This post is the third part of a series sharing our Back to School Night events with the community. These posts are a summary of the remarks shared by Ms. Amstutz, Principal during the Opening Session of Back to School Night
Part 3 - Ways to Stay Connected with Bodkin
"This year you will see that we are introducing several new ways to stay in touch with us and to keep up to date about what’s happening at school. Many of you have already found our Twitter account and are seeing how it provides you a front row seat to the learning taking place here. The cool thing about this is we are just scratching the surface in our use of this neat tool."
Follow us on Twitter @BodkinAACPS or click here if you do not have an account: https://twitter.com/bodkinaacps
"Another tool we will be using is a school blog. This blog will have many authors such as myself, Mrs. Nee-Jackson, Mrs. Elsis, Mrs. Beers, Mrs. Landis and your amazing children! With a major focus on writing this year, we are looking for as many authentic opportunities to publish student work as we can find. I encourage you to subscribe to the blog and leave comments for us."
Here's the link to our school blog: http://bodkinaacps.weebly.com/ Make sure to enter your email address on the site to subscribe and have posts sent to your email. Also, we love comments!
"Social media tools such as Twitter and blogs are changing how schools communicate with parents and the local community. And, already the local community has taken notice. Twice so far this year, the reporters of the Pasadena Voice have reached out to us because of neat things they saw on our Twitter feed that they think the broader community would like to know about. My vision for these technology tools is that over time we will embrace them and begin to infuse them into our instructional opportunities. Imagine the learning that happens when students experience time zones first hand when they need to plan a time to talk with students in England or Africa. Imagine how students begin to understand climate and weather when they learn that students in other parts of the world are on summer vacation during our blizzards. My biggest goal with these tools is that we are able to teach your children how to harness the internet and connectivity tools in a safe environment where we can embed personal safety and critical thinking in authentic, engaging instruction."
Earlier this summer, I posted a survey to obtain your thoughts and input about our school. Nearly 200 of you provided your feedback and we've been pouring through it to better understand what you think we do well and what you see as our next steps. We heard you loud and clear that you want us to continue growing as a Green School and to reduce the amount of paper we send home. You want us to send more emails (and fewer ConnectEd calls!). You want increased access to forms and information online. In response to these requests we are debuting a Blackboard site this year that will become a one-stop-shopping source of information. Teachers will show this site to you and tell you where to find log in and password information once you get to their classrooms tonight."
Access our Blackboard site at: blackboard.aacps.org You will need the username and password that was sent home earlier this year. Check the agenda book!
In addition to these remarks, two resources were shared with all families who attended back to school night. The first, a brochure, provides reminders and helpful tips for common asked questions. It has been uploaded to our Blackboard site for future access.
The second resource was a copy of the infamous "25 Ways to Ask Your Child How School was without asking "So, how was school today?" A copy of this has been posted to our Blackboard site (Parent Information section) for your convenience. We'd love to hear which questions work best for you--- tweet your stories to us @BodkinAACPS #schooltoday
Part 3 - Ways to Stay Connected with Bodkin
"This year you will see that we are introducing several new ways to stay in touch with us and to keep up to date about what’s happening at school. Many of you have already found our Twitter account and are seeing how it provides you a front row seat to the learning taking place here. The cool thing about this is we are just scratching the surface in our use of this neat tool."
Follow us on Twitter @BodkinAACPS or click here if you do not have an account: https://twitter.com/bodkinaacps
"Another tool we will be using is a school blog. This blog will have many authors such as myself, Mrs. Nee-Jackson, Mrs. Elsis, Mrs. Beers, Mrs. Landis and your amazing children! With a major focus on writing this year, we are looking for as many authentic opportunities to publish student work as we can find. I encourage you to subscribe to the blog and leave comments for us."
Here's the link to our school blog: http://bodkinaacps.weebly.com/ Make sure to enter your email address on the site to subscribe and have posts sent to your email. Also, we love comments!
"Social media tools such as Twitter and blogs are changing how schools communicate with parents and the local community. And, already the local community has taken notice. Twice so far this year, the reporters of the Pasadena Voice have reached out to us because of neat things they saw on our Twitter feed that they think the broader community would like to know about. My vision for these technology tools is that over time we will embrace them and begin to infuse them into our instructional opportunities. Imagine the learning that happens when students experience time zones first hand when they need to plan a time to talk with students in England or Africa. Imagine how students begin to understand climate and weather when they learn that students in other parts of the world are on summer vacation during our blizzards. My biggest goal with these tools is that we are able to teach your children how to harness the internet and connectivity tools in a safe environment where we can embed personal safety and critical thinking in authentic, engaging instruction."
Earlier this summer, I posted a survey to obtain your thoughts and input about our school. Nearly 200 of you provided your feedback and we've been pouring through it to better understand what you think we do well and what you see as our next steps. We heard you loud and clear that you want us to continue growing as a Green School and to reduce the amount of paper we send home. You want us to send more emails (and fewer ConnectEd calls!). You want increased access to forms and information online. In response to these requests we are debuting a Blackboard site this year that will become a one-stop-shopping source of information. Teachers will show this site to you and tell you where to find log in and password information once you get to their classrooms tonight."
Access our Blackboard site at: blackboard.aacps.org You will need the username and password that was sent home earlier this year. Check the agenda book!
In addition to these remarks, two resources were shared with all families who attended back to school night. The first, a brochure, provides reminders and helpful tips for common asked questions. It has been uploaded to our Blackboard site for future access.
The second resource was a copy of the infamous "25 Ways to Ask Your Child How School was without asking "So, how was school today?" A copy of this has been posted to our Blackboard site (Parent Information section) for your convenience. We'd love to hear which questions work best for you--- tweet your stories to us @BodkinAACPS #schooltoday