Monday, September 10, 2018

Flipping Parent Curriculum Night

Parent Curriculum Night is a common occurrence at the beginning of the school year. Typically it is a time when parents come without their kids to learn about the curriculum that will be covered in the upcoming school year. At the secondary level parents often follow a shortened version of their child’s schedule moving between classes every ten minutes or so. At our middle schools this event is held on multiple nights to accommodate the parking needs for the large number of attendees.

For the past few years, principal Dr. Paula Hoff has flipped this format at our West Middle School. Instead of parents physically coming to the school and sitting and listening as they move from classroom to classroom, a link to a pre-recorded video of the teacher providing the curriculum overview and class information is shared. The video includes some personal information about each teacher, too. Just like a flipped classroom where the learning from direct instruction is done through a video watched outside of class, parents get this information on their own time without having to come to school for another event in early September. Parents already were at school a week before it began with their child to meet the teacher on Back to School Night.

Instructional Technology Coach Sara Hunt provided the teachers with instructions, training, and guidance to make their videos. Staff had the option to use ScreenCastOMatic, the screen recorder built in to their iPad, Explain Everything, or a few other options. A shared Google Slide deck was used with a slide for each teacher. A link to this slide deck with the video links was sent out to families in the school newsletter, QR codes were posted on the board in each classroom for families to access the video on Back to School Night, and teachers posted their video to their Schoology page. Each teacher sent out a link to the video along with an introductory letter during the first week of school, too. You can see some of the videos linked in the slideshow above.

Minnetonka Middle School West is not our only school doing this flipped method for parents and students. At Minnewashta Elementary this idea was brought forward in our annual Big Hunt for Ideas a few years ago. Principal Cindy Andress had second grade teachers begin piloting this technique by recording videos to send home to families rather than asking them to come to school one evening. As a parent at this school of a second-grader a few years ago I appreciated this format. I was able to get the information on my own time and did not need to add another meeting to my evening schedule.

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