Training Wheels

My Big Campus is a wonderful online community for sharing content and posting assignments. It provides learners MORE access to information, MORE chances to turn in work, and MORE access to help.  In my opinion, the best feature is the chance to practice real-life social media skills. This is a good thing... because we need MORE practice!

Our MBC system allows students to post on discussion boards to help develop the important skill of knowing how to participate in an online community. Social media participation is really important because your digital presence can impact your employment and your social lives. Did you know that a major way to hire people now is to LOOK for them in online communities and to see what contributions they make? Did you know that millions of people find their spouses in online communities? And of course you remember that social media posts are public... and permanent, right? What you post online will be there for your kids to see...

With all of that in mind, let's think about last week's Grade Level Community Discussions about the Good Student App Package.  How did we do with that?  The discussion board sought input on app suggestions. The directions stated that if you liked a post, you could "heart" it.

Did anyone see a post that did not follow those instructions? Did anybody see a post that was off topic or irrelevant to the discussion? Did anybody see argumentative or unkind statements? Did anybody get frustrated with activity feeds that filled up with comments outside of the boundaries for posting? Without calling anyone out (no names!)... we got a bit off track.

Remember these things when you are participating in a digital discussion:

1) Think carefully about whether or not you should contribute to the discussion. You do not need to weigh in on every single comment posted by community members.

2) If you feel compelled to post, stick to the purpose/question. Before you send a yeah! into 100 peers' feeds, remember that 'hearting' a comment gives positive feedback without creating additional posts.

3) Prior to hitting the "submit" button, re-read your post for convention. You may need to edit your grammar errors or the handy "help" from auto-correct.

4) Prior to hitting the "submit" button, re-read your post for content. Would group members view your words as helpful/informative or would members view your words as disrespectful or condescending? Review the message. How will the words impact others in the community?

We'll practice a grade-level discussion again soon. And I know we'll do better. Our former Assistant Principal Jason Roseberry once said, "My Big Campus is like Facebook with training wheels." It's a good thing we've got training wheels. Our ride last week was pretty shaky.

Until we ride again...

The Cold Hard Truth

I enjoyed our Open House last Thursday. It is always nice to see parents in the building. Thanks to all of the students that attended and led the schedule tour portion of the program. You did a remarkable job keeping your parents on track with the three minute passing periods! Equally impressive was the job the teachers did in giving their seven minute presentations. It is REALLY HARD to give a meaningful seven minute program. It is so much easier to talk for 20 or 30 minutes.

Mr. Smith draws a crowd of interested parents.

From what I could see, teachers used their time wisely to give parents the flavor of what happens in class and to demonstrate the variety of ways for parents to keep up with instruction and to communicate with staff.  It was very exciting to visit room after room where parents were told how to engage with our learning programs at SMS! 

Between the free hot dog dinners (thanks Mrs. Thompson and Mrs. Couch!) and the schedule tours, I shared a 25 minute presentation about our SMS learning community. If I had to pick ONE slide that I think was most important for the night, it would be the Acknowledgements slide... it included The Cold Hard Truth about learning at SMS.

THE COLD HARD TRUTH

#1. THIS IS HARD.  We are doing amazing things here at SMS. Teachers and students are developing new skills and becoming new kinds of learners. People from all over the state are admiring our work. But that doesn't mean that this isn't hard. It is.

It is hard to remember passwords. It is hard to learn the steps to find, complete, and upload work. And it is hard to have such huge accountability in your assignments. With Study Island and Accelerated Math Live, there aren't any "throw away" or "let's guess" moments. We need to think through everything. Just like broccoli, we may not like this... but it is good for us. All of this thinking, learning, and remembering is hard. But it is so worth it... so stay with it!

#2. THE INTERNET IS NOT 100%.  We are totally blessed with consistent and fast internet access at SMS. But we know that not every student has internet at home... and sometimes there are internet problems in locations that do have access.  Because of this cold, hard fact, SMS teachers use extended timelines for internet-required activities. For instance, a teacher on Monday will say "do this by Friday." This allows students ample "in building" time to work on-line. We also use annotation programs to download work and provide extra school time during Connect and the final 15 minutes of Silent Reading.

If you responsibly manage time, you should have no trouble with internet access. However, if procrastination gets the best of you, don't forget that you can get wireless access a the Scott County Library, McDonald's, and outside the doors to any SCSD2 school building. Try to plan ahead, however, and avoid these urgent trips to a wireless access point.

There you have it. The Cold Hard Truth. When you do this difficult work, I want you to know that I KNOW that it is not easy. Remember that I'm In Your Corner every step of the way. Have a great week and enjoy your Labor Day off next Monday!

Welcome to In Your Corner, SMS!

Welcome to In Your Corner!
This blog will be updated weekly with a message from me, Principal Kristin Nass.

A History Lesson: We've had a weekly newsletter at SMS since before you students were born. We've changed the name over the years. It was originally called the WHEMS Weekly. (Does anyone know what WHEMS means?) Our newsletter has been called The Scoop for the last several years and recent readers know that I've had a column on the back page called In Your Corner for the last few. I've used In Your Corner to inform, celebrate, motivate, share, and yes, sometimes to rant! I write about things that are important to our school an about things that are important to me. Eighth graders have read my column for two years. (Thanks for that!)

Back to Now: This year I'm upping my game and making this a full-fledged blog. This will allow me to write longer when I need to and add pictures and videos when I want to. I'm excited about expanding. You can get to this blog by clicking on the In Your Corner link in the corner the Scoop back page.

Don't forget that you can always get to the Scoop from our Scottsburg Middle School web page! Select the SCOOP link from the main page. From there you can see ALL of the Scoop issues! If you ever need to go back and check something or if you are absent on a Monday, you can always get the news!

And you can always get to this blog... just in case you forget who is In Your Corner!