cook up marvelous concoctions with their pickings and sit down to eat with their friends. In this case, they had a couple of extra friends and one of whom they could ask questions about America.

After lunch, Jacob and the rest cleaned up the kitchen to a sparkling shine, packed up their brooms, took off their aprons, and went back to lessons. The children's morning in the garden and time in the kitchen amounted to a couple of hours. Some might think they weren't in class so they might not be learning. Au contraire. This was one of the best science, math, and reading lessons I could imagine.

Thank you Jacob, Tasmania, Montana, and the rest of the children in the second and third grade class from Bendigo, Australia for more than lunch. Thanks to Brian and Helen for their work in gardens and kitchen. And special thanks to Mary-anne Rooney, the wise principal, who makes this project such a high priority for the families in her community.

Lunch, if you haven't guess, was great!

Kangaroos, parrots, and fruit bats hanging upside down in central park. What an amazing country and what an amazing group of people came together this week to talk about Family Engagement, the merger of three schools, and the building of two new school communities here in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia.

How did I get to Australia you might ask? I've been asking myself the same thing, all the while pinching myself to make sure I'm here. Oh yes. I'm really in Australia. I can tell mainly because I don't have the same cadence in my speech as those around me. I don't yet say brekky for breakfast. Nor am I driving this week since I went around my first round-about and couldn't have figured out, if I had been driving, which side of the road was mine or which spoke of the wheel to take to get out. I'd still be going around in the round-about now if it hadn't been for my wonderful partner in this adventure, John Jones.

John has about as avid an interest in Family Engagement as I do, so it was natural for us to team up. He's been to the states a couple times with us to train and now it was my turn to come to Australia.

Our two day Engage!Workshop was just the ticket for the schools as we shared how they could work together as a team of three separate schools into a team of one which included all of their parents as well as getting their students ready for the other school in the room--the secondary school. The results, as one participant put it, "brilliant."

What a pleasure to watch the schools plan a field day for their students and the landscaping for their new school site. The goal for the first Engage!Workshop is to create a project in which everyone can participate--teachers, administrators, parents, and support staff. Both of these projects fit that description perfectly while still creating the collaboration the schools wanted in order to make their mergers and moves work for them.

AND I've spent a wonderful rainy Saturday exploring Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. What an amazing treat. Thank you and gaday until next time.

I met this wonderful pair on the plane last week coming back from Chicago. Richard and Scarlett. I didn't get all the details, but my understanding is they were going to San Diego for Dad's wedding. I believe Dad was Richard, but that was not quite clear in our conversations. Scarlett is nine.

When Richard got up to go to the back of the plane, Scarlett and I commenced to talk. She shared she was going into the fourth grade and needed more work on multiplication tables. Dad had gone to the back and was supposed to return with the multiplication flashcards that were stored somewhere in an overhead bin. He returned without them.

Scarlett was not to be denied her practice. "Well, just give me some and I'll see if I know the answers."

We'd already talked about how easy 6 time 6 is, and that was almost the first question asked. Yea, Scarlett. You got that one. The 2's, 5's and 10's seemed to go easily. Nine's she had a system to use. When 7's or 8's came up the fingers appeared. Those always seem to be the tough ones.

At our house, with four kids needing to learn the multiplication tables in that third/fourth grade range, we sang them, tapped danced them, practiced them at breakfast and dinner, and used them in every possible situation we could. "There are six of us at dinner. How much silverware do we need if everyone has a knife, fork, and spoon?" "What if we invited our friends Katy and Gene over? Then how many do we need?"

We multiplied anything that could be multiplied just for the practice--silverware, beans, nuts and bolts, or puppy dog tails. The content didn't matter. What matter was learning the tables as well as showing how that learning applies to what you do everyday. None of my kids has taken a job as an accountable yet, but they all know how to figure out their checkbooks. So will Scarlett.

This week, now going on longer, we've been waiting for a new baby in our family. Lucas James is due any minute, but he's a bit late in his arrival. So what do you do while waiting.

When you have three other children, ages 8, 5, and 3, there's plenty to do. Walks, puzzles, games, computer games, naps, and videos to name a few of the busy days we've had. Today was a flower craft of tissue paper. What fun.

The most interesting part for me has been watching my daughter-in-law interact with her children. What a treat!

