Deborah Smoak's Friends

Deborah Smoak's Page

At 11:03am on January 15, 2009, Scott Habeeb said…: Sounds good. We're having the same kind of budget hits here in VA. Not the best economic times. What we might be able to help you with is meeting the needs of freshmen without much, if any, cost in your budget.

At 9:51am on January 15, 2009, Scott Habeeb said…: Let us know how we can help. Meeting the needs of freshmen is too big an issue/priority to get cut. If we can help you sell things to your district, let us know.

At 9:16am on January 15, 2009, Scott Habeeb said…: Deborah - Does your freshman transition program have a website? If so, I'll add a link on the network.

At 3:11pm on January 10, 2009, Scott Habeeb said…: Deborah

Thanks for the info on your school's program. I'm glad to hear you've had success with your students. I'm sorry to hear that budget issues might impact what you can do in the future. I bet, though, that if Freshman Transition is a priority your school could make it work despite a weak budget cycle. For example, perhaps it's time to expand beyond the most "at-risk". Perhaps by incorporating more of your freshmen you would be able better work your program into your school's budget.

Would you do me a favor? Posts like yours are exactly what I'd like to see on the "Your School" discussion tab. Would you mind going to the "Your School" tab and posting what you sent to me as a comment there? You could even copy and paste the same information.

Also, does your school's program have a website? If so, I'll put a link to it from the main page.

Thanks for the feedback. Look forward to speaking with you more on the Freshman Transition Network.

At 6:18pm on January 5, 2009, Scott Habeeb said…: Thanks for joining this brand new network. This is definitely a "work in progress". Your input and ideas will play a big role in making this a useful and interactive site. Please let me know if you have ideas.

Be sure to read the "Read 1st" tab. I think that will give you a good idea of how to maximize this new network.

Check out the "Your School" tab. This gives people a chance to leave information about and a link to their school's Freshman Transition Program. I think this could help schools connect with one another.

Be sure to "friend" the other members of the community. That will make sure that the community truly is a community.

You might find the new "Search" tab to be helpful. It's a custom Google search engine dedicated to searching sites related to freshman transition. When you go to it you choose to be a volunteer contributor and then add sites to the search engine. As more sites are added, the engine becomes more and more powerful. Know any websites that are beneficial for teachers trying to meet the needs of freshmen?

Thanks again for joining!