Let's Get Your Head Right: A Parent Primer Series

http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/

Let's face it: school is about to start. As absurd as it may seem, students will be roaming the halls this month and I'm not sure any of us are ready for it! Summer is over! I have a friend whose favorite saying in times like these is to, "get your head right!" Well, it's time we kept calm and did just that.

In an effort to work our way back into school-mode and provide a context for WHY we do WHAT we do and HOW we do it, I thought a series of blog posts over the next few weeks might be helpful. I don't want to overload you, so this primer series, as I'm calling it will feature single articles, videos, or infographics with some editorial comments introducing them.

I've organized the posts to hopefully offer insights into the big questions surrounding middle level education. These questions fall into four broad categories including,

1. Child Development
• How are children growing up these days? 
• What is their world like and how can we help? 
• What should we be keeping in mind as we enter a new school year about how our kids are growing and interacting? 
2. Innovation
• What is happening in government/business/demographics that influence the world into which our children will enter?
• How can we capitalize on innovations elsewhere and use them as learning tools in school? 
• Are there principles from other industries that translate well into teaching and learning? 
3. Curriculum and Program 
• What are the best practices out there for middle level education? 
• What is influencing our curriculum and program? 
• How is Canterbury proactively positioning itself to develop students who will be leaders of the future? 
4. Technology
• How is Technology being used in education? 
• What are the issues students, teachers, and parents face related to technology integration? 
• How can we support students, teachers, and parents with technology?  

This series mirrors my summer on Twitter, which I can't promote enough as an incredible resource for anybody looking to delve deeply into the topics of the day. Almost all of these articles, video, or links were curated by people or institutions I follow on Twitter. If you follow me on Twitter @MSDirectorSkeen, you've likely seen me retweet many of these resources already. I will continue to post often on Twitter and for those pieces that deserve more in depth analysis, they will be coming to the blog. 

I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer and we'll see you soon!