Hello Life Skills Parents!

Hello Life Skills Parents!

My name is Taylor Barczyk (bar-check) and I am thrilled to be teaching your student this year. I am looking forward to all the energy, excitement, and zest that the students provide to our classroom. This year, we are going to be trying out some new things to keep up with the times and provide you with the latest classroom happenings! So often, kids are asked, “What did you do today at school?” If you are lucky, you may hear about something other than the usual NOTHING. In our classroom, we are constantly learning new techniques and skills for everyday life and we are going to battle the “nothing” response with technology.

In an evolving educational landscape, technology has afforded teachers with new opportunities for sharing information and keeping students connected to the classroom after they have left for the day. In an effort to take advantage of the instantaneous nature of social media, I will be offering students (and their family) the opportunity to stay up to date with school happenings through the use of websites/apps called Instagram, Twitter, and Pintrest. In addition to sharing information, I look forward to the opportunity to model appropriate digital citizenship for our students as well.

If you are not familiar with Instagram, Twitter, and Pintrest, they are online photo-sharing and social networking service that enables users to take pictures and then share them with others. I would like to use this service to send out reminders about class activities or events (e.g. “Don’t forget Free Cook Day”) or just to share images related to our class studies. This means that your student may be photographed and posted on the classroom account. The School District’s Technology agreement will be followed an anyone listed on the No Web list from the district will never be included in the accounts. Our accounts will remain private and all you need to do is create one and click follow for all the latest and greatest info. It is important to note that I will not be using this as a means to provide any new information to students. I will only be reinforcing what has already been shared at school, therefore it is not mandatory for your child to participate. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact me via e-mail at . I am excited to be sharing this learning opportunity with you and your child and welcome your feedback during the process. OUR ACCOUNT USERNAMES FOR INSTAGRAM, PINTREST, and TWITTER are BMSLIFESKILLS

If you would prefer for your student to NOT PARTICIPATE in the Instagram, Twitter, or Pintrest accounts, please SIGN BELOW and RETURN to me no later than Monday September 9th, 2013.

My Student(STUDENT NAME)______________________________________________________ is prohibited from being included in social media via the gpslifeskills account, __________________________________ (PARENT NAME)