Parent-Teacher Chats

Next #PTchat  

• Wed, 5/8/13 - 9PM EDT Topic: TBA
• Suggest a topic via email 
• View upcoming #PTchat calendar

What is #PTchat? 
Parent-Teacher Chat is one of many great weekly education Twitter chats where parents & teachers around the world come together using the hashtag #PTchat. The goal behind the chat is to encourage a transparent & collaborative dialogue between parents & educators. Join us on Wednesdays at 9PM EST. Find more info on #ptchat from a recent article here.

#PTchat Crew of Moderators (Full Bios)

• Zack Malamed @ZakMal - Student
• Gwen Pescatore @GPescatore25 - Parent
• Dana Sirotiak @Sirotiak02 - Teacher
• Joe Mazza @Joe_Mazza - Principal
• Dr. Steve Constantino @SMConstantino - Superintendent

Previous Chat Archives/Resources Shared 
5/1/13 - Google Hangout Discussion w/ #PennFinn13 Team: "Teacher Appreciation By Default"

4/25/13 - "Recapping Student Voice LIVE w/ Zak Malamad from #StuVoice (@ZakMal)"

4/17/13 - "Engaging Special Education Families w/ Dr. Scott Roth"

4/10/13 - "Parent Optout of Standardized Tests"

4/3/13 - "How to Deal with a Difficult Teacher As A Parent?" 

3/27/13 - "The core beliefs behind the world's #1 educational system - Finland"

3/20/13 - "Creating a Positive Learning Environment at Home"

3/13/13 - "School Secretary as Family Engagement Deal Maker"

3/6/13 - "Engaging ESL Families w/ author/expert @JudieHaynes"

2/27/13 - "Empowering Student Voice" w/ Student Voice Leader @ZakMal 

2/20/13 - "Mobile Apps and Website that Encourage Two-Way Communication with Families"

2/13/13 - "EduJargon-Creating a Glossary for Parents" - Shared gDOC Glossary created to simplify for parents

2/6/13 - "Digital Learning Day Takeaways for the Home" 

1/30/13 - "Encouraging a Love of Reading Outside of What's Required" w/ Penny Kittle & Aliscia Lee

1/23/13 "Student Learning Plans (SLPs) w/ Dana Sirotiak

1/16/13 "Parent-Teacher Appy Hour w/ Steven Anderson @web20classroom"

1/9/13 - "Parenting Well in a Media Age w/ Gloria DeGartano"

1/2/13 - "New Year's Edu-lutions A Goal-Setting Conversation Amongst Students, Parents, Teachers & Leaders"

12/19/12 - "How Can Parents & Schools Partner to Make Schools Safest?" 

12/12/12 - "Longer School Days" w/ Parenting Mag's Melissa Taylor, Sam Chaltain & others

12/5/12 - "Helping Families Understand the Common Core" 

11/28/12 - "Recognizing Students During the School Year for In & Out of School Accomplishments"

11/21/12 - "Building Real Partnerships: Putting Henderson & Mapp's (2006) Four Core Beliefs into Practice"

11/14/12 - "What makes for a positive learning environment?"

11/7/12 - "Effective Home Visits" w/ Jimmy Casas & Dr. Steve Constantino 

10/31/12 - "Hurricane Sandy Outreach Ideas, Going Green & Family Engagement Impact, Upper Admin Support & More"

10/24/12 - "Education Policy Through the Eyes of Presidential Candidates w/ Student/Author Nikhil Goyal"

10/17/12 - "Planning a Conference/In-Service/ParentCamp Opportunity for Parents"

10/10/12 - "The Connected Parent - What it means for kids"

10/3/12 - "Creating an Educational Climate in the Home"

9/26/12 "What Engaged Means-Do Engaged Families Need Support?"

