First In Math® Forums: Communication w/students through the Website.

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Heat96
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Joined: 26 Sep 2009
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Topic: Communication w/students through the Website.
Posted: 26 Sep 2009 at 3:14pm

Does anybody know if the teacher is able to post messages for students through the firstinmath website? Can the students send messages/respond back to the teacher? Thank You!

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fimguide
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Posted: 28 Sep 2009 at 8:51am

At this time there is no way to directly communicate with students through the FIM site.

This topic has been discussed, but we've never heard much positive educator input. (Some have expressed concern that students would spend time with the email feature - especially if they could email with other players - and not concentrate on using the site properly)

If FIM were to implement such a feature, do you have any suggestions about functionality? Would one-way communication (teacher to student) be sufficient, or do you feel that two-way communication is best?

If anyone feels that this type of communication would be valuable we would love to hear from you! Send us your ideas!

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Heat96
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Joined: 26 Sep 2009
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Posts: 3

Posted: 28 Sep 2009 at 10:57am

I only have a huge need to communicate with my students during vacation time. It will be of tremendous help to be able to send special messages to students to personally congratulate them even if they are not completely reaching their goal; I have a few underachievers who need extra push to get there. Also, some of my advanced students are not playing and they need to hear from me. Many times students need to call me to ask questions, and I would rather them do it through the website than through my personal phone number. I would not want the students to be able to communicate with each other; just the student and the teacher (back and forth). Maybe we can limit the number of times a student can contact the teacher; one message a day should be sufficient, no carry overs. Also limit the amount of words per message. I would love to be able to send the same message to all the students at the same time. Thank You!

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fimguide
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Posted: 28 Sep 2009 at 1:48pm

Just to make sure I understand you correctly, we are referring to messages posted on the FIM site, probably on the Team Leader Home page/Student home page? These would be helpful if the students are already going on the site, but students won't see the message if they are not already logging on to FIM.

(I'm not sure about the legality of sending emails to students at home via the site, is that what you meant?)

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Heat96
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Joined: 26 Sep 2009
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Posted: 01 Oct 2009 at 12:18am

My students are definitely using the program on a daily basis! I'm so proud of them!

Let me give you a specific example so maybe this can help you understand it better:

Half of my students do not have internet access at home so they have to go to the public library, where they have to wait in line to sign up for the three computers that are available for thirty minutes at a time. In other words, they have to sign up for thirty minutes and then after they are done they have to sign up again for another thirty minutes, but by then the waiting list is way too long.

Today, I found out that there is another computer center available to the public everyday from 1-7pm and that my students will not have to wait in line because this center has lots of computers available. Most of my students don't know about this; thus, I would like to be able to post a message, on their homepage, informing them about this center, so they no longer have to wait in line to use a computer at the public library. Please keep in mind that my students are off school for two weeks. They are so motivated!

Based on what you have shared with me so far, it seems that this task may be too hard to accomplish, may not be advisable, or that it is not possible. I just thought I ask to see what the possibilities were; me and wishful thinking.

I guess it will be really hard to monitor all the messages being posted.

Of course, this will not stop my students (the ones w/out internent access at home) from earning stickers, it may slow them down a little bit, but they will meet their goal and will keep enjoying the program.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question!

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Kathy678
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Joined: 17 Nov 2009
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Posted: 17 Nov 2009 at 9:00pm

I would love to be able to post messages to my students on their page.

Congrats to certain students, encouragement to others, reminders of goal progress, things like that.

I do it through email now but think on the student page would be great. Hope it is something you can work out.

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fimguide
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Joined: 21 Mar 2006
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Posts: 63

Posted: 18 Nov 2009 at 9:59am

We are currently looking into the logistics of this sort of thing.

Would you be satisfied with being able to send the same message out to all team members, not individual messages to individual students?

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Kathy678
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Posted: 04 Dec 2009 at 11:03pm

Sure! That would be a start.

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tmorse
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Joined: 06 Jan 2010
Location: United States
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Posted: 06 Jan 2010 at 8:34pm

I like the way another great website, studyisland.com handles communication b/t students & teachers: it's not email (a bad idea), but you can post messages to students and they can post messages to the teacher (only). It is a highly effective (and rarely used) feature for me and my students.

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fimguide
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Joined: 21 Mar 2006
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Posts: 63

Posted: 07 Jan 2010 at 7:53am

Thank you for your comments. We would love to hear more suggestions from other educators on this topic! Many of the improvements made to the site have come directly from educator input.

