Let's Talk

Using blogs to communicate to a school community is new to me. I wrote guest columns for the local newspaper in the town where I used to work, I have written columns for newsletters, and I have used blogs and discussion boards in my university teaching. Last summer was the first time I put up a blog for a school community. I have learned a lot since then.

Here’s how I came to blogging for the school community. Last June, a couple parents at a Board meeting said they wanted to see the school’s strategy map and have the opportunity to comment on it. Someone from the Board suggested I put up a blog. So I did. Then I put up the narrative that explained what we meant by strategic objectives like “Improve Communication” and “Improve the Quality and Depth of Instruction.” After that, it occurred to me that blogging was a way of providing easy access to the school community to what I was thinking, on what as a school we are working, etc. Instead of writing a newsletter article, I would write a blog. As a result, I began using blogs to share my thoughts on school issues, books I was reading, and the importance of data. I still see blogs as the occasion to share what I am thinking because as the leader of the school what I am thinking will have an effect on how the school goes, and I want you to know what’s on my mind when it comes to the school. Those kinds of blogs will continue. But a blog has one dimension newsletters do not have: the opportunity to engage in a conversation.

So this blog and future blogs have another purpose, which I learned from the parent handbook I put up once a draft of it was complete. That blog aimed to give parents the opportunity to comment on the handbook draft so we could consider their ideas and suggestions as we approached a final draft. The comments poured in. I made the decision at that time to read the comments, share them with my team, discuss parents’ concerns and suggestions, but not respond to any posting. I thought that responding would take too much time because if I responded to one person, I would have to respond to everyone, and that could become my full time job. Was I wrong. Not responding to anyone online was a mistake, and I want to fix that.

That is why this blog and all future blogs are an invitation to you to write anything that is on your mind. I will respond to as many questions as I can, and responding to all questions is my goal. Moreover, I plan to blog on issues that have come up here, like the weekly Achievement Exercises in grades 2-8 and high school late policy. I look forward to engaging you in dialogue on what the school is doing to empower students to flourish.

In addition, I have created a Twitter account, which you can follow by going to http://twitter.com/cvcshos. With Twitter I can send out quick questions and advise you in 140 characters of an issue going on at the school at a given moment. And if you have a Twitter account you can respond, which is another way to get your feedback. I just posted last week’s attendance rates—and it was good news.

Twitter is completely new to me, and like any new tool, I will need to use it a while to learn how to use it effectively. And blogging as a way to engage parents is also new. The important thing is that we open up as many lines of communication as possible. Let’s talk.