Technology Medley

It’s important that we teach our students how to use the internet safely. Here are a few rules of the road for children that you might want to discuss with them during teachable moments:

• Don’t share your password with your friends or use their passwords.
• Never give personal information to anyone online
  • full name
  • address
  • telephone number
  • places nearby your home
• Do not put personal information in profiles in chat rooms or other web sites.
• If you accidentally open an inappropriate site, tell a parent or teacher.
• Don’t believe everything you read or hear in a chat room. People are not always who they say they are.
• Never agree to meet someone in real life that you meet in a chat room
• Always tell an adult if anyone or anything makes you feel uncomfortable while online.

There are several web sites designed specifically to teach young children how to surf the internet safely. These would be ideal to use during you computer lab times!

NetSmartz

Surf Swell Island

iKeepSafe (Be sure to scroll down to the video links!)

SafeKids 

Email 

If you are using the school division’s webmail, are you taking advantage of the extra features? Email addresses of people in your contacts list as well as the school division’s contact list will be completed for you, but you need to check the following:

• Click on Settings
• Click on Settings again
  • Click on the Mail tab
  • Make sure that all 5 boxes are checked.
  • Click on the Mail Composing tab
  • Click the Choose Folders button
  • There are 2 different Contacts folders. They both need to be checked
    • The first one is your personal contacts.
      • You will probably see it just above your Deleted Items folder.
      • Make sure it is checked.
    • The second one is public (school division) contacts.
      • Scroll down until you see Public Folders
      • IF you don’t see anything underneath Public Folders, click the + sign
      • Scroll down until you see Contacts
      • This checkbox should also be checked.

Now you can type in just a portion of a person’s name, press the tab key, and the email address will be entered for you. This is probably my favorite feature of this entire program!

Calendar

You can keep your own personal calendar that you can access anywhere you have an internet connection. In fact, you can set up multiple calendars and share them with your coworkers. The instructions for this are included in the Kerio handout located in the Box widget in the sidebar.

Under Public Folders, you will find calendars for each school. If you would like to have information added to these calendars, the secretaries, principals, and I can all add items, so just let us know. You will also find folders titled South Technology Schedule or West Technology Schedule. These calendars are being used to reserve the laptop carts, so make sure you sign up when you plan to use the laptops with your students! You can find the instructions here.

Tasks

Keep your own “to do” list by using the tasks feature. Set reminders for your tasks and you’ll never forget to make that important phone call or send home a special message again. If you are memory challenged like me, this feature can be a life saver!

Notes

Notes are simply very small text files, but I find myself using them all the time! Any time someone gives me directions for something that I know I’ll forget but will need again, I create a new note. Then, all I have to do is open my email and find the note with those directions. This would be a great way to keep up with specific AR directions such as how to delete tests or clear locks. I’m sure you’ll think of other uses of this very cool feature. The very first line of the note will show up as the title, so make sure the beginning is something you will recognize.

You can find the Kerio handout with much more detail in the Box in the sidebar. Take advantage of all that our webmail has to offer!

It’s great to see so many of you using the laptop carts with your students! When you see the excitement on the faces of the students and observe their increased level of engagement, you know it’s worth the extra effort it takes to move the cart to your classroom. These children are growing up in a world filled with mobile electronic devices, and the more we educate them in the proper use of those devices, the more prepared they will be for their own future. Hopefully, all of you will become more comfortable using the laptops with your classes as the year progresses. Remember, I am here to lend a hand or to teach the class along beside of you, so please don’t hesitate to ask!

To reserve the laptop cart, open up your email account in Kerio. Browse to the bottom of the folder list, and expand the Public Folder if necessary. Find either South Technology Scheduler or West Technology Scheduler. You will find instructions there. Go ahead and click on the + sign if you do not see the laptop carts listed. Click on the laptop cart or other item you would like to reserve. Then double click the date(s) you need and enter your name and time. Click Save and Close and you’re done!