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    About the Course

    • Making Connections is an innovative, online learning tool designed to give mentors, teachers, counselors and volunteers the strategies and tools they need to build strong relationships with kids. For more information, click here.
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    About the Blog

    • The Making Connections Blog is a place where mentors, teachers, counselors and volunteers who work with kids can come together to find support, resources and information that they can use to help them be even better at their jobs. It is a place to find answers, explore solutions, make connections, and share ideas, experiences, challenges and knowledge, all with the intent of finding more and better ways to build the kinds of relationships that help keep kids in school.
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    About Tobi Kibel Piatek

    Blogger, course developer, and instructor, Tobi Kibel Piatek, writes about education, designs curriculum, graphics and websites, and teaches teachers, online and in person. A long time mentor, parent and educator, her work combines a love for kids, learning and technology.
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    Call 2-1-1 for Health and Human Services information and referral

    By Tobi Kibel Piatek | Thursday, August 21st, 2008

    2-1-1  is a three digit number to know about and remember if your work with kids and families, especially those in need of help, services or information.

    Think about 211 as the 911 to call to locate basic resources such as food, shelter, employment, or health care. 2-1-1 is intended to cut through the maze of agencies and services individuals and families often have to go through to to get the help and information they need.

    Its mission is to provide individuals and families with access to quality information about health and human services resources at all times.

    For more information, help numbers, stories and access to a huge number of resources, check out the website.

    Topics: Emergency Resources, RESOURCES, Uncategorized | No Comments »

    WELCOME and Please Watch this Blog Space

    By Tobi Kibel Piatek | Thursday, February 7th, 2008

    Welcome to the blog space for the online course, Making Connections: Strong Relationships Help Keep Kids in School.

    The Making Connections blog is the place for mentors, teachers, counselors - anyone who works with kids at risk of dropping out of school - to find timely and relevant information and resources to help you meet the needs of the kids you work with.

    The research this course is built upon makes it clear that relationships are the key to keeping kids in school. Relationships are also essential for teachers, mentors and volunteers. . We’ve designed this blog, and the course it supports, to take full advantage of the web’s ability to link ideas, information and people. We hope that stories and the ideas you find here will motivate you to build and maintain strong relationships with kids

    Communicating on this blog will make it easy for you to connect with others; to build online relationships and receive support, answers and ideas when you need them. Please use this blog to comment, question and interact with class participants, with me, and to all who contribute here.

    We need your input We hope that you will use this space to share stories of your successes with kids, descriptions of the challenges you face in your work, and the goals that you have for affecting positive change in the lives of the kids you work with.

    Please also, share your ideas, inspirations, concerns, resources, questions, frustrations, recommendations and requests for help. Your input will help us make this community strong, as we continue to develop this site.

    Visit often; there is lots of great information and material coming soon.

    Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »