Parents as Partners Webcast

Just wanted to let you know about a new initiative being organized to help teachers and parents support their students. “Parents as Partners” will host an interactive webcast designed to present best practices in engaging parents and teachers in meaningful conversations about families and schools. The purpose of this project is to increase student achievement supported by parent involvement.

Lorna Costantini. Matt Montagne and Rhoda Cipparone are working with parents and teachers in the United States and Canada in sharing their experiences and expertise in creating effective learning strategies and connecting parents to the learning environment. They will be the hosts for the Parents as Partners Webcasts.

Lorna Costantini is an Educational Consultant specializing in parent involvement in St. Catharines Ontario CA. Matt Montagne is the Academic Technology Coordinator, University School of Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Rhoda Cipparone is a community representative for the Niagara Catholic Regional School Council and the owner operator of FauxReal design studio in Niagara Falls, Ontario CA

On Monday February 25th, 2008 at 9:00 pm EST “Parents as Partners” will welcome
Sharon Peters, Pedagogical Consultant from LEARN Quebec, Laval, QC .
The Topic: How to use technology and the internet to support student learning. What does this mean to my child? What barriers must teachers overcome to communicate with parents online? Are parents ready?

Sharon, a mother of three, is a leader in the creation of global classroom projects with other educators around the world, and actively involved students in extracurricular peer learning projects.
Students in several projects earned recognition:
• 2006-07 Silver Award in Global Virtual Classroom Web Design Contest
• 2007 Silver Award from International Society for Technology in Education
• 2006 Finalist for Global SchoolNet Award for Online Shared Learning
• 2004-05 Bronze Award in Global Virtual Classroom Web Design Contest

Sharon is well known for her role as one of the founders of Women on the Web2.0

On Monday March 3, 2008 at 9:00 pm EST, “Parents as Partners” will welcome
Dr. Joyce Epstein, Principal Research Scientist, and Research Professor of Sociology at Johns Hopkins University and Director of the National Network of Partnership Schools and the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships and Frank Iannatuono, Superintendent of Education for the Niagara Catholic District School Board as guests on the Parents as Partners webcast.

Dr. Epstein is well known for her work with parents and teachers in supporting student success. The Epstein model of school and family partnerships is used extensively through out schools in the United States and Canada. Dr. Epstein’s work has formed the basis for numerous research papers and publications on parent involvement. I call her the parent involvement guru.

Mr. Iannatunono is responsible for Area 1 schools for the Niagara Catholic District School Board as well as community outreach, which includes school councils and parent involvement committees. Mr. Iannatuono is currently coordinating a Parent Reaching Out project with the Niagara Catholic Regional School Council. The discussion for the webcast will be about how to use the Epstein model of family and school partnerships to support student achievement and involve more parents in their children’s education. Frank and I have worked side by side with Rhoda on this project.

You can listen to the Parents as Partners webcasts at www.edtechtalk.com/live As you may already know there is a chat function for edtectalk webcasts and we would really appreciate your support in joining the conversations. Please pass the word out to your colleagues and parents.

If you have any ideas for topics for this series please let me know. Better still if you want to take part just let me know.
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