Teaching Students about Email

It's easy to think that emailing etiquette should just come naturally.  But it doesn't.  Our children learned to text before they learned to email.  They learned to say what they needed to say quickly and with lots of text abbreviations.  Sure, I use lol and u quite often.  There is one difference in how I use text lingo though.  I think about my audience.  If I am texting someone that I know is an avid texter, I abbreviate a lot of my words.  However, if I am texting someone who rarely texts or texting my boss or someone I feel is a professional, I type out all of my words. Students need to think about that when they are emailing their teachers or other school staff.  Type out all of your words.  Use the spell checker.  Read your email back to yourself after you type it to make sure that it makes sense.

Another difference between texting and emailing is frequency.  I am just as guilty as our students about texting almost any thought I have. We can't do that with email.  Let me clarify this point though.  We LOVE for students to email us with class-related questions or to check on assignments when absent.  Please don't stop doing that.  Just keep emails to a minimum so your teachers are not spending hours just reading emails.  

Here's a good hint for students:  Use the subject line on emails.  It will help the teacher know if the email needs to be read right away or if it can wait until the teacher has time to look at it more closely.  For example, when asking for homework, simply make your subject something like, "What did I miss?"  If you found something that you think the teacher would like to use in class, try "Fun resource for class." Make the subject line something that tells the reader what the email is about.

Last but not least, do not forget the importance of face-to-face contact.  Emails, just like texts, can be easily misread.  You may mean it to be funny, but the reader may think you are being rude or harsh.  Use smiley faces and other emoticons to show emotion.  Or just ask when a good time is to meet face to face.  Text and email do not allow the reader to see facial expressions or other body language.  Tone of voice is undetectable in print.  

All of this said, email.  It is a great tool for communication.  Just be sure to think about how the person on the other end will interpret your words.  

How Time Flies

Wow!  I can't believe that it has been 20 days since my last blog!  There is another blog out there that may give you some great ideas for web 2.0 tools to use.  Check it out at http://icats30daychallenge.blogspot.com/.  Our iCATS team has put together 30 tools for you to explore.  If you are an EVSC employee, join in the challenge for a chance to win prizes.  If not, that's okay.  You can participate and have fun learning.

I watched a video last week of a speech by Heidi Hayes Jacobs.  If you don't know the name, look her up. She made some pretty amazing points during the speech, but her initial question is what keeps popping up in my mind.  "What year are we preparing our students for?"  She said that the majority of schools today are preparing their students for the year 1991.  That's probably a pretty sad, but true, fact.  We graduate from high school and spend a lot of time trying to learn all of the technology and skills needed to compete in the world that we find ourselves in.  I like to hope that our school corporation is preparing our students for a year far ahead of 1991.  Bringing the netbooks in starts to open the doors to a whole new world.  It's what we do with them from here that matters.

We have this great tool.  What are we doing with it?  How is it being used in your classrooms?  Teachers, students? How has the netbook changed your learning/teaching?  Comment and let me know!!!

Cyber Safety-What Should I Be Teaching My Children?

How often do we really talk to our children about being safe on the internet?  Do we take for granted that they know what is appropriate and what isn't?  My 9 year-old saw a game channel on our satellite system this past weekend.  It said that it had a free trial, so he just turned that channel on.  Had I somehow sent him the message that free meant safe?  What kinds of conversations should I be having with him so that he doesn't happen to find other channels or websites that I prefer him not to be exposed?  I have added a link to the top of the blog for Kids Helpline.  It is a site for Australian children, but most of it is open to anyone. There are some great resources for parents and teachers to use in having those vital conversations with children.  I hope you find some useful resources there.

Using Caution on the Internet

I had to go to the bank yesterday to get my debit card cancelled.  There was a $1.97 charge on there from a company in Clearview, FL.  The bank was very understanding, but it still made me feel violated.  Someone out there found a way to get my debit card information, either from a website that I had used my card or a business locally.  Either way, it was an invasion of my privacy.

