Back to School Night

I just came from my first back to school night in five years.

After five years out of the classroom as a teacher on special assignment, I found it was a major adjustment going from running professional development sessions, where I typically have two hours to get my point across, to trying to say everything I want to say about education in a matter of six minutes.

Whew!

I think I managed to get the key information out there. Here's how:

I spent several days ahead of time posting on my web page all the links to web sites that explain my philosophies (SBG, the flipped classroom, PBL, paper-free classroom, etc.) and provide examples of what we're doing in class, how parents can reach me, where to find our assignments, etc.

I covered as many of them as I could in my few brief moments with each class' parents this evening, hoping to pique their interest and show them where they could learn more.

On their way out, I gave them a single handout -- with the address for my web page.

The year is off to a great start. The students are on board, their parents seem on board, I'm already buried under a mountain of (electronic) papers to grade... we're rolling along!