Mrs. Morriston introduces herself as the new teacher for the Online Graduation Project Seminar course. She has over 25 years of experience working for the Peters Township School District as a librarian, English teacher, and technology trainer. The course will help students fulfill graduation requirements by developing career skills like resume writing and interviewing, as well as completing a career-related project. Students will work independently online through the Blackboard platform, but Mrs. Morriston and library resources are available for support. She emphasizes the self-directed nature of the course and asks parents to encourage their children's responsibility over their own learning.

1. August 29, 2011
Dear Parents, Family Members or Guardians,
I eagerly look forward to working with your children this semester in helping them explore their career goals, prepare for their
required graduation project, and navigate what is probably their first “online” course. I’m confident that by our working as a team
(family, student, teacher, administrators and community members,) your children will have a positive experience in the Online
Graduation Project Seminar.
Because many of you don’t know me, I’ll begin with a short introduction. A lifelong resident of western PA, I earned my Bachelor’s
Degree at Pitt, where I was class Valedictorian; I later earned my Masters Degree there, summa cum laude. A resident of Peters
Township for the past 25 years (My daughter is a PT graduate), I appreciate the community’s many benefits: a fantastic public
library, great recreational facilities and kind neighbors. I’ve spent my entire career at PTSD, working as a librarian, English teacher
and staff technology trainer. I also have experience in small business. Last spring, I proposed teaching this course to assist students
with completing both their online course and graduation project requirements.
In the Online Graduation Project Seminar, students will fulfill most of the requirements for their state-mandated graduation project,
including resume writing, interviewing, reflection writing and the completion of a career-related project. Students will assess their
own interests, aptitudes and experiences related to careers. They will be encouraged o network with potential employers or
colleges, and to contact subject area experts and staff mentors. A strength of this new course is that students will get to make
choices about the content and format of the major project they complete. The course will be heavily technology-based and will help
students learn to troubleshoot technology when it doesn’t work! It will also include much reading and writing, as well as some
review of vocabulary and geography, two areas that tests show are weaknesses for US students. The nature of this class makes it
“student driven” and individualized. A more complete outline of the course content is found in the class information section of the
online course.
Students will access their class at the site www.blendedschools.net with a username and password they will receive the opening
week. The majority of the activities that students will complete will be posted on that site. The course management software is
BlackBoard, which is used by approximately 85% of the colleges in the US.
An online course relies heavily on computer access. Students who don’t have computer and Internet access at home will want to
make arrangements to use our lab during extended hours (I will post these hours in Blended Schools each week). Students may also
use the library lab before and after school, or use the public library during evenings and weekends. In our online class, you will find
suggestions for ensuring that your home computer is ready for BlendedSchools online learning.
One of the early assignments is for students to teach their parents how to login to the BlendedSchools system and to show them the
course, especially this letter.
Besides creating the course material, my role, with your support, is to encourage each student to take responsibility for his/her own
learning and to take full advantage of his/her coursework. As the teacher, my goal is to help each child feel both supported and
challenged. My job is to let them fly and be their safety net. Most students should thrive in an environment that allows them to
tailor the activities to their preferences. On the other hand, online learning requires students to be highly responsible for their own
learning and to be self-disciplined. If your child takes some time to adjust to this greater independence, I ask that you be patient.
Encourage your child to take personal ownership of the work. When you say “What are your plans to resolve this…” you will send
the message that it is the student, not the parent, who needs to take the first steps to work out any problems. I will post “office
hours” each week for students who wish to discuss their course progress or seek additional help from me. I usually stay on
Thursdays from 2:30-3:45 and many Saturdays from 8am-noon. An extensive list of class room procedures and policies is found in
the class information section of the online course itself.
While I encourage the students to work directly with me to address any concerns, I welcome your contact when you feel it is
necessary. In addition, I will not hesitate to contact you if we need to work together more directly. Email is generally the easiest
and quickest way to reach me.
I’m very excited about this new course. We’re going to have an amazing semester.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Terry Morriston
morristont@pt-sd.org

2. 724-941-6250 x5336