This morning, I received an invitation from a student to join boxbe.  When I did some research on it, I quickly found many postings about it possibly being spam.  The funny thing about this tool is that its purpose is supposed to be to filter your email.  However, they do this by having you give them your email username and password.  Talk about a violation of privacy!  Now boxbe can go into my email and view anything they want, including personal information.  It also makes me wonder about the security of my personal information going to another company outside of boxbe.  Needless to say, I didn't accept the invitation.  Furthermore, I sent out an email to all students and staff about taking caution when signing up for services online.  If any service asks for your personal username and password, be cautious.  Do your homework.  Research the company by reading various perspectives on it.  If you are a student, ask an adult first.

Parenting with Netbooks

I am sure that things have changed in the homes of Evansville's middle school students in the past few weeks.  Some of those changes are probably wonderful, whereas some may cause tension in the family.  I have a 9 year-old son who loves his technology.  If my husband and I would let him, he would play his DS, while watching TV, all day long, I know he would be thrilled.  There is just something a little different about the way our kids are "wired" these days.  (Don't you remember your parents saying something like that about us?)

Every generation is different.  There is a really good book out by Dr. Larry D. Rosen, Rewired. He specifically addresses many of the differences with what is now being referred to as the Net-Geners or the iGeners.  He talks about reasons that tweens and teens hate school, how many of them step into time warps when they enter their school buildings.  With the introduction of netbooks this year, I hope that we are making strides towards lessening the gap between the technology students love to use outside our building to that which is used inside it.  

As a parent, I know that we often struggle with the best way to parent our children.  This article, http://mashable.com/2011/09/14/parenting-tech-children/, provides 5 tips for parenting in the digital age.  The site isn't very pretty.  You must scroll down the page a bit to get to the article, but is definitely worth the read.  It made me stop to think about what I am telling my son and what I am modeling to him.  I will try to post more parenting tips as I find them.  Have a great week!

Angel

Students are getting to know Angel more each day.  Students and parents have asked for resources on how to do things in Angel.  I am posting a link for some resources at the top of this blog.  I am also going to post some resources in the Thompkins Students group in Angel.  If you have questions about Angel, don't hesitate to ask me.

Many teachers post assignments on Angel.  If you do not have internet at home, students should download the assignment to a flash drive before leaving school.  If students are struggling with how to do this, they should see me.

Netbooks Go Home

Wow!  The past couple weeks have been busy!  The teachers, students, and I have been working hard to make sure that we are becoming good digital citizens.  Today, we finished up the last of the testing for students.  With the passing of the assessments, students were able to take their netbooks home.  They were all so excited!  Some hints:

• Students should power down at school and power back up at home.  
• Please encourage students to wait until they get home to take their netbook out of the bag.  We are hearing that some students are getting netbooks out on the bus.  This is not practicing good digital citizenship.
• Remember that we are all learning right now.  There will be lots of lessons for all of us along the way.  

Over Labor Day weekend, be sure that the netbook is kept in a safe location.  Cars can get extremely hot and be tough on the netbooks.  Find a secure spot in your home for the netbook.  

Enjoy practicing good digtal citizenship!!!

First Full Week of Netbooks

Wow!  An entire week of netbooks, along with digital citizenship testing!  Students seem to be getting used to carrying their netbooks around school.  Many of them are showing great responsibility by carrying their netbooks in their cases in the halls, closing the lids when moving across a room, and making sure that pictures and music that are on their netbooks are obtained legally and are school-appropriate.  We are just about ready to send the netbooks home.  Are you ready for them?

• Have you set aside a spot in your house for the netbook to charge each night?
• Have you found a good spot where the netbook can be used to complete homework? 
• Have you purchased a flash drive to save work so it isn't lost?
• Have you talked as a family about the rules for using the netbook at home?
• When can the netbook be used?
• Where can it be used?
• How long can it be used?
• Who will have access to the netbook? (Should be student and parents/guardians only)
• Where will the netbook be kept when it isn't being used?  Will it be safe from younger siblings or animals if the middle schooler isn't there?
• Have you purchased insurance in case of loss, theft, vandalism, intentional damage?

Students are ready.  When they see me in the hall, they say, "Mrs. Piacentini, when are we getting to take the netbooks home?"  We are hoping that it will be some time this week.  Make sure your home is ready!

