Techville Elementary

10010 Microsoft Way

Windows, FL 00001

8/17/15
Volume 1, Issue 1

Welcome to
Techville
Elementary!
Greetings!
Hello, and welcome to Techville Elementary! My name is Mr. Hanna, and I will be your childs 5th grade teacher this year. The purpose of this newsletter is to inform you, the parents and the students, about the different forms
of technology and applications I
will be using in the classroom.
We also be talking about social
media, plagiarism, saving files,
cyberbullying, and digital citizenship. Dont miss out on this window of opportunity to learn
some new information this week! Go Blue Mice!

This Weeks Issue:

Greetings!/Tech Bytes ................ 1
Edmodo: A Parents Best Friend . 2
YouTube: Video Uploading ......... 2
Cyberbullying: Lets Delete it! ..... 3
Citizens of the Digital World! ...... 4
Social Media: Everyone Knows ... 4
Plagiarism: Just Dont Do It ......... 5

Tech Bytes

Saving Files: Do It Frequently ...... 5

Teacher/Class Info..6

Here are some fun Tech Bytes that you may or may not know:

Individual users upload 100 hours worth of videos on YouTube

every minute.
Your brain is like a computer. You can store and save information in it. Take care of that noggin!
Like the brain, a computer needs to be shut down so it can
rest. No sleep means a worn out brain.

Special points of interest

Edmodo: Where parents can
keep track of their childs progress in school.
Citizenship : it isnt just about
being a good citizen in the real
world!
Delete Cyberbullying!

Edmodo: A Parents Best Friend

Edmodo is a networking website that
focuses on using technology as the main
source of delivering information to students,
parents, and teachers.
It is a social learning community where
students, parents, and teachers can work
together to keep track of a students progress
in a safe and secure manner.
The main purpose of Edmodo is that it
serves to complement a teachers teaching
methods and to improve communication
between the teacher, the students, and their
parents. Students dont always tell their parents what is going on at school or know how
well they are doing, and parents dont always
know how their child is doing in school. Edmo-

do is very much parent-friendly. Parents can

keep track of when homework is due, when
the next test or project is coming up, and they
can even monitor the progress of how their
child is doing in class.
One of my favorite features of Edmodo is
the badges. I have used Edmodo with my
students in the past, and one way that I almost always gained their attention was by
allowing them to earn badges. Examples of
how they could earn badges are turning in
homework on time, helping a classmate, good
behavior for the entire week, or doing well on
a test. These badges are a great incentive for
students to do well in class.

Edmodo is very much parent-friendly. Parents can keep track of when homework is due, when the next test or project is coming up, and they can even monitor the progress of how their child is doing in class.

YouTube: Video Uploading

YouTube is a website where people can upload videos of just
about anything. Funny cat videos, babies laughing hysterically over
silly sounds, that favorite cartoon episode , or your favorite song.
The list goes on.
My purpose for using YouTube will be to educate your children
on a variety of topics that I will be discussing in class. For example, I
may be doing a history lesson on The United States Constitution or
the Bill of Rights. I may ask them to memorize a certain part of
either one. One way to help them memorize these important American documents is that I
could show them the Schoolhouse Rock! . As a test grade, I may ask your child to memorize
the Preamble of The United States Constitution. Schoolhouse Rock! has a video that sings the
words of The Preamble. When I was in 6th grade, I had to learn The Preamble. My History teacher at the time used this same method to help us learn it. Sure enough, it worked. It has been
about 15 years since I had to learn it, and I still have it memorized word for word.
When using YouTube, you can create your own account and upload videos, create playlists of
videos on a specific topic, and other things. Creating playlists helps keep track of those funny cat
videos you like to watch over and over again! There will be times that I will upload videos to
explain certain topics that we discussed in class that the students may have had difficulty comprehending that day, or there may have been an interesting video I found that I feel supplemented what I talked about in lass.
Although YouTube has its educational purposes, it can also be used for entertainment as well.
There are ways students can earn time to watch those cat videos. They can do this by completing their homework on time, everyone meeting a certain grade requirement on a test, or
good behavior.
YouTube is both fun and educational!

