Happy New Year! We hope that everyone had an opportunity to spend quality time with their families over the holiday season. For some, the holidays bring the purchase of new phones, tablets or computers. We wanted to remind you how easy it is to access all of the programs that the Mentor Schools makes available to support your child's learning along with some tips to keep your children safe while using this technology. The easiest way to find these programs is through  Clever . You can get to Clever by following the two simple steps below:
1) Log into Google with your child's account information. Every student in Mentor has their own Google account. The login is as follows:
Username:  studentid#@ students.mentorschools.org
Password:  capital first letter, lowercase last initial, period(.) and then their lunch pin - Aa.##### If you don't know their lunch pin, you can find this on the parent portal.
2) Once you are logged into Google, click the link below to go to Mentor's Clever site. You can also access Clever through Mentor Schools' website.
Check out these sites that offer tips when setting up your new technology to keep your kids safe. They are also a great review even if the technology is already set-up.
Family Resource Corner
Tech to Help Support Kids and Families at Home
Keeping up with appointments, grocery lists, and chores can be overwhelming for anyone, and doing that for an entire family can seem downright impossible. That’s why, as we head into the new year, keeping ourselves and our families better organized and on track often becomes a big focus for many of us. Fortunately, there are a number of great apps that can help us do just that!
Have a tech resource that you love for your family? Let me know about it! I’m always looking for new ways to support parents and kids. In the meantime, happy holidays!
Contributed by: Tricia Zeedrich, Mentor Schools Parent Mentor
Technology Used to Support Learning
This section of our monthly newsletter highlights the various programs our students can access to support learning. Last month, we highlighted the Math programs available to our students. This month we turn our attention to programs students can use to create their own video content . Check out the following programs that students can access on their student iPads, Chromebooks or MacBooks.
WeVideo
Students in grades 3-5 can use WeVideo on their Chromebooks to create engaging content. Students can create informational videos on topics they are learning about, PSA's or a short video summarizing a book they read.
iMovie
In grades 6-8, our students can use iMovie to create high quality videos. Students can record clips, add titles, music and effects from their iPads to create videos that will be sure to help them remember and share the content they are learning!
Quicktime Player
At the high school level, students can use Quicktime to record videos, create screen recordings for "How To" clips, or create an audio file for a podcast. All of this can be done with the Quicktime Player program found on their school issued MacBook.