Colter Elementary Computers

Welcome to a new year of our morning show, Buddy’s 4-1-1

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:59:34 -0600

Thanks to Mrs. Trefren, we have a beautiful new set and a fresh new look for our daily morning show. We have also added new weather puppets to help let our students and staff know what the weather of the day is.

Tune in at Colter every morning at 8:50 am or check out the podcasts on this site to see what we are doing at Colter every day!

Introducing Thinkquest.com for 5th graders!

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:37:11 -0600

In the next few weeks I will introduce all 5th graders to Thinkquest.com. This website allows students to create interactive webpages. The students all have usernames and passwords that allow access to the site from any Internet connected computer. The site is on vacation on weekends.

Students will create a page with at least one interactive element; a Vote, Message Board, Ask Me, Brainstorm, or Debate. Students can go to one another’s pages and participate in the interactives. All students will participate in interacting on my webpage as well.

Students will be able to work collaboratively with other teachers in our school, as well as teachers in other states and countries. The Thinkquest.com Community is a community of schools, teachers and students from all across the globe, wanting to teach students about distance learning and internet communication, collaboration and safety.

I am enthusiastic about using this site with students. I believe this is a great learning tool. Look for information sheets to be coming home soon.

Are Your Kids Safe on the Internet?

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 19:02:29 -0600

Last week on October 8th’s Teacher Inservice day, many teachers in Teton County were fortunate enough to hear Jim Anderson, a representative from the Wyoming Attorney General’s office give a frightening talk about Internet Safety.

I, for one, thought the Internet issues that we have heard about happening around the country were not happening here in Wyoming. I now know that I was very wrong, since the Internet infiltrates all areas of the country where there is Internet access.

As parents and teachers, it is our responsibility to keep our children safe when they are on the Internet. For me, as a computer teacher I know the best way to keep my students safe is through very close supervision, and very specific tasks to be done on the Internet.

As a parent it can be a bit more difficult. Mr. Anderson told us about a great website called www.netsmartz.org put together with the cooperation of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. This site has wonderful advice and tools you can use with your children to insure their safety on the Internet.

The best things you can do for your kids is supervise them at home every time they are on the Internet. Make sure your computer is in a public area of the home, NOT in the child’s bedroom! Set boundaries and go to the sites your children go to yourself. Learn how to check the log files on your computer to know where your kids have been. Let your children know of your expectations for them when they are using the computer at a friend’s house also.

www.netsmartz.org can help. Go to the site today!

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you may have about this very important subject. Email me at asampson@teton1.k12.wy.us