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Teaching Kids about Standing up for the Underdog

By Annie Fox **Editor’s note – These tips are applicable to teachers too, as educators face the challenges of teaching kindness in K-12 classrooms** Kids and teens can view of themselves as powerless in a world where adults call all the shots. But that’s not the whole story. Kids have power. And every day, your children and mine get opportunities to use that power to do good or to do harm. Sometimes, turning a blind eye and choosing to do nothing results in more harm. If we truly value kindness and appreciate it when it comes our way, we can’t …

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How to Get Your Child to Listen

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding a P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.** By JaVohn Perry As parents we often ask ourselves, “Why isn’t my child listening to me?” We seem to have the assumption that just because we say something, our child should automatically obey. Wouldn’t that be nice? Well it seldom works out that way. In fact, it is frequently the total opposite. We sometimes …

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Student and Teacher Records: What are the Privacy Rules?

By Matthew Lynch Personal histories and records exist for every student who attends, and every teacher who teaches, at a school.  This history, in the form of school records, test scores and the opinion of teachers and mentors, can have a huge impact on a student’s future. In some cases, it is on the basis of these assessments about an individual’s potential and overall disposition that life-changing decisions are made about them. These histories could determine what colleges they attend, the privileges that they are allowed, or even the jobs that may eventually be able to attain. It’s important, then, …

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Parental Involvement: Strengthening Communication is the Key

The Information Age has brought with it a lot more options for communication, but in the process has fragmented it. Teachers now have more avenues than ever when it comes to connecting with parents, but all of this communication can be overwhelming. Between emails, Facebook group pages, text messages, phone calls and send-home flyers, information can be easily lost in translation between educators and parents – and students are the ones who then suffer. Each piece of communication is an attempt to reach parents and keep them updated on what is going on in the classroom and what their kids …

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Are parents missing from schools or are they being pushed out?

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.** A guest column by Regina Paul Dr. Matthew Lynch’s “Parents: The Missing Ingredient in K–12 Success” in the September 24 issue of The Edvocate is insightful as far as it goes, though that is not far enough.  Dr. Lynch writes, “As K-12 academic standards become more rigorous, parents are becoming an even more integral piece …

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