BSD Team Archives | BSD Education

A Teacher’s Journey into Digital Citizenship

Posted on April 18, 2022September 27, 2023 by Beth

My journey with digital citizenship started in 2013. So much has changed since then. Topics, issues, discussions, apps, sites, resources – anything connected to technology changes like {snap} that! How can you stay ahead of it or at least at the same pace?

Let me start by setting Scene 1.

In June of 2013, I worked for a title one school district as a part-time AIS math teacher, waiting for my technology skills to shine and an opening for a “computer teacher.” There currently was no one in the position. I kept stressing the importance of digital literacy (computer skills). After all my fusing, I finally made an impact. I was privileged to teach ‘computers’ in my computer lab!

After the excitement, I knew my next step would be to write my curriculum for 3rd-5th grade students. I knew what was important personally, but what did the students need to know at that age? I figured every grade would have to start at the same level, and then I could adjust the content area. I started researching and settled on a few topics to start.

How to log in (an obvious one)
How to search the internet efficiently (note the word efficiently, not effectively)
How to create a word processing document (basic layout, fonts, style, size, margins)
Digital Citizenship (this was new to me, so I knew I had to do some additional research)

Please note, at that time, the students did not have a computer class, there was no talk of 1:1, Google was not the hype, there was no talk of virtual learning, and I was told by administrators that I should not focus on keyboarding instruction because the keyboard will become obsolete very soon (we will come back to that later).

I started reading about how other teachers were tackling these topics. That’s when I was introduced to Common sense education. They opened my eyes to many new topics I didn’t even know existed. There were articles, videos, community groups, lesson plans, guides, and MORE! I smiled with satisfaction and relief, “I found my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,” I cheered! Okay, I know, a bit much, but I felt like I hit the lottery. I found everything I needed to teach digital citizenship and some extra activities. I found applications that were reviewed by teachers and Common sense education. I was very pleased with myself.

My first year was challenging. I was that typical teacher/person who thought because a student has a computer or tablet or phone doesn’t mean they are tech-savvy or know how to be safe, respectful, and responsible. I only tested digital citizenship out with the fifth-grade students because time ran short for the other grade levels. We focused on making a digital citizenship pledge for in school and out. We talked about online gaming and chat rooms and private and personal information. Overall, I learned A LOT that year about technology, myself as a teacher, and the 425 students I connected with.

Scene 2: 2014-2015

This school year, I was fresh and ready to go. I created my course progression for the 4th and 5th-grade students, added digital citizenship to the 4th and 5th-grade curriculum, and snuck in keyboarding because I didn’t agree with administrators that the keyboard was going away anytime soon. I researched Common sense education again for something new to try. That year I attempted pen pals from another state thanks to a suggestion from a Common sense education community member.

This was also the first year I became a Certified Digital Citizenship Educator. I was so proud of my accomplishments, the student accomplishments, and the fact that I had come a long way with Common sense education’s help.

Scene 3: 2015-2016 (don’t worry, we won’t be going through each year)

I decided to include digital citizenship with all the students this school year. I realized that the students needed a progression. Common sense education offered an example of a course progression easily mapped out for me. Unfortunately, my students were starting at the 3rd-grade level and had never been exposed before my class. So at first, I had to backtrack to get everyone ‘up to speed’ as much as possible. I used the prior grade’s lesson to teach the students what should have been learned in kindergarten, first and second grade. I modified the lessons because of the age difference, of course.

This was also the year I started teaching students how to be efficient when searching the internet and how to search effectively. Common sense education provided a great project (this is the updated version of the lesson ) that taught the students just that!

At the end of the school year, I applied for my certification in Common sense education. To my surprise, I received an email stating that we met the requirements for becoming a certified SCHOOL! I didn’t know this opportunity existed. I always was focused on the lessons and resources, not certifications. I remember glowing with pride. I ran to my principal’s office, “Look at what the students accomplished, look at the topics they discussed, look at what they earned,” I yelled, jumping up and down with excitement. The communication department wrote an article about the students, me, and Common Sense education.

From that year on, digital citizenship grew throughout my district. I continued my certification and became an ambassador as well. I presented at conferences, trained my colleagues, and encouraged our lower elementary, middle, and high school to join the digital citizenship discussion, earning us District Certification. During our first year at the district level, I also got a handful of teachers to become certified. By our second year, we had certified 30 of our teachers. We held special events during digital citizenship week, guest speakers throughout the year, and even themed dress-up days like ‘dress as your favorite superhero or wear green to support Common sense education.

I continued to work with Common Sense education by writing reviews for applications such as MinecraftEdu, was interviewed for EdTech Magazine, and spoke at several webinars live and virtual. My school district even contacted me for help regarding inappropriate behavior on students’ devices. The students were comfortable coming to me for help and advice. So the principal always had me present when talking to students about their behavior. I created a class called P.O.L.E. (Positive Online Education) for students who were inappropriate on their devices (gaming, inappropriate searching, chatting, etc.) The class wasn’t meant to scold the students but to educate them on how they could have handled the situation differently.

Scene 4: 2022

Fast-forward to now. (No, I am not reviewing the years during COVID, that’s a whole nother blog!)

I ended my journey as a teacher, instructional technology coach, and trainer. I was offered a position with BSD Education as their trainer and coach for North America. This was my opportunity to spread my wings but still stay with my passion for digital literacy.

During the interview, I was asked if I had any questions. My response was, “I know your design and support curriculum are based on digital skills, but what about digital literacy, specifically digital citizenship?” Their response was, “Of course! One of the first projects students come to is how to create a digital citizenship pledge.”

I was sold!

The Coding Journey From A Teacher’s Perspective

Posted on January 25, 2022November 2, 2022 by Beth

If you are a teacher, then you can relate to this! We have all been in that situation where something is sprung on us at the last minute. We, as teachers, have to adapt to change daily.

Picture it…you are in the first faculty meeting of the year, you have a million things to do before the students arrive, and the principal announces that he has great news. Of course, you brace yourself because his idea of great news usually means more on your plate.

He proceeds to announce that he challenges everyone to try something new this year, especially something that encourages computational thinking and maybe a computer language (as he turns and winks at me, the digital literacy teacher).

My insides crumbled, and I instantly wanted to SCREAM.

Teachers spend much of their summer decompressing, but we also plan for the next school year. Especially in August, with a start date of September. We have nameplates written, numbers assigned to the students, and our curriculum maps were written over the summer and placed nicely in your brand new binder. We have a “plan” for the year already laid out. As the Digital Literacy teacher, I have requested all the applications I need for the year and whitelisted all the websites too.

After the faculty meeting, I instantly went into my principal’s office.

Me: Now I need to teach a computer language?

Principal: Yes

Me: I don’t know how to code. I am not a programmer.

Principal: You’ll figure something out.

Me: Which computer language? Who’s going to teach me?

Principal: Ummmm, I don’t know and if you need PD, let me know.

So, off I went! I started searching for a computer language that I could understand AND teach. I stumbled upon a lesson using binary numbers and thought, “I can do this.” The lesson was very detailed, and I could even find a video of the lesson in action. (you can locate the lesson here and the video here.)

Let me just say, “Drop Mic!”

I nailed the lesson, the kids were SO engaged, and I received “highly effective” for my observation.

So I brushed off my hands and said, “Done!”

Wait, not so fast! The students kept asking:

“Are we going to do more with binary?”

“How about block coding? I do that at home.”

“Mrs. Renda…we want to learn more about computer languages.”

My principal heard the buzz and called me into his office.

Principal: You did it! The students are chatting about coding. Do more!

Me: What?? More??

So, again I went home that night and researched block coding. Hmmm, block coding seems easy. I’ll just throw the students on that application and see what they make. Let them explore.

STOP!! Epic fail!

Many students struggled, asked tons of questions, and said at the end of class, “Can we go back to binary? This was too confusing, and it wasn’t fun.”

What? Really? So I thought about it. Why were they getting so frustrated? They are on computers all the time, playing games and watching videos. Why couldn’t they do this? What was so different between the binary lesson and block coding?

And then it clicked! I EXPLAINED the binary lesson, we TALKED about key vocabulary, we PRACTICED as a whole group, and then they worked INDEPENDENTLY.

Why would I change the way I teach so drastically? Of course, the students need an explanation. When they learn to read, we don’t just throw a book in their hands and say “read”. We don’t put them in front of a bunsen burner before explaining how to use it. Why would the coding be any different?

Okay, RESTART.

The next day I announced that we are going to revisit block coding. The crowd groaned. “Now wait…give me a chance.”

I admitted to them that I was also new to this and that we would learn together. A few students who have done block coding spoke up and said they would help along the way.

So we dove in….

