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We can type our letter here. Just click the "edit" tab on the upper right hand corner. :-)

Also, we can discuss via the "Discussion" tab, unless you guys prefer email. That's fine with me too.

- Amanda

Gonna go ahead and Get a Backbone Letter Started - James

Dear Parents/Guardians,

As your childrens' teachers, we would like to set up a wikispaces blog for each of our respective classrooms as a means of keeping ourselves, you, and your children organized by providing up-to-date information concerning, scheduling, assignments, class trips/activities, homework, and any other information we deem necessary to help keep you on top of your childs' busy schedule. In each of our blogs, we will set up a secure registration form in which each of your children will have their own online identity with a username and password, and the option to invite each and every one of you to set up and register for access to the blogs. This is essentially the only way we can ensure that outside sources will be unable to view, tamper with, or harass any of the students or faculty members responsible for the upkeep of the blog. That said, we take cyber-bullying very seriously. All traffic on the blogs will be monitored by the Administration. Any student, parent, or teacher caught harassing, or purposely abusing their privileges on the blog will be given one warning to cease and desist before they are banned from the blog. Furthermore, anyone affiliated with the school, i.e. students in other classes, other faculty, etc may request permission for access to the blog for their own edification. Upon receiving such a request it is up to us (the teachers/webmasters) to grant permission to such individuals. Should those individuals begin to display unseemly behavior towards anyone affiliated directly with the classroom (teacher, parents, students) they will be banned from the blog without warning. Please remember, the privacy and secure maintenance of these educational blogs is paramount in our mission to educate your children, and we hope that each and everyone who is associated with this endeavor will feel the same way. That said, before we can actually set up these blogs for our students, we ask that you grant us the permission to sign your students up for these blogs by filling out the bottom portion of this form and having your student return it to us before the end of the week. If you have any further questions concerns or suggestions feel free to email us at ( insert e-mails here),

Thanks for your time and we hope you will all join us in this educational endeavor.

The Staff

(ok so This is pretty basic, I think i covered most of the points that Prof Horbatt wanted us to discuss. If you feel that there are issues we need to yet discuss feel free to insert them anywhere in the letter. Also, if you want this formatted into paragraphs feel free to adjust it any way that you want to. I hope this helps get us started so that the final product will be awesome. - James)

Hey James (and everyone), This looks like a good start. I like the emphasis on the cyber-bullying. We might need to discuss our goals for the blog a little bit. Are we using this as a schedule keeper or for classroom activities? From the readings, it seems it might be a better use of blogging to establish this as an activity for the classroom. I'm going to copy and paste your letter below and add a few revisions. I think you laid some good groundwork for rules, but we should let the parents know the benefits of blogging in the classroom. Also, I like the idea that was mentioned in video we had to watch this week. It might be good to allow public access to the blogs but not allow commenting or contact with the students. What do you guys think? Feel free to make further adjustments to my revisions. -Amanda

Revised 8/7/11 @ 9:30pm (Amanda Nail):

Dear Parents/Guardians,

As your childrens' teachers, we would like to set up a wikispaces blog for each of our respective classrooms as a means of keeping ourselves, you, and your children organized by providing up-to-date information concerning, scheduling, assignments, class trips/activities, homework, and other information. Additionally, we feel classroom blogs are valuable tools that will enhance your child's learning in each respective class and provide them with fresh incentives to look at subject matter in new and creative ways. Blog posts will be available to a real audience and will therefore offer student authors the motivation that comes with that. Furthermore, at the end of this experience your child will be able to carry away important critical thinking and technology skills.

When dealing with the Internet, we recognize that there are precautions that must be taken to protect each of our students. Therefore, in each of our blogs, we will set up a secure registration form in which each of your children will have their own online identity with a username and password, and the option to invite each and every one of you to set up and register for access to the blogs. This is essentially the only way we can ensure that outside sources will be unable to view, tamper with, or harass any of the students or faculty members responsible for the upkeep of the blog. However, while the blogs will be available for parental viewing, we will be restricting commenting features of the website to students and faculty only for the protection of your child. Additionally, students will assigned code names to use when publishing to the blog and will not be permitted to share real names or any information that would indicate our classrooms location.

That said, we take cyber-bullying very seriously. All traffic on the blogs will be monitored by the Administration. Any student, parent, or teacher caught harassing, or purposely abusing their privileges on the blog will be given one warning to cease and desist before they are banned from the blog. Furthermore, anyone affiliated with the school, i.e. students in other classes, other faculty, etc may request permission for access to the blog for their own edification. Upon receiving such a request it is up to us (the teachers/webmasters) to grant permission to such individuals. Should those individuals begin to display unseemly behavior towards anyone affiliated directly with the classroom (teacher, parents, students) they will be banned from the blog without warning. Please remember, the privacy and secure maintenance of these educational blogs is paramount in our mission to educate your children, and we hope that each and everyone who is associated with this endeavor will feel the same way. That said, before we can actually set up these blogs for our students, we ask that you grant us the permission to sign your students up for these blogs by filling out the bottom portion of this form and having your student return it to us before the end of the week. If you have any further questions concerns or suggestions feel free to email us at ( insert e-mails here),

Thanks for your time and we hope you will all join us in this educational endeavor.

