April Digital Citizenship

Adapting. Balancing. Collaborating.

Each month, we will share with families a Digital Citizenship newsletter. We would like to share with you information around the technology being used in Mentor Schools along with resources to support your child's education. Please reach out with topics you would find helpful in this newsletter.

Current Operating Systems

MacBook - 12.6.3

ChromeBook - 107

iPad - 16.4.1

as of 4/20/23

Use of Devices (Typing Programs)

A skill that can help many students as they get older and continue to find new ways to take advantage of technology is typing. It can allow them to work more efficiently, whether they are using technology for communicating, coding, or content creation. With our third graders receiving Chromebooks in the middle of May and all students from 4th through 12th grades already having a device with a keyboard, we wanted to share some free resources to help your child develop some good keyboard/typing skills.

Typing.com - Typing.com is a free typing program that offers interactive lessons, games, and timed tests to help users improve their typing skills. It also provides personalized typing goals and progress tracking.

TypingClub : TypingClub is another free program offering over 600 lessons and exercises. It also provides feedback and progress tracking to help users improve their typing skills.

Keybr.com: Keybr.com is a free typing program focusing on touch typing skills. It provides customized lessons based on the user's typing speed and accuracy and also offers progress tracking and detailed reports.

Family Resource Corner

Digital Resources to Help Support Caregivers, Kids, and Families at Home

YouTube videos can be entertaining, educational, or a great mix of both. The service is easy to use, and it offers a ton of high-interest content on demand, making it super engaging. That’s why so many of our kids watch videos on YouTube. In fact, a lot of them use it every day and for big chunks of time. So it’s important that we have some resources for managing our kids’ YouTube use. Here are a few:

Does your family have a specific tech need? A resource that you love? Let me know about it!

Contributed by: Tricia Zeedrich, Mentor Schools Parent Mentor & Family Engagement Coordinator zeedrich@mentorschools.org 440.974.5359

Technology Used to Support Learning

Lucid Chart

Within the last year, the district added Lucidchart as a program that all of our students could use. As with all of our programs, the easiest way to gain access to Lucidchart is through Clever. Lucidchart is a handy tool for students in all grade levels. Some ways that students can use Lucidchart are brainstorming and planning, using flowcharts to organize ideas, creating diagrams or models for science or math projects, and creating storyboards or diagrams to visualize literary elements.

Check out this fantastic resource, and you may even be intrigued to sign up for a free account to make some of your own creations!

Digital Footprints

Our district is committed to finding ways to make sure that students know the importance of the information they post online especially social media. We are in a time where a student's digital footprint is just as important as the information they will include on their resume. Please take 5 minutes with your child(ren) to review this "10 Things to Know" graphic to the left. A positive digital footprint can help students stand out as they go to apply for colleges and demonstrate their skills, knowledge, and character to future employers.

Mentor Public Schools

6451 Center Street

Mentor, Ohio 44060

Phone 440.255.4444

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