Engagement. I showed them some sample projects created using block-style coding. I was starting to pique their interest based on the whispers.

Explore. Then I showed them the workspace and blocks, and we talked about the common vocabulary words like sprites and costumes. My more experienced students gave some tips and suggestions that made it very helpful.

Learn. I gave them a beginner-level project that was already done for them. This allowed them to play with the different blocks that were already presented to them.

Create. The next day the students felt more confident with their new skill and said they were ready to try another project. This time I gave them a beginner-level project where they only had to use a few blocks to create an animated name.

From there, the students were off and running. Those with a more difficult time reached out to those more advanced. I watched the students and learned right along with them.

At the end of the day, I got called into the principal’s office AGAIN!

Me: (deep breath and release)

Principal: Thank you for taking this “coding project.” The students seem to be enjoying it.

Me: (big smile) Thank you!

Principal: Sooooo, now the students and parents are asking for a Girls Who Code club. Is anyone that would be interested in being the advisor? (wink, wink) Oh, and do more coding in your classroom too!

Here we go again, but this time I GOT THIS!

I asked myself:

Where do I go for the curriculum?
Will the students and I need to learn another application?
How do I, as the teacher, teach something I know nothing about?

Turn to BSD Education!

BSD Education provides a curriculum that is skill-based, not age-based. All the projects are real-world, scaffolded, easy to follow, and linked to CSTA and ISTE standards.

Each project comes with a slide deck containing teaching notes, a planning document when needed, a guided project for the students, quizzes to assess understanding, and the ability to export their project into sandbox mode where the students can get creative with the code or the teacher can integrate the project into their core curriculum.

BSD Education allows students to express their interests and passions by using HTML, CSS, and JS, which are languages used by professionals. BSD uses these languages to teach digital skills such as digital citizenship, problem-solving, and computational thinking.

BSD’s platform is easy for both the teacher and the student. They provide an easy and safe way for students to log in via Google or Microsoft, a user-friendly username and password, and a generated secret code to join the classroom.

The platform provides a way for the students and teacher to collaborate and a convenient way for students to ask for help, which not only notifies the teacher but also gives you a link to the step they are having trouble with.

The student’s progress is shown in real-time and provides built-in quizzes to check for understanding.

BSD Education provides the support needed to help every teacher successfully teach digital skills. BSD provides professional development to help you set up your classroom, invite students, and choose the best courses and projects that best meet your student’s needs.

But wait, there’s more (sorry, I couldn’t resist!)

Seriously…usually, that’s where the support ends. However, BSD Education provides continuous support throughout the school year by lending 1:1 coaching sessions, on-demand online support, glossary cards to support the student (and the teacher), and model answers to all projects.

Nailed it!

Mic drop!

How Early Exposure to Technology Led Me To Become A Chief Technology Officer

Posted on July 20, 2021November 2, 2022 by Beth

A common fear for a parent and educator is technology addictiveness or the lack of direction for children using technology. I’ve been asked by many parents what their seven-year-old, or even as young as four years old, can do to learn coding or digital skills.

I vividly recall getting off the bus and asking my Mom to rush home. So today, after weeks of watching my brother play computer games, I decided to start my own. I had memorized the steps from hitting the power button to putting in the correct floppy disk [yes, they still existed!]. A few minutes after sitting in front of the computer, I hit the enter button, and there it was. My game had loaded, and I transitioned into this imaginary world where I was a hero in my own story.

That started an almost 15-year tech career and a never-ending desire to learn and progress. Here are four different reasons I feel my experience has been more productive through early exposure to technology.

1: Micro goals

From my very first experience, I was providing small achievable goals. Want to play a game? Figure out how to turn on the computer yourself by observation first. Want to learn how to make a website? Start by observing websites and understanding what content goes on the website first.

This method of easy-to-achieve micro-goals allowed me to feel accomplished and focused along the way to a bigger goal.

Outside of goal setting, this also gave me an important lesson to split technology projects into small parts to avoid being overwhelmed.

2: The end product

The end outcome for any work I do with technology has always been a critical factor. I recall learning how to code in school for the first time. While the experience was always thrilling and exciting, I was left a bit demotivated when the end product wasn’t something that I could ever really show or use.

To drive my intrinsic motivation, I always worked on technology projects with a real-world application. This way, I always had an end product I’d be proud of.

This real-world application and the focus on the end product allowed me to consistently deliver high-quality results for my clients and customers.

