Tapped In Newsletter: September 2001

...ON THE TAPIS
September 2001
Issue 46

In This Issue

[1] A Message for the TAPPED IN Community
[2] Social Studies Forum: Band of Brothers postponed
[3] Member Perspective: Phil Benz
[4] New ASO Sessions
[5] Technology Tips
[6] About ...On the TAPIS

Quote of the Month - "When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it...always." - Mahatma Ghandi

[1] A Message for the TAPPED IN Community

No person has been left untouched by the tragic events of September 11. The TAPPED IN Community grieves for all our friends and colleagues who lost loved ones. Our lives have been altered for all time. Some of our community members are offering special sessions and resources during this difficult time. Below is a listing of the ones we know of.

Message Group:
Sharing thoughts, feelings, and ideas help us to express the resolve of our human spirit and give us an opportunity to reaffirm life. Andy Carvin of the Benton Foundation has started a Yahoo Group. Members of this group may post messages related to the September 11 disaster.

Session on Curriculum Resources:
Last week's terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. affected us all, but especially young children, many of whom are fearful for their families, schools, and their selves. In that spirit, this week's Social Studies forum will be dedicated to explaining resources teachers can use to help put last week's tragedy in context, especially for young children. Joining the forum on September 19 will be representatives from TIME Classroom, including Kelly Drop, who is the associate marketing manager for TIME for Kids, and Shirley Harden, professional educational consultant and member of the TIME for Kids advisory board.

Administrators:
Robert Amenta will host the Administrator's Forum on October 1 with the topic, "Leading During Crisis."

Online Peace Project:
The Blanket the World with Peace Project is an opportunity for organizations, schools, and institutions to participate in an electronic quilt of peace-related artwork with links to original poetry, music, and literature based on the theme of peace through the resolution of conflict. The next meeting is October 4. For more information on the Peace Project send an email BJ Berquist at bjb @ tappedin.org.

Message Board for Students:
Phil Benz has a message board to address the catastrophe and to give students an open platform where they can write about their reaction. To access the board click on Forums and then Attack on New York. Phil leads the Euro Language Forum that meets every Tuesday.

The TAPPED IN staff and community leaders are working on providing resources and discussion groups to help educators help their classes and families cope with this overwhelming and frightening event. If you are interested in participating or leading an event related to this topic, please contact us. The MEET ME email group will also be used to update the monthly calendar of events. (See [4] Technology Tips below)

[2] Social Studies Forum: Band of Brothers postponed

Because of the tragedy in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania, the special Social Studies forum session on "Band of Brothers" has been rescheduled for Wednesday, September 26. It was the feeling of all concerned that our thoughts should be on all affected by the attacks rather than on a forum session. Please feel free to e-mail Michael Hutchison at mhutch @ charter.net if you have questions or would like more information about the forum.

[3] Member Perspective: Phil Benz

"I first discovered TAPPED IN a year ago last August, after studying a lot of material on Bernie Dodge's WebQuest page and reading the transcripts of several of his monthly sessions. Right away I knew that TAPPED IN was going to be an important resource in my personal quest for professional development.

The first scheduled session I attended, the Social Studies Forum with Michael Hutchison, really opened my eyes. Here was a group of like-minded educators, all chatting about a single topic, exchanging ideas and resources, and actually viewing web sites together using the "project" command - perhaps the single most useful feature in TAPPED IN. This was a forum for exchange and collaboration with possibilities far outstripping traditional chat tools and e-mail discussion groups. I was hooked." See all our member perspectives.

[4] New ASO Sessions

Language Arts Forum
Donna Hendry is leading the new Language Arts Forum which meets twice a month. The next two sessions will be held on October 1 and 15. Join in to discuss various issues and topics related to language arts teachers.

Writing for WebHeads
Webheads is a community of ESL students and teachers. This discussion group meets every Sunday at TAPPED IN. Visit the WebHeads site for more information.

[5] Technology Tips

MEET ME Email Group
Occasionally there will be updates and changes to the monthly calendar of scheduled events. You can receive updated weekly reminders to the Calendar by joining the MEET ME group. MEET ME is also a way to contact TAPPED IN members to ask a question or find colleagues who may be interested in forming a new Special Interest Discussion Group (SIG).

Advanced Tech Tip of the Month: Special Interest Email Groups
Many of the Special Interest Groups (SIGs) have their own moderated email groups. For more information on how to register for a moderated SIG, please contact us.

[6] About ...On the TAPIS

Postings of all ...ON THE TAPIS issues are available on the TAPPED IN website. Contact us if you have any questions about your subscription, password or user name, or if you have any news items that you want to share with the community for ...ON THE TAPIS.