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First In Math® General Discussion
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Author	Message
Heat96 New Member Joined: 26 Sep 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3	Topic: Communication w/students through the Website. Posted: 26 Sep 2009 at 3:14pm
	Does anybody know if the teacher is able to post messages for students through the firstinmath website? Can the students send messages/respond back to the teacher? Thank You!
	IP Logged

fimguide Admin Group Joined: 21 Mar 2006 Online Status: Offline Posts: 63	Posted: 28 Sep 2009 at 8:51am
	At this time there is no way to directly communicate with students through the FIM site. This topic has been discussed, but we've never heard much positive educator input. (Some have expressed concern that students would spend time with the email feature - especially if they could email with other players - and not concentrate on using the site properly) If FIM were to implement such a feature, do you have any suggestions about functionality? Would one-way communication (teacher to student) be sufficient, or do you feel that two-way communication is best? If anyone feels that this type of communication would be valuable we would love to hear from you! Send us your ideas!
	IP Logged

Heat96 New Member Joined: 26 Sep 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3	Posted: 28 Sep 2009 at 10:57am
	I only have a huge need to communicate with my students during vacation time. It will be of tremendous help to be able to send special messages to students to personally congratulate them even if they are not completely reaching their goal; I have a few underachievers who need extra push to get there. Also, some of my advanced students are not playing and they need to hear from me. Many times students need to call me to ask questions, and I would rather them do it through the website than through my personal phone number. I would not want the students to be able to communicate with each other; just the student and the teacher (back and forth). Maybe we can limit the number of times a student can contact the teacher; one message a day should be sufficient, no carry overs. Also limit the amount of words per message. I would love to be able to send the same message to all the students at the same time. Thank You!
	IP Logged

fimguide Admin Group Joined: 21 Mar 2006 Online Status: Offline Posts: 63	Posted: 28 Sep 2009 at 1:48pm
	Just to make sure I understand you correctly, we are referring to messages posted on the FIM site, probably on the Team Leader Home page/Student home page? These would be helpful if the students are already going on the site, but students won't see the message if they are not already logging on to FIM. (I'm not sure about the legality of sending emails to students at home via the site, is that what you meant?)
	IP Logged

Heat96 New Member Joined: 26 Sep 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3	Posted: 01 Oct 2009 at 12:18am
	My students are definitely using the program on a daily basis! I'm so proud of them! Let me give you a specific example so maybe this can help you understand it better: Half of my students do not have internet access at home so they have to go to the public library, where they have to wait in line to sign up for the three computers that are available for thirty minutes at a time. In other words, they have to sign up for thirty minutes and then after they are done they have to sign up again for another thirty minutes, but by then the waiting list is way too long. Today, I found out that there is another computer center available to the public everyday from 1-7pm and that my students will not have to wait in line because this center has lots of computers available. Most of my students don't know about this; thus, I would like to be able to post a message, on their homepage, informing them about this center, so they no longer have to wait in line to use a computer at the public library. Please keep in mind that my students are off school for two weeks. They are so motivated! Based on what you have shared with me so far, it seems that this task may be too hard to accomplish, may not be advisable, or that it is not possible. I just thought I ask to see what the possibilities were; me and wishful thinking. I guess it will be really hard to monitor all the messages being posted. Of course, this will not stop my students (the ones w/out internent access at home) from earning stickers, it may slow them down a little bit, but they will meet their goal and will keep enjoying the program. Thank you for taking the time to answer my question!
	IP Logged

Kathy678 New Member Joined: 17 Nov 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2	Posted: 17 Nov 2009 at 9:00pm
	I would love to be able to post messages to my students on their page. Congrats to certain students, encouragement to others, reminders of goal progress, things like that. I do it through email now but think on the student page would be great. Hope it is something you can work out.
	IP Logged

fimguide Admin Group Joined: 21 Mar 2006 Online Status: Offline Posts: 63	Posted: 18 Nov 2009 at 9:59am
	We are currently looking into the logistics of this sort of thing. Would you be satisfied with being able to send the same message out to all team members, not individual messages to individual students?
	IP Logged

Kathy678 New Member Joined: 17 Nov 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2	Posted: 04 Dec 2009 at 11:03pm
	Sure! That would be a start.
	IP Logged

tmorse New Member Joined: 06 Jan 2010 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 1	Posted: 06 Jan 2010 at 8:34pm
	I like the way another great website, studyisland.com handles communication b/t students & teachers: it's not email (a bad idea), but you can post messages to students and they can post messages to the teacher (only). It is a highly effective (and rarely used) feature for me and my students.
	IP Logged

fimguide Admin Group Joined: 21 Mar 2006 Online Status: Offline Posts: 63	Posted: 07 Jan 2010 at 7:53am
	Thank you for your comments. We would love to hear more suggestions from other educators on this topic! Many of the improvements made to the site have come directly from educator input.
	IP Logged