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TEACHERS.NET GAZETTE
Volume 4 Number 7
COVER STORY
I feel we have to approach education with the determination to affect each and every one of our students. The mentality of achieving "success" after reaching one child isn't enough.
The Essential 55 Rules - Discovering the Successful Student In Every Child...
ARTICLES
The Essential 55 Rules - Discovering the Successful Student In Every Child by Ron Clark
There Must Be More Than This: Finding More Life, Love and Meaning by Overcoming Your Soft Addictions by Judith Wright
Teachers.Net Webring Features Teachers' Sites by Valerie Simeone
Teacher Resource Book Reviews from the Teachers.Net Community
Behavior Management Sites
NASAexplores: Express Lessons & On-line Resources for K-12 Educators by Dawn Gaddis
Editor's epicks for July by Kathleen Alape Carpenter
Gadget Lovers of the World Unite! by Skippy
Tech Tip - Printing Bookmarks and Favorites from the Teacher Chatboard
Helping Young Children Deal with Violence in the News from National Association for the Education of Young Children
Teachers Turning to Out2.Com to Communicate With Parents -- Unique Site Enables Vital Connection from www.out2.com
Travelogue by Kathleen Alape Carpenter
July Columns
July Regular Features
July Informational Items
Gazette Home Delivery:

Teacher Feature...

Teachers Turning to Out2.Com to Communicate With Parents
Unique Site Enables Vital Connection

from www.out2.com


Until recently, communication between teachers and parents was done through notes sent home with the kids or telephone calls. With technology advancing at a rapid pace, one would think that a completely user friendly technology would exist that would enhance parent-teacher communication. That technology does exist and it is being utilized by growing numbers of people across the country.

Out2.com has created a vibrant community on the Internet by developing a nationwide network of local, online newspapers, each as unique and special as the locality it represents. Out2.com is a geographically focused, highly interactive network that is customized for more than 12,000 individual communities. The system is interactive, allowing everyone from local governments to teachers to easily and quickly publish their information where it can be accessed by their target audience.

To experience this phenomenon, type in http://www.out2.com to produce a U.S. map. Locate and click on your state, then your county, and then your town or city. Out2.com will then plant a cookie in your system identifying you as a resident of that town, so the next time you type in http://www.out2.com you will be taken back to your town's page.

On the right hand side of the page you will find a list of schools. (If your school is not there you can add it by clicking the "Is your school missing?" button.) Once your school is added, it is extremely easy to create your virtual classroom. First, click on your school's name. Next, look in the upper right hand corner for the button labeled, "Teachers click here to get your virtual classroom." Click on that, fill out, then submit the form. Once you see a "Thank You" message, there will be instructions about how to enter content into your virtual classroom page. Click that, print the page and you are on your way to the 21st century format for communicating with your students' parents. Post information about daily lessons, homework, field trips, school events, and any other information.

Do you have news about an important school or community event you would like to share with others in your town? Just click on the red "Submit News" button at the top left of Out2.com pages and follow the directions. Within 24 hours, your news will be published in your hometown section for other residents to access.

The best part is that this virtual communication service FREE! And, in addition to the service the site will provide for parents of your students, Out2.com will furnish you with the latest Associated Press news including national and international politics, business, education, science, sports, and lifestyle features. Stunning photography will captivate your eye, and you'll come to rely upon helpful features such as local weather forecasts, lottery numbers, daily crossword, even your local movie theater schedules.

Worthy of inclusion in your Bookmarks or Favorites file, Out2.com http://www.out2.com is waiting for your first visit.


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