I talk to groups every week about how parents can help support their children with learning activities. Since I haven't had kids at home for a while, I can't help but wonder if the things we did still work. This week I know they do. This week I know that any household can support a child's learning. I've had the opportunity to watch it in action.

Melissa just naturally sits down on the floor with the 3-year-old and does the puzzle with the numbers and the colors. "What number is this? Let's count these? Show me three fingers because you're three."

The almost 5-year-old has all her numbers to 10, colors, and some of the alphabet, and the magnet letters on the refrigerator and the letters on the placemat help remind her of what they look like.

The 8 almost 9-year-old going into fourth grade child is old enough not to take naps in the afternoon. Her afternoons are spent reading Treasure Island. She gets a sticker on her library chart for every chapter she completes. She received an extra sticker because she asked to read a chapter to the little ones with me before their afternoon nap.

For some moms like Melissa, this is just a natural part of being a mom. For others it's something to learn, but really makes since when the value of that kind of support shows up in a child's success in school and in the child's only feeling of confidence and well-being.

It's also easy to start out with this kind of support in the early grades and fall off later as they get into the more difficult subject like algebra or chemistry. Don't stop now. You're just getting started. Even if you don't have the same skills you had for learning the A, B, Cs, you, as mom and dad, are still your child's greatest supporter and fan.

So when Lucas arrives, I know he will be in good hands. My son, Christopher, his dad, is in Afghanistan at the moment. He's going to miss this entry into the world, but we are going to keep him as engaged as possible. Enjoy your son, my dear, as I have enjoyed you!!

Plano Texas has a wonderful conference center just made for workshops and group work. Last week I had the opportunity to meet with a wide-ranging group of educators from Region 10 ready to explore the possibilities of Family Engagement.

The folks from Head Start already have experienced the possibilities for parents involved in their programs. It's part of their mission to include parents. The participant from the Community College said they've now included a parent orientation for their incoming students. Since the parents often foot the bill, they thought it was a wise move to do so. I have several in college so I related to that statement! Thank you. We'd like to know what's going on with our kids even at that age.

In between the preschoolers and the college were teachers, administrators, parents, and support staff from a variety of different districts. All walked away with a plan, unique to their setting, to begin their process.

Mostly, though, in the first days of looking a Family Engagement we talk about thinking and attitudes. Without exploring the attitudes we hold, we can't bring about any change. If cling to what we "know" we will continue to have the same experience. If you're in a workshop to deal with achievement or behavior or attendance or budget issues, you're looking for a different experience. If your best thinking hasn't fixed one of those issues, it's time to look at how you're thinking. That's why we start with thinking.

This group was willing and able to do so. Their discussions and plans reflect their new thoughts. "We could do workshops for parents." "We could have a learning fair." "We could...." Fill in the blank. They came up with all kinds of ideas which they easily shared with others in the room.

Rethink and you'll see some new experiences immerging. Texas Region 10 is doing just that?

Driving from Phoenix to Miami, Arizona is something I remember doing as a child. We'd drive through the two mining towns of Miami and Globe on our way to summer fishing trips in the White Mountains. This time the trip was different. I wasn't vacationing and my destination was Miami itself. I had a promise from my wonderful vice-president of everything, Joan, that I would love where I was staying, a place called Noftsger Bed and Breakfast.

Oh my, what a surprise. What a treat! I've stayed a many places from Hyatts to Holiday Inns, Hamptons to Hawthorns, but this was without a doubt one of the best places for me, the consummate educator, I have ever stayed.

How could you go wrong with a schoolhouse turned into a bed and breakfast? The outside of the two-story building looked just like it must have looked 103 years before when it was built for the children of the town. I drove around to the back entrance where there once was a playground. I was greeted by Rosalee who was delighted to escort me into the school. Walking in was like being greeted not just by Rosalee, but by the hundreds, no thousands of children who had gone to school in this building.

The wide center hall echoed with the voices of those who had been here before. And I couldn't see fast enough to take in all of the fun school stuff scattered about on display. There was the easel with the Dick and Jane posters. There were the old books and the class pictures on the walls. There were the desks of several different vintages. There was just so much and so much fun!

