Dear Carmody Middle School 7th & 8th Grade Computer Class Parents and Their Children:

August 24, 2007

A "Happy Welcome" to the 2007 Fall Semester.

Trust your children are having a great start to the 2007 winter semester. This "7th Grade Elective Computer Class" e-mail newsletter system is now up and running! This newsletter will be updated nearly every week on my web site describing important things to know about in my 7th grade technology classes. So please look forward to these newsletters. Thank you for providing me with your e-mail addresses as a means of improved communicating. A short cut or bookmark for reading my weekly newsletters is to go to: <http://www.kuzmich.com/parent_newsletters.html>. I hope that your child is enjoying my 7th grade computer elective classes. If you know of any parents in my 7th grade elective computer classes who aren't receiving it, please notify them to contact me via this e-mail address and I'll add them to my list. Presently, I have nearly 120+ e-mail addresses of parents in my bulk-mailing newsletter e-mail list which means I am communicating with nearly all of my 7th grade parents a minimum of three or four times a month about our unique/innovative class.

Although school has been in session for only two weeks, there are lots of grades to view in Carmody's Parent Portal at:  https://campus.jeffco.k12.co.us/campus/portal/jeffco_IC.jsp.  Please start to check it regularly because mistakes need to be cleaned up sooner than later because the fourth grading period's progress reports are due after next week.   So it makes sense to have accurate progress reports because:

1. Progress reports need to be as accurate as possible so your child can improve their grades.
2. Then your child has ten days to to fix what's missing or incorrectly recorded so that the progress reports are indeed more accurate. Note: more academic assignments will be forthcoming and if a student is not on-top-of-their assignments/tests, their grades could spiral down from the relatively high grades that are presently noted.

Here are some tips for reading the daily "Carmody Parent Portal."  It pays to access the Carmody Middle School Parent Portal on a regular basis now because Dr. Data posts daily grades every afternoon before leaving school! Note: this grading period will have progress reports issued in two weeks. So it pays to be aware of grades now. Your child will bring home Dr. Data mid-term progress reports on Monday, February 5, 2007. Then your child will have till Wednesday, February 14, 2007 to make up the missing assignments/tests.

Any assignments/tests in the Carmody Parent Portal with a *M means one of four things.

1. Student was absent and consequently did not complete and submit the assignment to Dr. Data. Note: all third grading period assignments/tests need to be made up with a deadline by Wednesday, February 14, 2007.
   • Never completed the assignment or did not do it such as being absent from class when due.
   • Student forgot to put their name on the printed assignment. Believe me, this happens nearly every day.
   • Completed the assignment and probably printed it out but never picked up the assignment at the printer and therefore did not submit it to Dr. Data.

Solution(s) for missing assignments? Since the Carmody Parent Portal (Infinite Campus) does not have an instant undo feature, it is possible that grades can get lost in their actual entry into the grade book. Two essentials things can help in immediately restoring any missing grades as identified below:

• Students are to put all returned assignments into their notebooks as permanent records so that they can easily validate that they did the assignment or
• Students whenever possible need to save their work on their server folder so that their saved work can be validated by printing it again or viewing it whenever needed.
• Student could use a floating "A" for any missing assignment and turn it into an "A" grade. Note: floating "A" can not be used for tests since they can be retaken without penalty. The procedure is simple for using floating "A's", any day a student submits an assignment in class, they can use one floating "A". If two assignments are submitted, they can submit two floating "A" that day. Students can never "take the day off" and use a floating "A" instead of working in class.
• When the daily assignment has been completed at home, please print out the assignment and then signed and dated by the parent along with your child's name when your child submits it to me for grading. All daily assignments and their links for printing them out can be found at: http://www.kuzmich.com/carmody/Curriculum_Preview.html. Note:  select 7th or 8th grade link at the top of the page to actually see the assignments for each of Dr. Data's computer classes.

Note:  extra-credit assignments in the Carmody Parent Portal are not required to be done, but obviously can have a positive effect on the learning in the classroom and raise ones grades.  Don't get alarmed if there are no points for extra-credit assignments for the student loses nothing if no extra-credit assignments are completed.

