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Many school districts are now thinking of providing parents and students with email accounts. I think this possibility raises many interesting concerns which I think vary greatly depending on the school environment.  In high achieving schools, I can see teachers worry about keeping up with the sheer volume of emails in addition to their daily responsibilities.  I would also worry that email can be a very informal method of addressing emotionally charged concerns. As with all decisions related to the welfare of the students, teachers would have to make a decision about emailing being the most appropriate means of communicating.

In my high school, many of my families have limited computer access.  For our blogs for the Music as Social Justice class, I have to give class time each week for those students without computers at home.  Computers can be found at public libraries but the wait can be extremely long in certain neighborhoods and is often not worth the effort.  Another worry in my school is the language barrier.  For many of our families, the student is the only one who speaks English.  I also have parents who are not comfortable with their writing abilities and would feel threatened by email.

I am in no way condoning the use of email with parents and students.  I just think that we should carefully take into account the environments in which our schools are located.  Any tool to aid communication in a plus and I think that email can often be very efficient way of addressing concerns, celebrating classroom victories, or expressing needs to students and parents.  However, I think special care must be taken to find alternative tools for communicating in situations where email is inappropriate.

Last week, my general music students began blogging about the most pressing issue they see facing society today.  They were also asked how they thought music could respond to that issue.  Check out their answers at https://musicassocialjustice.wikispaces.com under Discussion Question #1.  You must become a member to join the site.  I decided to make it a private site to be able to protect my students.  All of my students were also given a user name that only I know.  It protects them but it also allows some of them to speak more freely because they do not feel that are being judged by their peers.  I was impressed with the amount of thought and energy they put into it.  Any ideas for future discussion questions?

I have begun my first wikispace for my Music as Social Justice Class that starts this week.  Check it out at http://musicassocialjustice.wikispaces.com/.   I haven’t done much more than create the home page and the first discussion question.  Starting this week, approximately 80 of my high school students will discuss the most pressing issue they see facing society today.  From there we will search and examine music that responds to the issues they find troubling.  I hope it gives students who feel limited by class discussions a “voice” and I also hope it allows students to further solidify their ideas about their social realities.