Technology Use & PARENT COMMUNICATION

Internet Usage at Amana

Student use of the Internet will be an important component of classroom research and learning. Amana Academy complies with the Children's Internet Protection Act. Filtering is in place that blocks access to material that may be inappropriate for your child. Web sites are permitted or denied upon review of the school Media Committee. Acceptable use of the Internet is established in Fulton County Schools Board Policy/Procedure IFBGA, Electronic Network Access. Amana students and their families must sign the school’s Internet use agreement before being permitted to use e-mail, World Wide Web, or other Internet-related tools (will be sent home prior to use). Teachers will supervise student Internet use and students will abide by Internet safety protocols.

BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) for Grades 4-8

There will be times during the school year when it will be beneficial for students in grades 4-8 to bring their own technology devices to school. Laptops and Tablets may be brought to school during designated times of the year. When student technology devices are brought to school, they are to be used only at pre-ordained times during the school day.

Communicating Information to Parents

• Updates, Events, & Important Information:
  1. Sunday Updates: a text and email with high-level, school-wide updates to look out for that week
  2. Wednesday Eagle Updates Newsletter: Main Hub for all information parents should be aware of: school-wide happenings, event flyers, links to accessing docs/sign-ups, student highlights, etc.
     • Tips: Wednesday Eagle Updates are your lifeline, and your best way to staying up to date on what's happening at Amana. We highly recommending checking this weekly.

• Homework, Assignments, & Teacher Updates:
  1. Google Classroom: Teachers and students use Google Classroom to post assignments, send updates on homework, and as a forum for students to ask questions to teachers.
  2. Teacher Newsletters: Teachers send newsletters to your email to give you a deeper look at what's happening in your child's classroom, along with what support teachers are looking for.
     • Tips: We advise you linking your email, so you're getting updates from Google Classroom as well.

• Grades:
  1. Infinite Campus: Amana uses the online portal, Infinite Campus, to communicate progress reports and grades to parents
     • Tips: We recommend checking Infinite Campus once a week, to make sure you're in the loop about grades, missing assignments, etc. The earlier we find that parents catch their child's grades, the easier it is to have conversation with teachers to support your child.

Amana's Online Resources & Tools to Enhance Learning

1. Study Island: www.studyisland.com
   1. Used to prep our students for Milestones Assessment
2. Georgia Experience: http://www.gaexperienceonline.com/
   1. Gives students opportunities to practice online testing (a good prep for Milestones as well)
3. iReady:‌ ‌ ‌‌https://login.i-ready.com/‌ ‌
   1. We use i-Ready as a diagnostic tool, encouraging students t do 45 minutes of ELA and 45 minutes of Math each week. The data provided by the iReady Assessments helps us individualize and personalize instruction for these students.
4. BrainPop: https://www.brainpop.com/
   1. An interactive way to supplement students in Science, Social Studies, English, Math, Health, and Technology