Reflection 1

Context and Impetus for E-Learning Initiative

The success of ECE programs is heavily dependent upon parent partnerships. As such, the focus of this e-learning initiative will be on how to establish and sustain strong lines of open communication with families in order to facilitate wellness of the whole child. Whole child wellness is a focus of HeadStart programs which funds the schools Gabriel and I work at, which is why we have decided to collaborate on this initiative. Families are one of the most important influencers in our students' lives as they are 3-5 years old. We also recognized that several families have a social media presence in some form, in addition to having access to a smart phone. Since many families elect to send their child to a center over a school due to the longer hours available for service, families often do not see their child between the hours of 7:30AM and 6PM. When both parents work and must commute on a daily basis via public transportation, as is the case for several families at our schools, a natural roadblock to two-way communication occurs. Additionally, we want to keep parents current with what their child is learning and how that learning is directly applicable to the skills and tools they will need in order to be successful as they navigate the k-12 school system and beyond. Working families often only catch a glimpse of their student during the drop off and pick up periods of the day which are weak indicators or what learning takes place in the classroom. By inviting parents to use a platform such as LORE, which operates in a fashion very similar to Facebook and Twitter in that there is a ongoing feed of updated content posts, they can be privy to information on the go. This information can pertain to a number of parent and family interests, such as professional development opportunities, family engagement opportunities and classroom updates.

Why LORE
LORE features a Class Wall that streamlines updates in the form of posts. Upon joining our online parent engagement initiative in the form of a course, parents will be able to view all posts under our Class Wall. Updates will serve a variety of purposes. For example, parents can access our page in order to see updates relating to site-wide events, such as Community Potlucks and Parent Policy Committee meetings. Additionally, they can see quick snapshots of student work or cover images of books we are currently reading at school that they may want to check out at their local library. To this end, LORE is a quick and easy way for parents to be up to speed with school and classroom specific events. Beyond that, parents will also have access to post on the Class Wall. They are welcome to post questions, provide feedback on the activities we are engaging in in the classroom and to make their own suggestions. Parents are a valuable resource, and often times we seek out parents to volunteer in the classroom. An example use of LORE would be to post announcements relating to specific volunteer needs to see if a parent can provide their time/skill, such as asking if any parents work in the food industry to come and talk to students while they are learning about the process of getting food from farms to tables. In this way, LORE helps to facilitate ongoing communication with families, even if it cannot take place face to face.

Bringing It Back to the Classroom
The sustained communication between school and families that LORE facilitates will benefit the classroom by strengthening the home-school connection which can put students at ease who struggle with their initial transition to a school setting. Given that many of our students have never been in a school setting before, we want to ensure that they feel safe and valued by establishing a trusting learning space. By bringing in and upholding their families as resources for learning, we will encourage students to feel safe enough at school that they may engage in higher order learning.

A progress report on our initiative is forthcoming - be on the lookout!