This is dedicated to my mother who passed away October 1, 2008. Her favorite Christmas song!

This is an exciting time of year for students who are returning to school. They are full of excitement for the new school year having been off for summer vacation. Many students do want to come back-to-school; however, there are some who do not want to return. For them, it has been fun not to work on homework or reading assignments for tests.

School shouldn’t always be about dreadful things we don’t want to do, but can be about things that we like to do. To help your child or children stay excited about school, find out what they are really interested in and let them explore. The Internet is a wonderful resource for learning about many topics of interest. When I am visiting my mom (who does not have Internet), I am amazed at how I miss the Internet and looking up words or topics that come up in conversations. To deepen the meaning of conversations, the Internet is a very useful tool.

Shalom y’all!

It is great to be back at home. I missed teaching the last days of school so I will be updating you on my trip to Israel.

First of all, it was exciting, awesome, and beautiful.
My husband and I signed up with Moody Bible Institute to tour Israel from May 25 to June 5. We were up by 5:00am, off and running until 9pm most days. We had full days of learning about Israel’s history visiting many tels that have been excavated. I will be sharing more about each place later.

While at Tel Dan (Ruth 4: 1; 2 Samuel 15:2-4), Paul and I renewed our wedding vows at the place for judging located at the city gate. The picture above shows us standing on the judging area with Dr. Julius from Moody Bible Institute. We had ten witnesses, to our surprise our friends organized a party with ten squirt guns to anoint our renewal of vows.

It was just one of the great memories we have from our trip to Israel.

Dr. J baptizing in the Jordan River!

This is where we stayed in Israel!

Evening of May 26 through morning of May 28
Le Meridian Hotel Dead Sea
Ph: 011 972-8-659-1234
Website: www.fattal-hotels-israel.com/dead.htm

Evening of May 28 through morning of May 31
Gai Beach Hotel Tiberias
Ph: 011 972-4-670-0700
Website: www.gaibeachhotel.com

Evening of May 31 through evening of June 4
Regency Hotel Jerusalem
Ph: 011 972-2-533-1234
Website: www.regency.co.i

What is a key Fob?

We now have Key Fobs at Whittier School.

A Key Fob is used to unlock doors electronically http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid14_gci795968,00.html

From now on the doors at Whittier School will be locked. If students are coming to school early because they are working with various teachers, they need to ring the bell to get in. Otherwise, they will not find the doors unlocked.

Key Fobs are for the students safety.

For day 3 of the 31 Day Comment Challenge, the activity was to acquire a comment tracking service. Well, I was ahead of the game. I had read Sue Water’s post on co.mments and have been using it.

Now the challenge will be to use co.mments more often.

Blogging is more than creating a Website to place important ideas, opinions, concerns, and information. There is a second part to blogging that is equally important. It is the comments.

Part I Blogs:
It is very exciting to create a blog with all of the widgets and images. Eventually the creator of the blog becomes very satisfied with the look and feel of their pages because of personal preferences and fondness. In fact, if you’re looking for a place to start a blog, then consider Blogger, WordPress, or edublogs.

Part II Comments:
It is very important to read blogs written by others and post comments or write responses to what you have read. Let the author of the blog know how you feel about the topic that was written.

Sometimes you will read blogs that are of high interest to you or other times you want to read to gather more information about a topic. It doesn’t matter why you decide to read the blog. What matters is if you take the time to comment.

Many times I spend my mornings reading blog after blog never commenting. I wanted to change this so I have joined the 31 Day Comment Challenge. I will be forcing myself to take the time to comment to blogs I read.

Here a link to the Daily Activities on the 31 Day Comment Challenge.

http://commentchallenge.wikispaces.com/31+Day+Comment+Challenge+Activities

Do we start with blogs or FrontPage?

Students:
You have been asking about making Websites and blogs to go on the Internet.

Here are some rules:
This year we have used Classblogmeister for you to post your thoughts, ideas, and concerns. This blog is private so remember to make your blog private and ask for help when you are trying to set up your new blog account.

Rules for starting a blog or Website:
First get permission from your parents about starting a Website or blog that is actually placed on the Internet. In class, we have been working with FrontPage that creates WebPages but these have not been placed on the Web. You must get permission from your parents and work with your parents to build a Website or blog.

Blogs are the easiest for you to create, so ask your parents to help you make a blog a safe place for you to post your thoughts, ideas, and opinions. Many of you have a blog and know how to make it private. Remember Adora, her mom checks everything she writes then she is allowed to post and her comments are check by her mom too. In this way, no one can post anything without it being read by mom first.

Be Safe:

• Never, never, never give anyone your user name or password.
• You must not give out personal information to anyone, even a classmate.
• Do not put images of any kind of yourself on the Internet. You must have permission from parents and be 14 years of age to put images on Flickr.
• Do not use your full name on the Internet. Always get help from a parent when answering questions on the Internet.

Images:

• Remember to take pictures of things not people, buildings not people, objects not family.
• Since you are underage, get permission from an adult or ask their opinion of what you are posting online. It is a permanent place. Do not take pictures of inappropriate things for a little joke. This is acting irresponsible. Be responsible and think before you post pictures.

Trust Your Parents:

• Seek the advice of your parents or adult members of your family. They can help you when trying to make decisions about Internet Safety.
• Be careful and if in doubt…..ask, ask, and ask again.