When I started BSD Education, I made sure to keep the real-world aspect as a founding principle on our curriculum and platform.

3: Normalizing fails

Technology can be unforgiving; we have all experienced it fail one time or another. I can no longer count the number of times I’d be left puzzled or frustrated by my code not working. I was fortunate to experience this so many times early into my technology experience that it felt like a normal part of learning.

That resilience benefited me in other aspects of my life, from tests and exams to sports. Later in my career, I discovered how important it was for business leadership when It helped propel me into management.

Today, I always encourage parents and educators to allow failure to be part of the experience. We cannot change the world for the better if we cannot fail.

4: Don’t start with a blank canvas

I recall learning a new programming language, so I did what most aspiring developers did in their teens and picked up a book. The only problem was that almost every book I would read forced you to open a blank file and start typing or ‘copying’ more accurately. By the time I’d get anywhere to have a finished project, I’d be distracted and bored.

One of the benefits of technology is that you rarely have to start with an empty canvas. In school, I always found myself downloading a template or using a pre-existing project as a starting point to launch into my creations.

The key to doing this was to keep looking for starting points that suit your style, even if it meant going through a dozen pre-made projects and templates. What was surprising was how much I could learn from pre-built templates or open-source code.

This habit made me very resourceful when working on complex projects. One of the requirements to becoming a great CTO is understanding how to use existing resources to their potential. Although, as the saying goes, “Do not reinvent the wheel,” this helped me stand out in a pretty competitive environment early on as I was able to offer solutions quicker and more cost-effectively.

I love seeing how teachers are now experiencing the benefits of our scaffolded projects on BSD Education. Nothing is more exciting than a student showing off a project that they built in a week, which would take months and cost thousands in the market to produce today.

Hopefully, these tips help you or people you are helping learn technology more enjoyably. I look forward to seeing how you Build Something Different.

Can Technologist and Educator Agree on Digital Terms?

Posted on December 1, 2020November 2, 2022 by user

For non-technical people, the digital terms coding, computing, and programming are synonymous. Therefore the issue is irrelevant. However, each sector has its own collection of terms with distinct meanings and contexts. This is especially true when discussing technology, which is always evolving. For instance, “spam” isn’t edible, “bugs” are not insects, and an “Easter Egg” is not just used at Easter.

The meanings of coding and programming differ depending on who you ask and the industry you work in, leading to a state of confusion.

As the Hour of Code week approaches, we have invited our VP of Education, Mark Barnett, and our CTO, Nickey Khemchandani, to reflect on the significance of digital terms, what counts in coding education, and how educators and technologists may benefit from collaboration.

What’s the difference between coding and programming in digital terms?

Nickey Khem: Coding is the translation of Code from one language to another. Coding doesn’t deal with complicated issues. Programming, on the other hand, is the act of producing code using algorithms and thorough analysis.

For example, Coding languages such as HTML and CSS focus on structure and designing an interface. As a programming language, JavaScript is used to develop functionality.

Mark Barnett: The difficulty with using these digital terms interchangeably is that they generalize roles that need diverse skill sets.

Does the misuse of digital terminology create a problem?

NK: Absolutely! Misusing terminology can start a serious communication breakdown further down the line. I have had situations where two parties were misusing terms, leading to confusion in requests.

Issues arise as people try to understand how much something would cost and mentioning buzzwords like Big Data and Real-Time Analytics, which, while popular, can be highly expensive.

Which digital terms have had the most impact in the education technology industry?

We commonly use a computational thinking cornerstone called “abstraction” at BSD Education. This means you focus only on the important details while ignoring irrelevant information.

In our project, “The People Who Inspire Me,” we guide students through the process of creating a single webpage. Students highlight three people who inspire them, but we break each step down into objectives. We also assist with HTML and CSS syntax. It allows students to focus on each component until the project is complete.

What needs to change in the educational system today?

MB: As Nickey said, curriculum relevance is an important component of change that must be addressed. With tech education, it’s best to teach children through projects. Project-based learning allows them to create something useful or functional rather than learning through textbooks or tutorials. For example, your first webpage or a virtual reality environment with sophisticated systems are both projects at BSD.

Should coding be for everyone?

NK: Coding can be a form of creative expression, but it can also lead towards understanding new ways to break down problems into smaller steps and solve unique challenges. While we certainly don’t expect every child to become professional technologists, we want children to have some conceptual understanding of how the technologies that they use every day, work.

What can educators and technologists learn from each other by collaborating?