Standards for Proper Care-Day 2 with Netbooks

Many students are sporting proper ways to carry netbooks in the hallways. I see some carrying it like a backpack and some with it draped across their torso from one shoulder to the opposite hip. Those are my two favorite ways because it's much harder for it to get knocked to the floor. Over one shoulder is acceptable too. Just make sure that it's not hanging below the hip where it can be knocked around easily. Remember that the rule for carrying the netbook in the case in the halls still applies during classes. Put your netbook in sleep mode and put it in the case, even when you're bringing it for repairs or troubleshooting. If you need to move from one side of a classroom to another, put the netbook in sleep mode and close the lid before moving across the classroom. Remembering these safety tips can keep you enjoying your netbook rather than having it out for repairs for an extended time period. Great job Jets!

The Case Dilemma

I heard a conversation in the hall today about two students who mixed up their cases.  With every student's case looking the same, it is important to find a way to personalize it that doesn't involve writing on the case or defacing it with tape, etc.  Some of the ways that students mentioned in our digital citizenship courses were to use luggage tags, ribbons, key chains, or pins.  As long as the case can be turned in at the end of the year in the same condition in which it was given to the student at the beginning of the year, the personalization should be okay.  If a student is unsure about anything, have them see me.  My office is in the small gym.

Netbooks-Day 1

Wow!  What a great day!  Thank you to all of the Thompkins teachers for the great work they did in helping to get students logged into their netbooks this morning and for helping Mrs. Brown, Mr. Jones, and I with troubleshooting.  There are still a handful of students who are not able to login at the time of this posting.  We are waiting on login information to come for a few students, waiting on a few netbooks to be reimaged, and a couple are being repaired.  All in all, the day went great!!!!

Students will be using netbooks in classes for a while before taking them home.  All students must pass the digital citizenship assessments in order to be able to take the netbook home.  We will be taking those next week in science classes.

Tech team information will be going out next week as well.

Thanks, Jets, for a great day! Have a great night!

Digital Citizenship Frequently Asked Questions

We are finishing up our digital citizenship classes today.  Working with Thompkins students has been very fun.  The students have great questions and are eager to get the netbooks in their hands.  I thought it would be a good idea to let everyone know the answers to some of those questions today.  If you have more, feel free to message me and I will add them to the list.

Q:  Can we put music on our netbooks?
A:  Yes, as long as you obtained the music legally.  You may not purchase music using the netbook.

Q:  Would it be okay to use a different netbook/laptop bag, rather than the one issued by the school?
A:  Yes, however, the student will still be responsible for the school-issued bag until netbooks are checked in at the end of the school year.

Q:  Other than the student, who else is allowed to use our netbook?
A:  Only the student's parents or guardians may use the netbook.

Q:  Do I need to buy additional insurance?
A:  That would probably be a good idea.  While some damages are covered, theft, loss, and vandalism are not.  Follow the link for netbook insurance at the top of the website for more info.

Q:  Can I download a game to my netbook?
A:  No.  Students cannot install or uninstall ANY software without the consent of the Chieft Technology Officer for the EVSC.

Q:  Can I get on Facebook?
A:  Facebook is currently blocked on the netbooks.

Q:  Can my netbook desktop or the webcam be accessed remotely by EVSC?
A:  No, EVSC monitors network activity, including logins and files downloaded/uploaded.  The EVSC does not utilize remote desktop connection to access the netbook.

Welcome to eLearning at Thompkins Middle School

This is my very first blog.  I established this blog to give parents, students, and staff of Thompkins Middle School information about eLearning.  I have had a wonderful first 2 days of school with the students.  We have started our digital citizenship classes.  Our first session was over Standards for Proper Netbook Care.  Students should be talking about how to care properly for the netbooks and situations to avoid in order to keep them safe from harm.  Students will be required to take an online assessment over this information and answer all questions correctly in order to be able to take the netbooks home.  Please look under the Google Site (link at top of page) from which we have been working.  That site will give you the documents over which students will be assessed.

Several of you are asking about netbook insurance.  If your child's netbook is damaged and is not covered by the warranty or the middle school netbook damage insurance, you could be responsible for replacement costs up to $500.  You may wish to purchase insurance for the cases of loss, theft, or intentional damage.  There is a link to information about netbook insurance at the top of this page as well.

I am so excited to see the successes our students have due to netbooks.  If you have any questions, please email me at stacy.piacentini@evsc.k12.in.us.  I will get back with you as soon as possible.