Sample parent permission/code of conduct for twitter book chats via Michele Haiken, The Teaching Factor

1. November 25,2013
Dear English8R Parents,
Overthe nexttwomonths, English8R studentswhoare workingtowardsan “A” are requiredtoread Bystander
by JamesPrellerandparticipate inthree Twitterbookchatsregardingthe text. Thisletteristogive youmore
informationaboutthe projectandtoaddressinternetsafety.
Twitteris a micro-bloggingtool thatisdesignedtoallow acquaintancestostayintouchwitheach other.Twitter
was originallyintendedasasocial networkingtool,butitisquicklygrowingintoawide varietyof applications.
For example,if youhave aTwitteraccount,youmightsenda post (calledatweet).Yourfriendswhoalsohave
Twitteraccountscan signup to “follow”you.Whenyousenda tweet,all of yourfollowersgetanotice eithervia
textmessage totheircellulardevice ortoa desktopcomputerprogram.
Besidesthe social aspectsof Twitter,there are manypossibilities. Businesseshave made Twitteraccountsto
alertcustomersto sales. Celebrities have made accountstokeeptheirfansupto date. Radiostations& DJs have
made Twitteraccountsto allowlistenerstosendinquestions,comments,orto discussthe topicsonthe show.
So,what doesthishave to dowithmiddle school English?Inworldof educationtechnology,Twitterisahot
topic.Many teachersare tryingto integrate thistechnologyintotheirclassroomindifferentways.One of my
personal passionsistoexplore andworkwithemergingtechnologies,soIam usingTwittertohelpmake my
classroombetter.
For thisprojectI wouldlike the studentstocreate a Twitteraccountthat theywoulduse forschool purposes
only. Three timesbetweenDecemberandJanuary,studentswill accessTwittertoparticipate ina Twitterchat.
Theywill answerand raise questionsabouttopicsaddressedinthe book Bystanderbyusingthe hashtag
#RMSBystander.
Studentswill understandthattheycanpartake insocial mediaforeducational purposes,andtheywill learnto
practice positive digitalcitizenshipbehavior.
The other applicationwe will be usingiscalled EDMODO(www.edmodo.com). Itisa secure educational
network thatthe students can share reflectionsandideasaboutthe book. Edmodoisclosedtothe public.
Please email me anyquestionsorconcernsthatyou mayhave.
Sincerely,
Michele L.Haiken,Ed.D.
haikenm@ryeschools.org
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Please completethistearslipandhave yourson/daughterreturnittome by December4,2013.
I have readthis letterandgive myson/daughterpermissiontoparticipate inthe project.
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2. Name of Student Signature of Parent