9/19/12 "Raising Student Self-Esteem, Self Efficacy, Self Awareness, Self Efficiency in the Classroom & at Home w/ Angela Maiers"

9/12/12 "Parents & Teachers Discuss Digital Citizenship & Internet Safety At Home & At School

9/5/12 - Dr. Michele Borba offers Back to School Tips for Parents to Help Kids Get Off to Best Start Ever!

8/29/12 "Planning Your Best Back to School Night Yet!"

8/22/12 "Students join our chat to share impact of parent involvement growing up"

8/15/12 "How to Engage Families of Students Affected By Autism" w/ @NationalAutism leader & parent @WendyFournier

8/8/12 "What's in your Welcome Back to School Letter to Families?" gDOC Resource

8/1/12 "Principal As Family Engagement Deal-breaker"

7/25/12 "Helping Families Cope During Tragedy"

7/18/12 "Engaging Grandparents & Family Friends in Our Schools"

7/11/12 "Creation of a 2-Way Home-School Communication Idea Bank for Teachers, Leaders & Parent Groups"

6/27/12 "Debriefing the Karen Klein Bus Bullying Tragedy & How Schools Can Provide Learning Opportunities Moving Forward"

6/20/12 "Awards Assemblies - Good for Kids?"

6/13/12 "Planning to Engage More Parents in 12-13 - Open Planning Session"

6/6/12 - "Raising Kids to be Good Cyber Citizens w/ Annie Fox"

5/30/12 - "What Parents & Teachers Can Do to Combat Summer Learning Loss"

5/23/12 "Engaging Dads in Our Schools w/ Mike Hall

5/16/12 "Summer Reading Opportunities for K-12 Students"

5/9/12 Combo chat w/ #NTchat (New Teacher Chat) "Parents Provide Mock Interview to Teachers on what they most look for in prospective teachers."

5/2/12 "Middle/High School Family Engagement Efforts"

4/25/12  "Flipped Classroom Model & Home-School Implications"

4/18/12 "Educational Hashtags and Hashtags Chats for Educators and Parents"

4/11/12 "District Leadership's Role in Creating Home-School Partnerships"

4/4/12 "Planning a Comprehensive Parent & Community Volunteer Program at Your School"

3/28/12 "Sharing Your New Learning w/ Parents

3/21/12 "Creating a Family Resource Center in your School Lobby"

3/14/12 "Meaningful Report Card Comments to Engage Parents"

3/7/12 "Meaningful Homework that Engages Parents"

2/29/12 "Parent-Teacher Conferences for Partnerships" - From both the parent & the teacher perspective.

2/22/12 "Schools & Families: Strategies for Showing Appreciation"

2/15/12 "How Can Schools Partner with ESL/ELL families" w/ Larry Ferlazzo

2/13/12 "John Halligan tells Ryan's Story - cyber-bullying, youth depression, suicide"

2/8/12 "Most innovative/outside the box ideas on communicating w/ parents"

2/1/12 "When Teachers & Parents Disagree"

1/25/12 Parent Leadership Opportunities w/ Karren Dunkley

1/11/12 Promoting a safe school bus- Strategies for schools/parents to prevent bus bullying w/ Jim Dillon

1/4/12 Steps parents & teachers must take to put an end to school bullying w/ Dr. Michele Borba 

12/14/11 Goals/Strategies Schools are employing to raise level of family engagement

12/ 7/11 @ 9PM EST - Supporting Parents at home w/ web resources. 

11/18/11 #FinnEdChat - Report on Finnish Family Engagement Efforts 

Helpful Links

• How to Participate in a Hashtag Chat
• Calendar of Weekly Educational Chats
• List of Educators to Follow (LIVE Comprehensive Departmental Google Doc)

For easy participation in #PTchat on Wednesday nights, log onto Tweetchat or another Twitter chat tool with columns.

Have an idea for a future #PTchat topic? Know someone on Twitter who could be a guest "Tweeter" for a certain topic? Please help us strengthen our conversations and PLNs!