‘Promposals’ – Talking Points for Teachers – May 2019 Newsletter
It Was A Great School Year
As this school year is coming to an end, I wanted to personally thank our customers and partners for another great year.
Here at EdTech, we consider ourselves very fortunate to serve students and their parents by providing them with easy access to great books. We also feel privileged to work side-by-side with the teachers and administrators of the finest schools, and help them make digital content management easy. Last, but not least, we are proud and grateful to partner with the best publishers in education.
Our team is comprised of dedicated and highly skilled individuals who built their careers helping students and their parents, as well as supporting schoolteachers and school administrators. We are guided by three very simple principles:
- We take personal responsibility for clients’ success
- We go the extra mile to make things simple
- We offer digital implementation with the most K12 publishers
If you are still planning your curriculum for next year and would like to see how digital implementation can be done the easy way, give us a call and we’ll show you how simple we make it.
Founder & CEO
‘Promposals’ – Talking Points for Teachers
What was once a simple question has now evolved into the promposal —elaborate scenarios through which someone may ask a date to the prom.
This can be as simple as a handwritten sign strategically placed in a potential date’s front yard to choreographing a flash mob in front of a workplace at the local mall.
Traditionally prom carries a lot of pressure — to look perfect, arrive in style and have the ideal date on your arm. Now, promposals have added to that pressure, becoming almost as important as prom itself and raising expectations for young men and women, especially when these public displays get posted on social media for all to see. And, if not kept in check, promposals and “prom chatter” can take over an already “end of the school year” campus and turn it upside down.
Teachers have an opportunity to help alleviate some of the stress and pressure of proms and promposals by providing not only structure on campus, but also the appropriate focus and perspective.
Here are some talking points to start the conversation.
- Spend a few moments of class time to discuss the big day. Airing their feelings and concerns is healthy and helps students put everything in perspective. And it gives you the opportunity to be the advisor, giving tips on how to navigate the stresses that go along with any big event.
- Set down rules for campus promposals. There’s a time and place, if the promposal will be on campus, always get approval from an administrator or teacher beforehand. Promposals should never be done in a way that will disrupt the classroom or campus. A grand gesture might seem like a good idea, but not if it earns a write-up for disrupting the class.
- Teach them how to set a realistic budget. To start with, don’t get caught up in outdoing peers with pricey promposals. Explain to them that the dress, car, suit or hairstyle does not define who they are, it’s how they feel about themselves on the inside that matters. Explore less expensive options and talk to students about the importance of saving.
- Rejection can feel even more traumatic after a carefully orchestrated promposal. Encourage students to take the old-fashioned route of simply asking someone to prom – in person or over the phone. Build their feelings of self-worth by reassuring them that it’s okay if they are rejected by the person they hoped to attend prom with, or if they aren’t asked at all. The focus should be on going – with or without a date – and having a fun experience.
- Be respectful Not everyone likes big promposals. Some people can get easily embarrassed in crowds, so make sure to keep it simple if that’s the way they want it.
- Talk to students about what they want to get out of the night – is it to wear the most expensive dress or rent the flashiest car, or is it to dance, mingle and have fun with their friends?
- Peer pressure is real and can be very intense. Students need to feel secure in making healthy, responsible decisions that you can help empower by talking about the consequences and dangers of underage drinking, and substance abuse.
Read an E-book, Save a Tree
Who doesn’t love trees? They add beauty to the landscape, are a great source of shade and create homes for wildlife. Trees also help the environment; just consider them the lungs of our planet. Trees not only create the air we breathe, they also filter air pollution.
One of the benefits of reading ebooks as opposed to conventional print books is that it saves TONS of trees, literally.
These days, readers buy more than 500 Million e-books every year, which reduces the number of trees cut down to make print books by 8 Million per year (according to ePublishersweekly).
How many trees does it take to supply a classroom with textbooks? The number required depends on several factors, including the type of paper and the sizes of the tree and textbook. According to reference.com, an average-sized tree provides about 8,333 sheets of copy-type paper. Which really isn’t a lot of paper considering the average textbook is between 600 – 1200 pages.
EdTech at the NCEA Convention and Expo
EdTech Software recently attended the National Catholic Educational Association Convention and Expo (NCEA 2019) in Chicago. As the largest private education association gathering in the world, this one-of-a-kind event allowed educators to exchange ideas and debut cutting-edge research and technologies related to education.
We were exhibited to showcase our latest products and services for e-book readers and online publications. We were able reach Catholic and other religious educators from across the United States, Canada, and other countries; and inform them of how they can easily and simply digitize their books and make them more accessible to students.