Did you know?

Cyberbullying can occur anywhere, anytime, and any day. It can be found on Facebook,
YouTube, text messages, phone calls, and other methods.

Cyberbullying: Lets Delete it!

Cyberbullying is defined as bullying that takes place through technology. It can happen on
various forms of social media, text messages, telephone calls, instant messenger, embarrassing
videos or pictures, and other various methods. It can happen any day, anytime, and anywhere. It
can even happen anonymously. Unfortunately,
people treat technology as a tool to ruin peoples
lives. If it is severe enough and goes unnoticed, it
can lead to untimely consequences for the person
that is be cyberbullied.

One out of every four teenagers

have been cyberbullied at some
point in their life.

One of every six teenagers have

cyberbullied one or more people.

Girls are more likely to be cyberbullied than boys.

If you want to learn more about

cyberbullying, please visit
www.stopbullying.gov, or visit an
anti-bullying website that ends
in .org or .gov.

Cyberbullying is not to be taken lightly. If someone is being bullied through technology, there is
also the possibility that they are being bullied at
school. It takes a huge emotional and psychological toll on a students well-being.
Students, if you ever witness someone being
cyberbullied, or you are the one being cyberbullied, please do not let it go unknown. Tell a parent, teacher, your principal, or another adult that
can help you.
The reason I bring this topic up is that I want my students to take this matter seriously. This
week, I will be sending the students home with a cyberbullying pledge. There will be one for the
students and the parents to read carefully, sign, and return to me by the end of the week.
My hope is that my students will take a stand against this matter and work to make our school
a safe environment for everyone that comes to Techville Elementary.
Make the pledge to put an end to cyberbullying!

Citizens of the Digital World!

When you think about what you can do to
be a good citizen towards your friends, family,
and peers, it probably didnt come to mind
that it doesnt just include what you do in the
outside world. People see what you do in the
digital world as well. Its up to you, the students, to make sure that you make the right
choices and be aware of those who are not
making the right choices.
Digital citizenship is a set of rules that
people should follow in order to use technology in a safe and appropriate manner. Remember students, although you have a right
to be able to use technology, that privilege
can be taken away if you mistreat it. I am
going to provide you a website that goes into
detail about specific elements of digital citizenship that we as human beings need to
follow. The website is: http://
www.digitalcitizenship.net/
Nine_Elements.html. Hold the Ctrl key and

click on the blue link to access the information.

Digital citizenship is just as important as
cyberbullying. Students and parents, it is our
duty to make sure that the technology we use
is treated with respect and used in an appropriate manner. Citizens of the digital world,
unite!

Be an upstanding citizen in the real world and

the digital world!

Social Media: Everyone Knows

Social media involves the use of different technologies to
share information across the world. It is a powerful tool, but
it can also be a dangerous tool if you are not careful.
Did you know that YouTube is a form of social media?
People from all over the world share and post videos of
themselves, their family and friends, and other things. People
are constantly posting videos on a daily basis.
Other forms of social media are Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and more. Although I will not be using these in class, with the exception of YouTube, I will be
discussing them with the students. Going back to digital citizenship, there is a set of rules we
must follow to keep these websites safe and use friendly.

This is the logo for Twitter.

Twitter is a form of social media
where people share tweets.
These tweets are short messages
that consists of a few words or
sentences.

One thing I do ask is that you, the students, to please be careful with what you share on the
internet. Unfortunately, there are people in this world that like to take information and use it for
their own desires. When you post information on the internet, do not be detailed about it.
Posting information such as your full name, address, date of birth, social security number and
telephone number is very dangerous. There are people who can steal your information and even
your identity if you are not careful.
Parents, please keep a close eye on what your children post on the internet. It only takes a
few seconds for someone to steal their information. I know this sounds scary, but this does happen a lot more often than people realize. If your children would like to have a Facebook account,
I would suggest creating a family account where all of you are able to access it. There is an age
limit for social media users.
Share with the world, but do so with caution!

Plagiarism: Just dont do it.

