I am sending home papers from class today. We don,t use any of those fill in the blank, color the picture worksheets with WBT I use authentic work samples. Now I know some mom or dad is going to ????? This. With out writing them a Doctorial letter can anyone help with a simple explanation?
Annette.

Annette,

At the beginning of the year, did you have a parent informational meeting to share WBT with your parents? If so, I would simply state in your parent letter, a brief summary of the type of WBT samples they are receiving and share the WBT website for additional information. I would be interested in the parent comments and it would be interesting to send home a parent survey for their feedback.

Laura Caisse
WBT Intern, 2011-2012

Laura, if you have seen my PPP I really introducedWBT. The issue is more what parents "think" products of student work looks like. I use very few if any "old fashioned fill in, pick a, b, c, or answer the question worksheets. Or a better example is Monday spelling list, take a test Friday. These things are not to me compatable with WBT and do not show what students really know. I know this will set some of you on fire, especially when it comes to test taking, that is what prove it is for. Also for writers to be good they need to do many oral practice sessions before they can even produce a spicy sentence. So,, I am just trying to let the work-bookie parent know I know where that child is at with out that stuff.
Annette.

Could you give some examples on things you take grades for and such. And then how you do say ch and unit testing? Trying to figure this all out. Thanks for any help

Oki, we use benchmarks, running records and chapter test. We also have the CA standards, we grade far below, below, basic, proficent and advanced. That is why I believe that authentic work sample are important, you can see the child who uses the steps in the genius ladder to make a simple paragraph to the child who is falling off topic and doing a below average product and writes blah sentences all the way through.
When you show a parent during a conference lets say their child's work compared to an anchor paper of advanced it will support WBT strategies if they are using them. I is hard to explain our teacher language each week when i send papers home that are not fill in the blank, one word answer or generic published worksheet like what I call drill and kill (hope that does not offend anyone).
Annette.

Annette,
Have you received any negative feedback from parents in regards to the work you are sending home, or are you trying to be proactive and anticipate what they might feel or think? It depends on your community, I guess. The parents I work with would not have any issue with it. They feel that I am the expert and I do what I do. (There are 3 that actually work at my school, so they would be the only ones that I might need to explain something to.) It sounds like you addressed WBT at the beginning of the year, so I wouldn't be worried about what the parents think when they look at the work. Maybe you could explain to the students what you want them to say when they show their work to their parents. This might help. However, I don't know your community and the area that you are in, so there may be some issue when they don't see what they are used to. I have proven results and my classroom has a great record of success, so I don't worry about what they think, because I know I'm doing the right thing. If any parent came to me or sent a note, then I would be able to address it and that's that. I hope that you won't have to deal with any negative issues or adjustments and disapproval from parents. Let us know how it goes. : )

Annete,
Can you please send me a copy of your WBT PPT? The link that Heather posted doesn't work. I would love to see what you put together for your parents!
Thanks!
Deb

No problem Deb, I will try to send it direct. I gave the parents the option to have it e mailed or copied on a CD if they wanted it. Enjoy.
Annette