Students Speak Out: Minnesota

Kate Towle's Page

Kate Towle's Friends

Tell us a little about yourself.: I have been an active parent in the Mpls. Public Schools for 11 years and have two children in the district. I have served as a writing coach in classrooms and in leadership roles at my children's schools. In 2006, I helped to organize a Minneapolis education summit, "The Power of Engagement" for parents and community members. For the past three years, I have served on the Minneapolis District Parent Advisory Council, a group that advises the Superintendent and Board of Education on policy decisions. I also co-moderate an online forum for Minneapolis parents and stakeholders. I have organized meetings between district parents and the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and currently work with members of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and Minneapolis Public School staff on a bridge committee to create schools that would allow teachers greater on-site autonomy and decision-making authority.

Why are you interested in Students Speak Out?: I love hearing what students are thinking! One of my greatest joys is writing with our Minneapolis Public School students.

At 11:24pm on March 13th, 2008, Brett said…: Thank you for your input! I shall check it out as soon as I get back from New Orlean!

At 9:17pm on March 12th, 2008, Brett said…: Well thank you! Haha we do, I look forward to hearing your input! It should get pretty interesting, we have a lot of very cool people commenting or getting ready to!
Thank you!

At 11:37pm on March 11th, 2008, Brett said…: Hey Kate! I am working on the SSO Safety group, and we are focusing on Trust and Bullying in schools. I was curious if you could post some experiences or thoughts about bullying and how we can work to take down the issue in our Minneapolis Public Schools! If you post, you are automatically entered to win a BRAND NEW SONY CAMCORDER! Thank you, and hope to hear from you soon on the School Safety Forum section under groups of the Students Speak Out page!
Brett

At 3:21pm on February 26th, 2008, Kim FB said…: Are you every a great addition to SSO! I will keep thinking about the spelling/editing issue...thanks for your awesome response on that. If I hear from anyone directly, I'll let them know. Maybe we can post about it on the main page at some point, to see anyone responds about it being an issue and if they would take help if we were to offer it. Would be good to know!

At 1:15pm on February 26th, 2008, Victoria Ford said…: It sounds like you're having a really good experience at Marcy. I'm glad! Is your student at South in the open program too? How is that?

At 3:33pm on February 24th, 2008, Kate Towle said…: Thanks, Stacy. I will do my best to follow the threads, given all my other work. If you see a thread I might add value to, please feel free to rattle my cage. That's what Kim did! She invited me to "cross-post" from the Minneapolis Parents Forum, which I co-moderate.

I so agree with you about students--and their parents. Why engage if we are not heard or taken seriously? None of us should ever feel as though we're "just" a parent, or "just" a student! One thing I've learned is that the power for influence goes to those who show up and weigh in. ;-) However, there are effective ways we can make sure that our voices get heard, as you know!

At 1:38pm on February 24th, 2008, Stacy Becker said…: Kate Welcome! It's great to have someone with your knowledge and experience on these pages (I am the director for the project sponsoring SSO).

I am so proud of the students on these pages-- both for their desire to be heard, and for their courage in telling that are sometimes very difficult personal stories. They really help me understand what it's like to be a student these days-- whether gifted and talented, or struggling.

The thing we've learned is that students are most motivated by being heard and taken seriously. They don't feel they need to be automatically agreed with--they are eager to give and take to reach sensible conclusions. That's why your voice would be so valuable here. So I hope you'll join in often, and I hope you will come to the students for perspective on all the great work you're doing in the schools!

At 10:00pm on February 22nd, 2008, Kate Towle said…: Hi Kim! I'm glad you're interested in my work. I hope you enjoy what I post on the Forum.

I hate to think of students reluctant to share their voices because they second-guess their spelling and writing skills. Sometimes it just helps to remind them how we all make mistakes--none of us get better at any of this without taking the first step. I speak French and attribute all my skill to being bold enough to make mistakes for the sake of better communication!!

Just as students of color may need safe "holding places" where they can be themselves and firm in their identity before assimilating into more diverse cultural groups, I believe that some students need trusted adults they can write with alone, before they share their thoughts in class or on-line. As adults, we do the same. We share our work with trusted audiences before we branch into more critical audiences.

I wonder how many students feel this way? I'm certainly willing to write to some students on a limited basis and allow me to edit their work, as long as they're respectful of my time. ;-)

At 9:40pm on February 22nd, 2008, Kim FB said…: Welcome Kate! Good to see your pic after reading so many of your posts on the parents' forum. I had no idea about all this good work you do, and it is interesting to read all about your efforts! Carolyn (below) was saying once that some students she knows of didn't want to post here because they were worried about spelling and writing skills. I wonder how we might address that...

Anyway, thanks for your post!