NK: My role is often to bring the latest and complex technology into the hands of individuals and in BSD’s case, teachers and students. This is, however, easier said than done as a lot of technology requires complex predefined understanding, which is not accessible to someone that well versed in technology to start with.

This is where I really think the value of having educators on the team, such as our VP of Education, Mark helps.

As a result of our collaboration, we are able to incorporate the most up-to-date educational pedagogies and cutting-edge technology into our curriculum and platform. As a technologist, I have greatly benefited from educators’ ability to better explain digital terms, allowing us to reach more customers.

Conversely, technologists are always on the pulse of the latest happenings in several businesses. Educators benefit from shared research and development, from curriculum evolution to digital tools that increase student engagement.

Whether you are new to coding or are a seasoned professional, we invite you to try a few of our coding projects during the Hour of Code. Mark and the Education Team at BSD developed 6 unique projects that guide students through programming with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to complete projects in a series called “Code is: Your Voice,” where students are invited to use code as a way to share what’s most important to them. So check them out and let us know what you think.

What I Wish My Teachers And Parents Knew When I Was In School

Posted on March 12, 2020November 2, 2022 by user

It’s been almost 5 years since I’ve left high school and 4 years into working with BSD Education. As we mainly focus on helping educators bring technology education into classrooms (as a way to further prepare kids for the future with digital skills), I’ve been able to work with numerous educators, parents, business leaders, as well as students and kids. This has not only given me insights about the Education industry, teaching and student learning and experiences, it has also opened my eyes and shown me aspects that could have helped enhance my experience or any students’ experiences at school.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

To be honest, I wasn’t very “good” at school. I would usually just have passing grades and wouldn’t pay much attention during classes, thinking what I was learning wouldn’t be used in the real world and that it would be irrelevant for my desired future career paths. I thought that especially in Math class, and failed almost every year. “When am I ever going to need to solve a bunch of equations finding x’s, y’s and using formulas like trigonometry ratios (SOH CAH TOA)?”.

Though I did excel in subjects in Humanities, like History and Languages. Yes, it is pretty ironic that I would think Math was of less use to the real world than History, but what helped me excel in it was that it was easier to imagine various scenarios that took place – through my History Teacher’s storytelling. He made us role play and reenact scenes to test our reactions or behaviors to find similarities and differences in how it had been during the Cold War for example. I loved and enjoyed it so much, History classes felt like playtime.

Math class was just not the same. The way our whole class was taught was that you had to remember a number of formulas to solve equations they gave, which looked a lot like this:

Image by IB Survival

(Wow, this still looks scary to me…)

Even though I didn’t think it would be helpful for me, like any other kid I wanted to “succeed” and do well for my future. I tried my best to revise as many formulas as I could, but I still failed most of the time.

It was easy for me to compare myself to my classmates with our grades. I felt I lacked the intelligence they had. I was demotivated, disengaged and most of all, I felt hopeless. I started hating school.

Presented Opportunities

Once every school year, my parents would be invited to visit school to attend a 10-minute Parent-Teacher’s meeting. They would discuss my grades for each subject and my general behavior in classes (Hey – I was still a good kid!).

My grades for Math and Sciences would often be highlighted as ( F ) for Failed, I couldn’t tell you how many times they told my parents that all I needed were to get more exercise books to practice more at home until I could get better at it, pay more attention during class and stop doodling on my homework.

My parents would agree to my teacher’s recommendations, and on the way back home would remind me how I’ve always been weak at Math and that I needed to improve on it for my future. They weren’t very involved or engaged in my education, but it was because they were also very busy with work trying to make ends meet, which I understood. Neither would I have wanted them to anyway because I was also scared of giving them reasons to be disappointed in me.

I then would turn to my eldest sister to help me as a last resort. I remember her spending nights trying to get me to understand basic algebra and most of the times, I just wouldn’t get it. As she wanted to give up on one of the nights, she decided to take out a sketchbook.

She drew out a building with multiple “apartment windows” where parts of an equation laid and told a story on how the different numbers and letters were neighbors and siblings, and how they “lived” and solved problems together – and I actually got it! I felt great for being able to really understand the story and solve the other similar equations she gave.

I don’t have an original copy of the sketch she drew, but it looked a lot like this:

I thought I would love Math from then on.

