Hosting an Elementary Family Technology Night This packet is meant to help elementary teachers host a family technology night that is both informative for parents about technology students participate in at school, and also give them ideas for ways to use technology at home!

Scheduling We schedule our Technology Night to last 2 hours. The first thirty minutes allow teachers/faculty to meet, organize and pass out devices. Then, sessions are offered every 15 minutes for the next hour and half. Families are able to attend all sessions, but only have to attend 4 out of the 6 sessions in order to have the student’s name entered into a drawing for a prize. This flexible schedule allows families to either attend the first hour or the second hour but they do not have to stay for the whole event to be entered into the drawing.

Prizes to Encourage Attendance I suggest offering a rather large tech prize to encourage attendance. We have 120+ people attend our Technology Night, and I believe the students encouraged their parents to bring them because they could be entered into a drawing to win one of two Stunt Drones (approximately $30-40 dollars at Walmart.) We also offer each student who attends a free homework pass!

Session Ideas I encourage you to include sessions about technology that is used in your school, however, I offer you these topic ideas that you may want to add to your collection!

Google Classroom Online learning platform for teachers to use with students. They can share google docs, forms, slides, and much more and comment and score student work. Online Reading Resources: Upper Elementary A parent handout is included in this packet that informs parents of reading resources online.

Kahoot A very fun session because parents and students can play together. I suggest playing a trivia or easy math fact Kahoot from their library of resources! https://create.kahoot.it/ Early Learning Apps A parent handout is included in this packet that informs parents of apps that students can use to practice early reading and math skills.

Readworks Digital Free website of online articles fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and functional texts that teachers can assign students and monitor progress through online quizzes. Khan Academy Khan Academy offers online instruction, video, and practice on numerous subjects tailored for any learner.

E-Books If your school subscribes to an online database or has purchased e-books, this is a great time to show parents how to access those at home. Also, check with your public library for subscriptions that they provide like Tumble Books.

Coding Online Safety Code.org is a free https://kids.usa.gov/onlinewebsite that safety/ introduces students http://www.netsmartz.org/Inte to tons of coding rnetSafety resources. Students https://www.commonsensem can also code at edia.org/privacy-and-internethome with this safety website! Tynker and Scrath Jr. are also great programs.

Showcase Student Technology Projects A family technology night is the perfect opportunity to create a running slideshow at a sign in station or in the computer lab to show off work that students have created on iPads or computers. We like to show off projects made with the Green Screen, Pic Collage, Google Classroom etc.

Parent Survey Have students complete an exit survey that allows you to tailor your next technology night to meet the needs of your families. We ask 3 questions like: What was your favorite technology session? Which session are you most likely to use at home? What new technologies would you like to see us showcase at our next family night?

Faculty Participation Plan ahead to have at least 10+ faculty members stay and help with the family night. I suggest at least 1 teacher facilitator for each station, 1 teacher for taking pictures, and 1 teacher helping families navigate the rooms and locations of each session. Maybe offer a Free Jeans pass to teachers who volunteer to help with family night! Good Luck!