Dearborn Public Schools Building and Teacher Blog Initiative Co-chairs: Shannon Peterson and Robert Attee Members: Troy Patterson, Andy Denison, Nada Alamaddine, Wyatt David, and Chris Kenniberg

 Establish Building School News Blog by October  Each teacher will have an active blog by February  Provide professional development opportunities (i.e. staff meetings, tutorials, and help sheets) to assist teachers with starting and maintaining their blogs.  Provide future professional development opportunities to assist teachers with adding additional features to their blogs. Goals:

 Staff members can set personal goals in terms of developing, implementing, and updating blogs as a part of their evaluation. Staff Personal Goals:

 October 2015: Administrators will provide PD with all teachers during a staff meeting. Blog posting requirements and criteria is reviewed with staff during this time.  September/ October 2015: During Open House and Parent/Teacher Conferences, staff will actively recruit parents to sign up for the school blog as well as individual teacher blogs.  October/ November 2015: Staff blogs will be linked to the school web page.  October/ November 2015: Administrators will designate at least one staff member who will be able to assist with troubleshooting blog related problems – 2016 Timeline:

 December May 2016: Administrators will provide support for teachers who need assistance with troubleshooting problems with their blogs.  May 2016: Executive Directors of Primary/ Secondary Education can meet with principals to discuss ways to improve the communication process using blogs. A survey may be conducted with staff, students, parents, and stakeholders to evaluate the use of blogs as a communication tool.  June 2016: This committee will meet to evaluate the effectiveness of this district initiative and make recommendations for improvement of communication or ease of blog use. Timeline (continued):

 Ongoing: Regular communication will be sent on how to make our blogs more interactive by adding additional features. Schools may provide reminders (robocalls, monthly newsletters, and conferences) throughout the year to encourage parents to sign up for the school and teacher blogs. Timeline (continued):

 All teachers and support staff shall post a minimum of once per week.  Mass blog posts affecting the district will be sent by the webmaster, but individual building posts must be maintained by the school administrator. Guidelines:

 Updated staff directory  About Our School (may include mission and vision, points of pride, history, unique building features or programs)  AER and SIP School Blog Content

 What content could be posted on the school blog/ individual teacher blog? Reflect:

 upcoming events  newsletters  reminders - testing  tips  pictures of school events Weekly Posts May Include:

 About the teacher - introduction  Grade level/ subject area posts - what we will learn this week Staff Blog Content:

 What are some benefits of communicating with parents and community stakeholders using a school blog?  How can you use the upcoming parent-teacher conferences to recruit parents to use the school/ classroom teacher blogs? Exit Ticket