Missed Opportunities

Looking back at it now, that learning approach was a sign that I could learn easier with pictures and stories. Maybe I wasn’t necessarily bad at school, It was just that I had a different learning approach, like many of us. If we were to base it on the 4 main learning approaches, I was (and still am) a visual learner. This meant that it was easier for me to understand concepts that I could visualize and illustrate relationships between ideas.

Image by Prezi

I didn’t know there were various learning approaches, finding this out after high school blew my mind and helped make sense of many things I’ve gone through in life.

I wish my Math teacher knew to help me in an approach that worked for me, I needed help. But I couldn’t blame them for not realizing this because they weren’t just teaching me, they were teaching a whole class of 30-40 students. They used what worked for most and it just wouldn’t be feasible to cater to each and every one of us.

My sister and I thought the stories were merely just another fun way of learning Math for me, so this finding was never communicated back to my parents or teachers. Plus what would my teachers also think or say If I was making random stories of equations at school?

I tried making more stories anyway, on my own, but still needed guidance in making sense out of them. So unfortunately, the learning method didn’t stick. I continued to struggle in school overall, and with other reasons and pursuits (we’ll visit these next time!) – I decided to drop out.

Finding the Power of Communication and Collaboration, and Taking it into Action

You might think it was pretty weird for me to decide to work with an Education company that mainly works with schools after hating my experience and dropping out. But to me, the hardship that I went through was great enough that I developed a passion for Education and have made it my life purpose to do what I can to continue improving and enhancing it – so more kids won’t have to go through what I did.

As I wrote this article and recalled my past experiences, I realized many points in my experience that could have been opportunities or ways to help me in my learning, particularly in the way parents and teachers can communicate and collaborate to build a solid, learning support system for kids and students, which studies prove.

So here are the main takeaways on what teachers, parents and guardians can do to help their kid’s learning experiences, from a perspective of a past student. It may sound obvious, but it’s those things that we usually take for granted and forget:

Re-Defining “Learning” and Roles

It isn’t emphasized enough that learning doesn’t just happen within the 4 walls of a classroom, for only 6-8 hours of kids’ days. Learning and “education” happens at almost every point in our lives, and anywhere – be it at school, home or even the supermarket. This is where parents’ involvement becomes essential to kids’ learning and growth.

Both parents and teachers share equal responsibility in helping their kids learn and meet their development goals. When parents are involved or engaged with their kids learning, kids are encouraged to not just talk about their experiences at school to help parents find areas of improvement, but also work with their parents to apply what they learn in school in a different context and environment – allowing them to further understand concepts and see how it is applied in the real world. This helps kids develop a love for lifelong, limitless learning.

More and Encouraged Communication

Teachers are the experts in teaching, parents or guardians are the experts of their kids.

In my case, you could find a few gaps in the communication between my teachers, parents and me.

Because my parents weren’t as involved or engaged in my learning, they were limited in finding ways to help my teachers help me. They didn’t know of what my sister and I found as the most effective learning approach for me. So this led them just accepting my teacher’s recommendations on what they thought best, rather than opening a two-way discussion on how to best help me achieve my educational goals.

Parents can support teachers anyway by providing more insights of their kid’s interests or behaviors as a way for teachers to leverage when they explore ways to effectively engage students for a smoother learning experience.

Teachers can also help parents be more involved by providing tips on how they can do so; from just talking to their kids more about how their school days went and opening conversations on what they love about it or areas they are struggling in, to doing homework with them. Here’s a great list we love of resources educators can use to enhance communication and collaboration with parents.

A way that can also help parents and teachers help their kids’ learning is to encourage them to open up. We need to avoid seeing kids’ struggles as “failures” and reprimanding them for it. Kids want to make their parents and teachers proud, and if we don’t offer them a positive environment to learn, fail, and try again, they will only be inclined to keep their struggles to themselves – which doesn’t help anyone in the end.

Holistic, More Frequent Feedback

The 10-minute Parent-Teacher meetings once every school year is just not enough. A student’s learning journey cannot be summarized into 10 minutes, neither can it be fully expressed through a bunch of grades and numbers. It’s not the same for every school, but there are ways we can improve how these meetings are run and what they usually cover.

Now more than ever has it been much easier for teachers or parents to reach out to each other with Technology, be it via email, phone or any other channels they agree to use. Teachers can help make these meetings more productive and actionable for example by sending report cards before the meeting, and discussing the kids’ overall interests, behaviors and attitudes in person on top of where kids have performed well, why certain grades have been and how else to improve it. This encourages an open conversation about the overall learning and development of the kids.