MR SANDS, UMS TECHNOLOGY

  MAKING THE BEST USE OF CLASS TIME On a regular day of school at UMS we have one Advisory period at the beginning of the day that is 15 minutes long and then 8 periods that are each 46 minutes in length.  On early dismissal Wednesdays, we do not have an Advisory period and each of our 8 periods are shorted in length to only 41 minutes. Even though 46 minutes may feel like an eternity on some days for both students and staff, it really is NOT a lot of time.  Henceforth, students should make the most of the time they have in classes to utilize all of their resources (the teacher, other students, equipment specific to school, etc.).  Otherwise, if you try to work on assignments at home you may easily forget things or get stuck because you don't have someone next to you to help you along. I often see many students waste tremendous amounts of time in my classes simply messing around on the computer (listening to music, playing time-wasting games, working on assignments f...

  STAYING ON TOP OF THINGS As we get more into the flow of the school year, it is super helpful for students to manage all of their work for all of their classes.  In elementary school, everything comes from a single teacher, but at middle school, you have different teachers at different times of the day with different expectations for how you should complete your assignments and how you should turn things in. In particular, in my classes, my students struggle at first with the concept of turning files in via Google Classroom.  For example if you are working on a Google Slides presentation, but don't attach the file to that assignment within Google Classroom, then I can't see if you completed the assignment or even started working on it.  However, if you attach the file, I can see your work as you make progress on it... Even if you haven't TURNED IN the assignment yet... Word to the wise, for my classes, or any classes that use Google Classroom, make sure you attach ...