Rseouces+Page

Return to Main Page

[|WordPress]

[|Router’s Birthday Surprise] created by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Retrieved from [| http://www.netsmartz.org/RBS]

Blogging Rules
 * 1) Only use your first name and last initial.
 * 2) Never give out or use your email address, telephone number, home or school address (including town)
 * 3) Only reply to someone you know within the school or your family.
 * 4) Report to your teacher any unusual replies or comments that make you sad or confused
 * 5) Use words that would be said in a classroom setting. Never be rude or mean.
 * 6) Do not copy or alter another students’ work to make it your own.
 * 7) Check your work for spelling.

Parental Letter Letter

Dear Families: From now to the end of the year, Mrs. Preston’s and Mrs. Short’s class will be taking part in a pilot writing program designed to help them develop their writing and explore their interests by sharing their writing with a real audience. Students will be using personal web pages on WordPress to post their writing to the Internet.

A blog is a special type of web page that can be created and easily updated using a web browser. Each new entry has its own date stamp. Each entry has a comments section where visitors to the blog may leave comments for the author. You can find the site at [|WordPress.com].

Each week Mrs. Preston will teach a writing lesson with skills to develop their writing while using the writing prompts. After the lesson, students will write an entry for their blog in their writing journal. They will focus on the skills taught in the lesson to help the develop their writing. The emphasis is on the quality, not the quantity of what they write. When students are done polishing their writing, they have it reviewed by a teacher before it is published to[| WordPress.com.]
 * How it Works**

Having a real audience is one of the key components to this program. In addition to receiving comments from their classmates, Mrs. Preston’s students will receive comments from Mrs. Short’s. Parents are also invited to visit the blogs and respond to the writing. Potentially, anyone on the Internet could respond to our blogs, however, it is not likely that the world at large will stumble across them.

This blogging project is designed to minimize risk to your child. The only personally identifying information included in the blog will be their first name and last initial. There will be no mention of our school name or our location. Students are allowed to post their interests and opinions, but not their age, email address, photographs of themselves, or other sensitive information.
 * Security**

The weekly blog assignments will be part of your child’s Language Arts grade this term. As with other projects they have completed this year, students will receive a scoring rubric that explains the expectations for these assignments. The rubric will include a section for the comments they leave in other students’ blogs.
 * Assessment**

Before your child may start posting to their blog, we are asking for you and your child to discuss and sign the following form. Please return the form to Mrs. Preston or Mrs. Short.
 * Permission**

1. Students using blogs are expected to act safely by keeping personal information out of their posts. You agree to not post or give out your family name, password, user name, email address, home address, school name, city, country or other information that could help someone locate or contact you in person. You may share your interests, ideas and preferences. 2. Students using blogs agree not to share their user name or password with anyone besides their teachers and parents. You agree to never log in as another student. 3. Students using blogs are expected to treat the WordPress site as classroom spaces. Speech that is inappropriate for class is not appropriate for your blog. While we encourage you to engage in debate and conversation with other bloggers, we also expect that you will conduct yourself in a manner reflective of a representative of this school. 4. Student blogs are to be a forum for student expression. However, they are first and foremost a tool for learning, and as such will sometimes be constrained by the various requirements and rules of classroom teachers. 5. Students blogs are to be a vehicle for sharing student writing with real audiences. Most visitors to your blog who leave comments will leave respectful, helpful messages. If you receive a comment that makes you feel uncomfortable or is not respectful, tell your teacher right away. Do not respond to the comment. 6. Students using blogs take good care of the computers by not downloading or installing any software without permission, and not clicking on ads or competitions. Students who do not abide by these terms and conditions may lose their opportunity to take part in this project. 7. Students will have the Blog Rules posted in the classroom, in their writing journal, and next to the computer as a reminder of these terms and conditions.
 * Blogging Terms and Conditions**

Please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Preston or Mrs. Short with any questions or concerns. We can be reached at (555) 555-5555.

I have read and understood these blogging terms and conditions. I agree to uphold them. Student’s signature: Parent’s signature: Date: