To Whom It May Concern:
This trimester in English Literature and Composition, my class will be taking a new approach to learning. We will be utilizing various technology resources to communicate, collaborate and differentiate instruction within our classroom.
Each student will be setting up their own free e-mail account for my classroom. We are utilizing the G-Mail platform through Google Applications. This e-mail will only be used for our class. I told each student that they will have the opportunity to communicate with me through this e-mail and I ask you to do the same regarding any questions or suggestions you have for this venture.
Secondly, I have created a classroom website that will only be used for my class. It is a completely separate platform from the school’s webpage, but serves many of the same functions. Our website is created through a wikispace. A wikispace is a site where we will communicate, collaborate and engage in a variety of classroom activities. The wikispace is a private platform and can only be accessed when you are invited by the organizer. I briefly showed the students how to use this site and informed them that they now will have 24-7 access to their classroom. If students miss class or are absent for some time, they can keep up with their work simply by accessing this site. All that is needed is a computer and an internet connection.
We have created classroom rules for this venture and on Wednesday, I had the students come up with their own rules for technology use in our classroom. They know these rules will be enforced and you can view our rules on the reverse of this page.
Finally, one of my primary goals for this venture is to include everyone in the learning process. I invite you to join our wikispace and become a part of the learning process. If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me or call me (e-mail and number to follow). If you would like to be a part of our wikispace learning community, please provide me with your primary e-mail address so I can send you an invitation to our page. Please provide your name, signature and e-mail at the bottom of this page.
Sincerely,
Mr. Andrew P. Marcinek
e-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 484-416-0424
Parent/Guardian Name (Printed):__________________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian Signature: ______________________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian e-mail:_________________________________________________________________
ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY FOR TECHNOLOGY
The Following Rules were designed by periods 1 and 2 at Boys’ Latin Charter School of Philadelphia
- No social network sites in school
- Myspace
- Facebook
- No games
- Laptops are not to be used for notes
- When teacher is talking, laptops are down
- Notes can be written and transferred to computer
- No Youtube unless it is being used for a presentation or reference
- No inappropriate searches for images
- Background must be a solid color
Consequences
- First policy offense – cannot use laptop for the rest of the day. Parents and Administration notified
- Second policy offense – cannot use laptop for the week and assignments will be done through another platform (i.e. pen and paper). Parents and Administration will be notified. Student will also have an after school detention.
- Third policy offense – student will lose laptop privileges. Parents, Administration, teacher and student will have a conference. Student will have to earn his laptop back by completing the following:
- Write a laptop reinstatement letter to teacher and administration detailing why they broke policy and why we should let them have their laptop back. **
**If student has his laptop reinstated and break a policy rule again, the laptop will not be used for the rest of the year.**
This is my letter to parents. I welcome your feedback and ask you to share your own experiences with incorporating technology into your classroom. How did you involve parents? Administration? What was the experience like with parents working within the website? I look forward to hearing your experiences and I plan on writing about mine as we progress in the classroom. Also, if you would like to join our wikispace and become an observer, please feel free to get in touch with me at the e-mail listed below.
Let’s make learning ubiquitous!