Email with Parents

I have had good email exchanges with parents. But, I have had also had email experiences that make me lose sleep. What is the balance between positive communication and overwhelming emailing?

What are your rules for parent emails? What boundaries have you made for yourself or your students' parents for emailing?

iPods

I am thinking of ordering multiple ipod touches for my classroom. I have heard some great things about activities that students can do on them independently. I am a little bit concerned about the level of training my students will need to use them effectively. Any ideas? Experiences?

I am also somewhat concerned about how to make rules and procedures about their use. Any suggestions?

Using a Flip Camera

I have finally started using the flip camera that was given to me in February! I found that some students became very nervous in front of the camera. Their voices were too quiet and often trailed off at the end of their sentences. On the other hand some students were 'naturals.' Two of my students needed no direction - they just jumped in there and spoke wonderfully; loud enough, clear enough, and even made eye contact with the camera. What problems have you seen with the flip camera? Also when have you used them successfully?

Using a Smartboard

I have recently started using a smart board in my classroom. I have found that students are highly motivated to use the smart board. However, I worry that students focus on the 'game' aspects of the smart board activity over focusing on the lesson topic. I especially saw this with my context clues lesson. The students had significant trouble generalizing their work to real books after two days of smart board paragraphs. Any one have any suggestions? Has any one have a similar experience?