There will be times where students will be working on major projects such as a book report,
science fair project, or a PowerPoint presentation. One of the biggest concerns with these projects is the amount of plagiarism that takes place. Whether or not it is intentional, it is wrong
either way.
Plagiarism is when a person takes credit for someone elses work, word for word, without
giving them the proper credit in return. It can get you into a lot of trouble. You can get kicked out
of school or even sent to jail. I am not trying to scare anyone, but these are the facts. There are
hard-working professionals in this world who spend a lot of time researching and writing papers
and books on work they have done.
Luckily, there are ways to avoid plagiarism. When you are working on your project, paraphrasing /summarizing what has been talked about and citing where you found your information are
two key ways to make sure your work is correct and gives appropriate credit to the source you
got your information from.
Basically, when it comes to plagiarism, just dont to it.

Plagiarism is when a person takes credit for someone elses work, word for
word, without giving them the proper credit in return.

Saving Files: Do it Frequently

We will be using computers in the classroom often, and there will be times where
saving your work is going to be essential to
your success in the classroom. Luckily, there
are several different ways that information on
the computer can be saved.
The picture that is to the right of this is
called a USB drive. USB stands for universal
serial bus. It is a relatively small tool that can
serve big purposes, mainly for storing files.
Whenever you are working on a project, it is
wise to save it both the computer and a USB
drive. That way, if you lose the project on the
computer due to a power outage or a computer virus, you have that second copy of it
ready to go so you can finish where you started. Today, applications such as Microsoft
Word have an auto-recovery feature in the
event your computer suddenly stops working.
Do not rely on this method. Always save your
work to a second source.
You can also do your work on Google Drive.
All you need to do is set up a Gmail account.
After that, you are able to use applications
such as Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google
Slides, and other various applications. The

cool thing about Google Drive is that your

work is saved instantly..
I am all for using USB drives to save work. I
am also a fan of saving trees. Instead of having the students print out their projects, papers, and other major projects, I would like to
have them save them all on a USB drive and
bring it to class the day the project is due. This
saves both time and money for you and me.

Above is the Google Drive logo. The blue

represents Google Docs, the green represents
Google Sheets, and the yellow represents
Google Slides.

Teacher and Classroom Information

Techville Elementary
Techville Elementary is located in

Before I became a teacher at Techville Elementary, I spent my time working as a teaching

assistant at Gretchen Everhart School, a special needs school. I worked there for about 5 years,
and I was also going to school at the same time. I would work during the day, and take classes at
night. I went to school at Tallahassee Community CollegeFlagler. I graduated with a dual major
in both Elementary Education and Exceptional Student Education with endorsements in both
reading and ESOL. Shortly after I graduated, I was offered a job here at Techville Elementary. I
have been working here as a 5th grade teacher for almost 3 years now, and I absolutely love it.
Each group of students that come and go get better and better every year, so I know this group
will be awesome!

the heart of Windows, FL. It is a topranked public school where its focus
is to teach students with researchbased methods that are proven to
help students want to learn. Its focus
is to use technology as the primary
teaching tool. From smartboards to
projector screens, the school does

My classroom, along with the other classrooms of Techville Elementary, uses technology as its
primary source for both teaching and learning. We believe that the advancements in technology
and the applications that come with it can do a lot to open the minds of our students. It will give
them a chance to show off their creativity and to explore the digital world around them.

what it can to allow students to learn

on a whole different level. Our goal is
to prepare students for the future.
Go Blue Mice!

Again, I am excited to have the opportunity to work with your students, and I cannot wait to
see what they have in store for me this year! Thank you, and have a great week!
If you have any questions about the material in this newsletter, please feel free to email me at
hannaj@techville_elem.edu. Also, please see the calendar below for upcoming tests, events, day
off from schools, and more!

August 2015
Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat
1

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17
First Day of
School!

18
19
Technology PreAssessment

20
In Class
Edmodo

21
Turn in Cyberbullying form.

22

23

24

25
Techno Tuesday!

27

28
Spelling Test
Math Test

29

30

31

26
Special Guest
Speaker!