Parent Letter Regarding Technology

Dear families,

Welcome to our classroom! Some of you I've had the pleasure to work with in the past, some students may know me from rotary or my having taught siblings in the past, and the last group, well we are new to each other and I look forward to working with you!

This year I'm hoping to continue with a few initiatives around technology.

We will be using the Desire 2 Learn online learning classroom. This is a ministry initiated, board supported blended learning environment. In addition to submitting paper assignments, students will be encouraged to submit work online. There is also an opportunity for students to do practice activities and review concepts, especially in Math and Science. This worked very well in my class the past two years and I hope the students will benefit from it again. 

We will continue the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiative again this year. Parents and students will be required to sign and return the contract to me before students are able to use their own devices in class. Devices are for curriculum purposes only and there will be severe consequences for any student not adhering to these rules. As per the school Code of Conduct, students are responsible for their own cell phones and electronics and are to be locked away safely in their lockers unless otherwise indicated by the classroom teacher. I usually encourage devices during Science class. I look forward to showing students that their phones are more powerful than the world's first computer and that they possess all the knowledge in the world, in the palm of their hands.

I will also be posting updates on our class Twitter page, so I encourage you to follow us! I like to celebrate what we are doing in the classroom, but I will not post pictures of student work or faces unless I have permission from both students and parents.

Last year I signed my class up for Prodigy, an exciting educational game and a fun way for students to practice their math skills in class and at home. This game is very popular with students and I hope to continue to use it again.

The last week of June, the Grade 7s and I began writing a blog about the happenings around school. We may continue to collaborate on the blog with homeroom and Science classes. The blog can be found here and continues to be a work in progress.

New this year will be Google Classroom. We will not be doing this right away in September, but we will be working on collaborating on documents, slide shows as well as many of my lessons and assignments will be posted on D2L in the form of these documents and slides.

As exciting as educational technology is, please note that the primary medium to communicate with me is through your child's agenda or to call me at the school. Thank you for your continued support. We are teaching students the skills they will need in the 21st century in order to become responsible digital citizens beyond their formal education years!

Your partner in education,

Mrs. Skibinski

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