Welcome back - Fall 2010!

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic summer and got outside a little, had a good time with friends and family, and did something new.

I had a great summer that included all of the above. I was on the Tanana River a lot with my family, I took some trips with friends, and I did something new - I went to France with some students from Tok School!

I'm excited to see everyone again this year, and to meet our new 6th graders. Of course we are ready to roll out your 1:1 laptops first thing this year.

Because of funding, there have been some changes to our 1:1 program. Each of you will still have your own laptop, but they will not go home. For students who do not have computers at home, we are working on a program so that we can get some laptops into people's homes. If your family already has a computer at home with internet access, you will still have no problem accessing your work from school when you are at home - even though it's on a different computer! Even if it's not a Mac! However, when you are at school, you will not share your computer with other students - you will be the only user on your assigned laptop.

School Supplies:
In middle school our requirements are few - here they are;
1. paper and writing utensils - we cannot provide these, and you cannot expect your friend or seatmate to provide these for you all year!

2. ear buds - buy a few cheap pairs from the store, or just use the ones you have with your ipod - whatever. You will need them in class.

3. Optional - a jump drive (also known as a thumb drive, jump drive, gig stick, or geek stick). 1G is plenty for your needs. A 1 gig stick is around $8 to $10. They are a quick way to transport pictures or other work that you want to transfer to other computers if you have not put those things on the web.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday, August 24th!