Fall Forum 2010, Demanding Education That Matters: Family & Community Engagement Strand

Register for Fall Forum: http://www.regonline.com/fall_forum_2010 

Family Engagement for Equity: What Does It Take to Develop Effective Home-School Partnerships that Matter?
What does it take to develop effective academic partnerships with families that support all students to succeed? What attitudes, beliefs and behavior need to change at schools so that all families fully engage in the academic life of the school? A group of San Francisco schools, supported by the Zellerbach Foundation and SF-CESS, have made changes to engage all families. In this session, participants will hear their stories and examine ways that attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors at their schools may be impacting family engagement.
San Francisco Coalition of Essential Small Schools | Tanya Friedman, Greg Peters | Workshop
Friday, Nov. 12, 8:00-9:45am

Building Bridges with Social Media: Encourage Parent Participation and Build a Culture of Fairness and Trust
In this interactive session, participants will learn specific strategies to help build a culture of fairness and trust by engaging parents and community members through utilizing interactive social media and online tools. Beginning with the lessons learned during the first year of an essential school, participants will have an opportunity to share their own “tips from the trenches,” inspiring and encouraging session attendees to consider innovative ways to include their entire family into the learning community. 
Mentorship Academy | Brian Dixon | Workshop
Friday, Nov. 12, 8:00-9:45am

Student Voice Heard 'Round the World: Sharing Student Government Experiences via Webcast from around the Country
The BenNBen Show LIVE!, a monthly student-run webcast, will share experiences of the student-led government program at Yarmouth High School. By connecting virtually with CES schools across the nation, BenNBen will create a discussion around the goals of student-oriented leadership and how to implement or improve the program at your school. Participants will walk out of this session with a concrete set of goals to take back and revamp or start-up their programs. Check out our site: www.tinyurl.com/bennben.
Yarmouth High School | Workshop
Friday, Nov. 12, 10:15am-12:00pm

Engaging the Entire Village: Community Members as Essential Collaborators
Many, if not all, of our most meaningful learning experiences occur when we initiate learning based on our interests, we work closely with someone who is highly knowledgeable in the area of study, we receive timely and focused feedback, and we have time to reflect on our experiences. Join us in a discussion about how to effectively create these opportunities for students through collaboration with community members.
QED Foundation | Elizabeth Cardine, Kim Carter, Scott Prescott | Interest Group
Friday, Nov. 12, 1:30pm-3:15pm

An Environmental Community Partnership: Building a Net-Zero, Carbon Neutral Public School Building
This session is designed to appeal to those educators who are deeply committed to sustainable environmental practices. The discussion will cover energy use, new technologies, jobs, educational opportunities, and alliances that follow projects designed around sustaining the environment. The lessons learned in this workshop will be transferable to any visionary project a school wants to tackle.
East Bay Met School | Charlie Plant | Interest Group
Friday, Nov. 12, 1:30pm-3:15pm

Community Partners: Collaborating to Give Students Richer and More Opportunities
For years Fenway High School has been collaborating with community partners in greater Boston to bring our students richer experiences and more opportunities. Our partners bring the arts to sophomores; enroll juniors and seniors in college classes; hire seniors as interns; recruit all-age students into specialized out-of-school programs; and share their facilities, personnel, and expertise with us. This workshop will help you develop a plan to engage community partners for your school's unique wants and needs.
Fenway High School | George Papayannis | Workshop
Friday, Nov. 12, 3:45pm-5:30pm

Learner-Led Conferences: Require the Students to Take Charge
At Renaissance Academy, all students facilitate two Learner-led Conferences (LLCs) each school year. The agenda includes time for the learner to share his goals, academic accomplishments and challenges, and a plan for improving his performance. LLCs are an opportunity for each student to identify what parts of her learning she needs to take responsibility for and what support she needs from her parents and teachers. In this workshop, learn about the LLCs at Renaisance and gather ideas on how to implement them in your own school.
Renaissance Academy | Doug Kleinhenz, Amanda Westman | Workshop
Saturday, Nov. 13, 8:00-9:45am

How Self-Reflection, Building Trust and Open-Ended Questions Can Uncover our Deepest Dilemmas: The Ways We Perpetuate Inequity
We believe that all of us who work in schools have aspects of our personal and professional practice that play a role in perpetuating racial harm in schools. Given this, the goal of a coaching conversation is personal and professional transformation, which requires self-reflection and discomfort. In this session, we will share the approach and guidelines we have developed at SF-CESS to nurture and provoke transformation. Participants will have the opportunity to uncover aspects of their practice that may need to change and also have a chance to facilitate a coaching conversation.
San Francisco Coalition of Essential Small Schools | Tanya Friedman, Fredi Ware, Wesley Watkins | Workshop
Saturday, Nov. 13, 8:00-9:45am

Eighteen Years Young: Federal Hocking’s Advisory Gets a Tune-Up
In the spring of 2009, the staff of Federal Hocking Secondary School began transforming their advisory program. The school (whose advisory program is now 18 years old) had experienced several systemic changes, yet the advisory structure had remained essentially the same. The staff, students, and principal embarked on a complete overhaul and are now in the process of implementing the changes. This interest group, lead by Federal Hocking parent and teacher Ann Cell, will be run as a modified tuning protocol. Participants will gain new ideas on how advisories can and should grow with their schools and consider how changes to their own schools might be reflected in their advisory programs.
Federal Hocking High School | Ann Cell | Interest Group
Saturday, Nov. 13, 8:00-9:45am

Register for Fall Forum: http://www.regonline.com/fall_forum_2010