Vajda,+Julie

Objective:
Students will be able to safely use the class blog and wiki to discuss current issues of the Spanish-speaking world.

Technology:
Students will be working with wikispaces, and wordpress to create blogs and participate in projects using Wikis. This technology will require students to share their work, using first names only, in order to create projects and share ideas. This will be shared with the members of the class and the teacher only.

Behavior Expectations
In working online, students are expected to discuss only the topic given by the instructor, they are to be mindful and respectful in the language they choose to express their opinions, and if they come upon a site which is inappropriate in any way; they will click the back button and report the incident to the teacher in a discreet manner.

Procedure:
1. Students and teacher will discuss the difference between safe online behavior and unsafe online behavior. 2. Students and teacher will brainstorm examples of safe behavior and unsafe behavior. 3. Teacher will present example scenarios of safe behavior and unsafe behavior. 4. Teacher will present examples of how to appropriately handle unsafe web situations, which may inadvertently pop up. 5. Students and teacher will agree on the procedure to handle such situations as listed in #4. 6. Students will be given a scenario and will role-play the situation coming up with an acceptable solution. 7. Students will present their scenario to the class. 8. Students and teacher will discuss the outcomes of each scenario.

Permission Letter - Julie Vajda
Dear Parents,

My Spanish classes will be participating in a class wiki and a class blog. The students will be collaborating on the class wiki to work on different projects throughout the school year. This will require them to post entries on the Web. They will also be responding to current events, in Spanish on the class blog. This, as well, will require them to post directly onto the Web. A wiki is a web tool, where students can participate and edit group work online. A blog is an online discussion that will require students to post their ideas and comments online in response to a specific topic.

Each week there will be a new blog entry, posted by the instructor, for the students to comment on. The topics will deal with Spanish and will require your child to discuss the topic by posting an online response. This response should be no less than 100 words and should deal with the topic only. Any inappropriate language or thoughts, or posts not dealing with the topic, will be swiftly removed from the blog. Also, from time-to -time the class will be working on group projects. At these times, the students will go to a website called wikispaces, where they will find a wiki for our class. They will click on the assignment listed and post their work on the project to the wiki. Other members of their group and teacher, will have the capacity to edit their work. Giving the students the opportunity to develop their Spanish writing skills and provide them with a real audience of potential native speakers is the goal of these assignments. It is also to expand their exposure to the current technology availble today, and to provide them with the skills to safely use it in a classroom setting, as well as, their personal lives.

As for security, we will take all precautions necessary to ensure the safety of your child. Students will be identifying themselves by first name only and will be taught in a special lesson, how to never give any clue to their location or any personal information about themselves. They will not be sharing their age, address, last names, email addresses or any photos of themselves, family or friends. The weekly blog will be part of the student's journal grade and the projects will count as a test grade. Students should consistently keep up with the blogs as topics will change each week.

Before your child can participate in these assignments, I am asking for you to discuss internet safety with your child. After discussing, please sign the attached permission form and have your child do the same. It can be returned to me in class by your child. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Please find below a list of our terms and conditions for blogging and wiki use.

1. Students are required to keep blog and wiki posts, centered around the topic for discussion only. 2. Students are required to keep all personal information off of the blog and wiki. 3. Students are not to share their usernames and passwords with anyone. 4. Students are to use respectful speech when posting and be mindful of other's views which may be different from their own. 5. Students will report any disrespectful or inappropriate comments or discussions to the teacher immediately. 6. If students come upon an inappropriate comment or site by accident, they will hit the back button and report the incident to the teacher immediately.

Thank you for allowing your child to participate in our online forums. I look forward to working with you this year, as we help your child to grow in their Spanish skills.

Sincerely, Julie Vajda World Language Department Chairperson