Carmody's "Whiz Chips" Club

Important date to mark: Monday's on scheduled Carmody club meetings so the "Whiz Chips Club" will meet regularly every Monday afternoon from 2:15 to 3 p.m.beginning on Monday, January 8, 2007 At these weekly meetings, students will learn how to construct computer games. Please encourage your 7th or 8th grade child to attend the first Whiz Chips Club meeting and find out why the Whiz Chips is a great way to enjoy computers. Each club member will also receive a computer game construction software application (Klik & Play) which can be downloaded for free by bringing Dr. Data a writeable CD-ROM (CDR) so your child can creatively practice at home beginning today!

After the beginning of school, the first meeting of the Carmody "Whiz Chips" Club took place on Monday, September 18, 2006 from 2:15 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the PC lab. New members are welcomed for second semester. The "Whiz Chips" Club sponsors an annual computer game contest spring semester. Some of your children might enjoy observing an intensive competition. Past information about the Whiz Chips Club can be located at: <http://www.kuzmich.com/carmody/whiz_chips_intro.html>.

Carmody is presently participating in a beta testing project for MultiMedia Fusion which is an advanced computer game creator application. It is a third-generation upgrade of Klik & Play and Games Factory. Whiz Chips members will be working on writing an instruction materials of how to make computer games covering the following areas: Screen savers, video players, music players, platform games, racing games, word games, educational games and more. of Whiz Chips members, Carmody will get a free school site license to have MultiMedia Fusion installed on all PC Lab computers, saving Carmody thousands of dollars. Dr. Data needs willing members to specialize on making computer games and assisting in organizing instruction materials.

Please have you child indicate if he or she is interested in being a member of "Whiz Chips" Club. Your child can download a 30-day trial version of MultiMedia Fusion at: <http://www.clickteam.com/English/multimedia_fusion.htm> in preparation for their participation in the beta testing of MultiMedia Fusion with its awesome graphics and animation.

Parent Observations/Visitations Welcomed!

Be aware that Dr. Data loves to have parents visit their child's class and have you seat next to your child and watch them working. Yes, parents are an important ingredient in the success of the children in school. And Dr. Data always encourages parents to "sit in." In some cases, you can assist Dr. Data or even teach with me in an area that you are knowledgeable with in computers, such as word processing, spreadsheets, database construction, Internet search engines, PowerPoint, web pages, etc. Last semester, we had several 7th grade parents volunteer to assist me and it was fun for all. Again for sample of curriculum topics and approximate dates, please go to: http://www.kuzmich.com/carmody/Curriculum_Preview.html

Future Newsletters!

The next newsletter will focus in on the different software applications we are using for instruction and how to purchase these products at a substantial discount! Are there any specific topics that you would like me to address in future newsletters? To begin, I recommend that you go the "Carmody 7th Grade Computer Class Web" site (http://www.kuzmich.com/carmody/Carmody_Opening.htm) for further insight about the instruction offered, philosophy and other related topics that will be important for the success of your child.

Closing Comments

If you have any questions about your child's work or class procedures, please don't hesitate to contact Dr. Data at either his e-mail address at: jkuzmich@earthlink.net for a faster response from your e-mails instead of my Jeffco e-mail address or his voice mail system at: 303-982-8883. For pressing issues, the fastest way to contact Dr. Data is to call the Carmody main office phone at 303-982-8930 and the receptionist will post a "love note" in his mail box for his prompt attention.,

Don't forget to visit Dr. Data's lesson plans on his weekly voice message system about the week's instruction. This could be particularly valuable whenever your child is absent from school or on a school field trip. Again, do so, please call 303-982-8883 24/7. The message is usually updated by Friday for the upcoming week's instruction or on Mondays.

Hope this installment of Dr. Data's 7th grade elective computer class newsletter is helpful in keeping you up-to-date with your child's activities, grades and well-being in the "7th Grade Computer Class."

In closing, look for Dr. Data's weekly newsletters at: http://www.kuzmich.com/parent_newsletters.html. Normally, he will e-mail you on the day it is posted as a reminder that it is up and available for your perusal.

Till next time,

John Kuzmich, Jr.
(alias Dr. Data )