Rosalee was happy to show me my room and then let me go on a tour. We walked down the center hall with me being distracted at every step to Classroom 2. When she opened the door, I wanted to cry. It really was a classroom--blackboard on one wall, desk in the corner, a fireplace at one end, and enough room for 30 children's desks. Needless to say, there was plenty of room for a bed, armoire, couch, chairs, huge work table, and plenty of space left over. It had been a classroom long before it was a bedroom. What a treat. I was sleeping in school!

The tour was a whirlwind of more school stuff. More classrooms, the principal's office, and the cafeteria now a wonderful dining room for tomorrow's breakfast. I've never been into antiques much, but I could get into this. Books, desks, tablets, chalkboards--all the tools of the trade I love so much. It was just too good for words.

I woke up in the middle of the night, lulled back to sleep by children saying the alphabet and learning their numbers.

Summer hot, sultry, green, so green and lots of water. A week ago in Allegany School District in North Carolina I met with teams from three elementary schools and a high school to talk about my favorite topic of Family Engagement. Summer hot, dry, brown, desert, no water. A week later I was in Miami, Arizona with an elementary school group looking at their Family Engagement activities.

My GPS told me I was 2,456 miles from my destination when I plugged in the address of the second school. You'd think being that far apart, there would be huge differences, issues and concerns. Well, there are different time zones. There are different ethnic backgrounds and different food choices. There are different dialects. I didn't say "ya"ll" once in Arizona. There are immigration issues going on in Arizona not found in North Carolina. In fact, my minor ability to speak Spanish was not tested at all in either place. But when it came to issues around engaging families in support their children in school, the issues were very similar.

How can schools do that? What do we do? What can parents do? What difference will it make? Okay, it looks like it might work, but how can we include the parents at our school? And so we talk. And we share. And we come up with projects that will work. And the energy shifts. There's a positive feel about how we, school folks and family folks, can support their children. Ideas are generated and a plan develops. By the end of the workshops, both groups were ready to start. I thought the Arizona group was going to begin painting the walls of the hallways before the workshop was over!

This is such fun work being able to bring groups like these together, watching them create something that will build trusting relationships that can help support children. I can't imagine enjoying anything else more. Thanks to both Allegany and Miami for their wonderful support for their kids and for me in the last couple of weeks!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog. I stayed at the most wonderful bed and breakfast. For an educator, I could finally say I slept in school!!

Chalmette's 17 schools were all underwater when Katrina hit. Chalmette, in case you've never visited, is close to New Orleans. Before the storm, they had 9000 students. Three weeks after the storm, they had 300 and housed them in the only workable place--the remaining high school building. It's been a heck of a rebuilding process. http://www.stbernard.k12.la.us/ourstory.asp

Today they serve 4500 students in several school settings including the, 9th grade academy attached to the high school. The administrators can't say enough good things about their Superintendent who just wouldn't take no for an answer. Doris Voitier, went after support from the community, grants, donations, and whatever else it would take to get them back on their feet. She didn't wait for help. She created it. Judging by the new facility for their 9th grades, she's done exceedingly well. Several times while during the day I spent with their staff, I heard the comment, "There's been a lot of good things that have come out of the storm."

Eighteen or so of their staff showed up for the training on Family Engagement. Each one is a little different because of budget, needs, grade-level or just because each district is different. There's was different because it's unusual to have a high school staff focusing on just one year, but this one does. They believe in making the transition from middle school to high school a successful one and they're succeeding. The enthusiasm for their students was palpable.

They generated idea after idea--a focused back to school setting where hands on activities could be enjoyed by parents and students rather than just talking heads, a coffee chat with parents in their new coffeehouse going in their library, and a directory for parents with contact information for each of the faculty. They'll hone these and several of their other ideas down to something manageable for next year, but they're on their way.

The fun for me was when Mike, one of their team leads, got the connection. He hadn't realized that engaging parents could make that kind of difference, and I could watch the wheels turn as he did. Charlotte, their vice-principal, was already there. Others may have had the same a-ha moment, but Mike was verbal about it. For me, it felt like my teaching days when a student really understood a concept. You can watch their whole face light up. Thanks Mike. I appreciated that more than you'll know.

So they're on their way. I'll get to watch them and coach them a bit, and, hopefully, be back for more. And the benefits?? Well if the research holds true, and it will because these folks are so committed to their community, they're in for a real treat for kids, parents, and their staff.