The Staff

Hey everyone, Okay I'm just going to make a few grammatical corrections and maybe re-word a couple things..I think the letter is pretty solid in covering all the points and explaining the reasoning behind blogging. Feel free to adjust anything! P.S., Perhaps we should include a link or a place where the parents can conduct some type of research about blogs incase they are completely clueless as to what it is? Just a thought. -Melanie

Dear Parents/Guardians,

As your childrens' teachers, we would like to set up a wikispaces blog for each of our respective classrooms as a means of keeping ourselves, you, and your children organized by providing up-to-date information concerning scheduling, assignments, class trips/activities, homework, and other information. Additionally, we feel classroom blogs are valuable tools that will enhance your child's learning in each respective class and provide them with fresh incentives to look at subject matter in new and creative ways. Blog posts will be available to a real audience, and will therefore offer student authors the motivation that comes with that. Furthermore, at the end of this experience your child will be able to come away with important critical thinking and technology skills that are necessary to thrive in the 21st century.

When dealing with the Internet we recognize that there are precautions that must be taken to protect each of our students. Therefore, in each of our blogs, we will set up a secure registration form in which each of your children will have their own online identity with a username and password, and the option to invite their classmates and parents to set up and register for access to the blogs. This is essentially the only way we can ensure that outside sources will be unable to view, tamper with, or harass any of the students or faculty members responsible for the upkeep of the blog. However, while the blogs will be available for parental viewing, we will be restricting commenting features on the website to students and faculty only for the protection of your child. Additionally, students will be assigned code names to use when publishing to the blog, and will not be permitted to share real names or any information that would indicate our classrooms location.

That said, we take cyber-bullying very seriously. All traffic on the blogs will be monitored by the Administration. Any student, parent, or teacher caught harassing, or purposely abusing their privileges on the blog will be given one warning to cease and desist before they are banned from the blog. Furthermore, anyone affiliated with the school, i.e. students in other classes, other faculty, etc, may request permission for access to the blog for their own edification. Upon receiving such a request, it is up to us (the teachers/webmasters,) to grant permission to such individuals. Should those individuals begin to display unseemly behavior towards anyone affiliated directly with the classroom (teacher, parents, students,) they will be banned from the blog without warning. Please remember, the privacy and secure maintenance of these educational blogs is paramount in our mission to educate your children. We hope that everyone who is associated with this endeavor will feel the same way. That said, before we can actually set up any networking sites for our students, we ask that you grant us the permission to sign your students up for these blogs by filling out the bottom portion of this form and having your student return it to us before the end of the week. If you have any further questions concerns or suggestions feel free to email us at ( insert e-mails here),

Thanks for your time and we hope you will all join us in this educational endeavor.

The Staff

Hey Melanie,

I like your idea about parents getting information about blogging. I'm going to add some links at the end of the letter that give very 'ABC" ideas about what blogging is for parents that probably aren't very technologically advanced. Lol. Based on the convo's you guys have had it looks like you've covered everything. Let me know if you have any suggestions about how we can take it over the top.

-Donyea

Dear Parents/Guardians,

As your childrens' teachers, we would like to set up a wikispaces blog for each of our respective classrooms as a means of keeping ourselves, you, and your children organized by providing up-to-date information concerning scheduling, assignments, class trips/activities, homework, and other information. Additionally, we feel classroom blogs are valuable tools that will enhance your child's learning in each respective class and provide them with fresh incentives to look at subject matter in new and creative ways. Blog posts will be available to a real audience, and will therefore offer student authors the motivation that comes with that. Furthermore, at the end of this experience your child will be able to come away with important critical thinking and technology skills that are necessary to thrive in the 21st century.

When dealing with the Internet we recognize that there are precautions that must be taken to protect each of our students. Therefore, in each of our blogs, we will set up a secure registration form in which each of your children will have their own online identity with a username and password, and the option to invite their classmates and parents to set up and register for access to the blogs. This is essentially the only way we can ensure that outside sources will be unable to view, tamper with, or harass any of the students or faculty members responsible for the upkeep of the blog. However, while the blogs will be available for parental viewing, we will be restricting commenting features on the website to students and faculty only for the protection of your child. Additionally, students will be assigned code names to use when publishing to the blog, and will not be permitted to share real names or any information that would indicate our classrooms location.

That said, we take cyber-bullying very seriously. All traffic on the blogs will be monitored by the Administration. Any student, parent, or teacher caught harassing, or purposely abusing their privileges on the blog will be given one warning to cease and desist before they are banned from the blog. Furthermore, anyone affiliated with the school, i.e. students in other classes, other faculty, etc, may request permission for access to the blog for their own edification. Upon receiving such a request, it is up to us (the teachers/webmasters,) to grant permission to such individuals. Should those individuals begin to display unseemly behavior towards anyone affiliated directly with the classroom (teacher, parents, students,) they will be banned from the blog without warning. Please remember, the privacy and secure maintenance of these educational blogs is paramount in our mission to educate your children. We hope that everyone who is associated with this endeavor will feel the same way. That said, before we can actually set up any networking sites for our students, we ask that you grant us the permission to sign your students up for these blogs by filling out the bottom portion of this form and having your student return it to us before the end of the week. If you have any further questions concerns or suggestions feel free to email us at ( insert e-mails here),

In addition, we have provided some links describing exactly what blogging is, why it is used, why it is useful and other helpful sources of information that may answer other inquiries you may have.


 * http://codex.wordpress.org/Introduction_to_Blogging
 * http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=889289
 * http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0450.pdf
 * http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech217.shtml

Thanks for your time and we hope you will all join us in this educational endeavor.

The Staff