Courses Taught:
US Government, Economics

Remind Feed

All students have office 365 login.   Go to office.com and try to sign in using these directions:

Their username is First Initial, Last Initial and the last 6 digits or their msis number.   

Example Student 

Student Name: Spence Rodman 

Msis#: 1234567 

Office 365 username:sr234567@dcsms.org 

Default Password (if you have never logged in before) Welcome 19 or Welcome20 (if one doesn't work, try the other one before sending a help ticket)

The first time you login you will need to reset your password.  Your password will need to contain at least 8 characters.  It must have at least 1 capital letter, 1 lowercase letter and 1 numeral. 

Students who need their passwords reset or have issues logging in with these accounts should submit a help ticket just as teachers or staff do. Select "Username / Password Issues" from the Help Topic drop-down list. 

For more information go to www.dcsdms.org

News You Can Use

4/1 Update – Hey, everybody!

We’re starting to hear rumblings about how we are gonna proceed with the rest of the school year. It looks like we will be ready to start our 4th 9-Weeks classes next week. We should have some more clarification Friday once the school board meets tomorrow.

Here’s what I need from you:

First, there are about 12 of you that will be in my 4th block class that have not signed up for my Remind account (text @hamsclass to 81010). If you have not done so, please do now.

Second, I will be using your Office 365 accounts for our class during the 4th 9-Weeks for ALL of your assignments. If you have not signed up for your FREE account that the school district has set up for you, I need you to do so now. If you can’t, email me so that I can help you get signed on.

Third, fill out this survey as we head to the 4th 9-weeks. This is a different survey than the one that I sent out a couple of weeks ago. It’s tailored to my class specifically.

Fourth, I need somebody to track down Joseph Laughter, Ben Hughes and Tripp Martin and have them follow me on Remind and email me. They’ve been really hard to track down.

Once we start the 4th 9-weeks, I’ll remove you guys that have already had Economics and aren’t in that class from my Remind and my email chain.

That’s it for now. I’ll post a video on Friday once we know how we are gonna finish out the rest of the school year.

Hope yall are well!

MH

3/30 Update – Hey Everybody!

I hope you had a restful weekend!

I wish this update offered more answers, but I’m afraid that it doesn’t. We are still holding in our 3rd 9-Weeks classes. The Desoto County School Board is meeting on Thursday of this week to discuss how they want to move forward through the rest of the school year on the advice of Mr. Uselton, school principals, teachers, parents and students. We should hear Thursday evening or Friday about what decisions have been made.

For this week, just send me another current event. You can put the info in the text of the email. No need to create a separate Google Doc. Send it to my school address, not my Google email.

I plan to send out another form for us to fill out this week so that I can get a good grasp on who has signed up for the Office 365 account. This account will be the one we use as we proceed forward with the 4th 9-weeks when that time comes. If you have not been able to follow the directions on the left side of my website - Coach Hammond's Web Site – to sign into your account, please let me know so that I can help you get logged on.

That’s it for now. Talk to yall soon!

MH

3/27 Update – Hey Everybody!

Sorry for the lack of an update from yesterday. I did “Dad” stuff most of the day.

In my last update, I mentioned that the Mississippi Department of Education met in an emergency session to begin to chart a path forward. That meeting did take place and basically MDE gave local school districts a lot of discretion on how to finish up the school year. The directions seemed a bit vague to me, but what do I know, I’m just a bus driver!

Right now, we wait for the school district, including Mr. Uselton, the school board, school principals and the teacher advisory board, to get clarification on the MDE’s directions and then devise a plan. The Desoto County School Board is scheduled to meet on Thursday. Hopefully we’ll start to get some directions once that meeting takes place. You can imagine the massively complicated issues that are at hand for our decision makers. Continue to be patient as they practice their due diligence and make these necessary, but very difficult, decisions in the days to come.

I have received current events from many of you since I posted my last update. Thanks! If you have not sent those in, go ahead and do so now. If we continue on with the 3rd 9-weeks next week (which as of now it looks like we will), I’ll have you send me another next week. I don’t need another one now if you have already sent this week’s CE. I don’t need 2 if you haven’t. Wait until I send out the directions for another CE before you send it.

And another word on the CEs. You can just send your info in the body of an email. No need to do it in a Google Doc and then send that doc. If you want to do it that way, it’s fine. A single email with the pertinent info will do, though.

Make sure that you have looked through all of the updates on my website –

Coach Hammond's website to make sure that you haven’t missed anything.

All right, kids! I think that’s it for today. I wont post anything through the weekend unless I hear important information that yall need. Have a great, safe weekend!

MH

3/25 Update – Hey, Everybody!

Hope yall are well this Thursday afternoon.

I had bunch of students reach out to me yesterday! Welcome to all of you as we begin this distance learning adventure.

As far as assignments go for this week, I’m gonna keep it very simple. I’ve just got 2 things I want you to do:

First, make sure that you have logged on to your Office 365 account. If you already have done this, thank you. If you have tried and have had trouble, thanks for trying! Email me at if you have had trouble getting logged in. IF YOU FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS ON THE LEFT SIDE OF MY WEBSITE, YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR YOUR OFFICE 365 ACCESS!

Second, send me a current event like we did during 3rd 9-Weeks to MY SCHOOL EMAIL ADDRESS (NOT MY GMAIL!)  Just send me a link to the article, the publication, the author and a two- or three-sentence explanation of the piece. Focus on the government response (either local, state or federal) to the Covid-19 pandemic.

That should get us through the next couple of days.

I hope to have a video posted later this afternoon.

I leave you with this article from the lead sports columnist at the Daily Memphian, Geoff Calkins. He has a son that is a senior at Lausanne and, like yall, is trying to navigate the tricky situation in which you find yourselves. I thought of yall as I was reading it. I hope yall enjoy it. Geoff Calkins Column from the Daily Memphian

Stay safe!

3/24 Update – Hey Everybody!

Hope yall are well this Tuesday afternoon!

I want to say thanks to all of you that were in contact with me yesterday, whether through email or by joining my Remind.

As of right now, I have 35 students and 6 parents signed up for my Remind. Thank you so much!

I also want to say thanks for those of you that have taken the Student Internet Survey. 31 of you have filled it out so far. Thanks.

I also want to say welcome to those of you that have reached out to me that will be in my 4th 9-Weeks classes. We’re still on hold as to how we are going to proceed forward with the 4th 9-Weeks. Yall are welcomed to go ahead and get signed up for everything and be ready for when we transition to the 4th 9-weeks.

So here’s what we need to have happen today and for the rest of the week:

1) Continue to try to get logged on to your Office 365 account. The directions are on the left side of my website – Coach Hammond's Website

If you are having trouble initially getting logged on using Welcome 19 or Welcome 20, fill out a help ticket using the link that was provided in the instructions.

If you need help, send me an email.

2) Fill out the Student Internet Survey at the following link if you have not already done so:

Student Internet Survey

This lets us know what type of capability we all have to do distance learning.

3) Continue to reach out to all of your buddies from your 3rd 9-Weeks classes that we need them to get in contact with me. I have more than 30 students that I have not heard from at all! You can really help me out be reaching out to them and sharing my remind with them and asking them to check their email.

I know you guys have been bombarded with Reminds and emails over the past couple of days. We are really sorry for the inconvenience. Hopefully we can start settling in to a more consistent pattern soon.

Look for another video update soon!

3/23 Update  - Hey, Everybody!

 Hope yall are well this morning!

 Just a quick update now, and then I hope to post a video to my webpage later going over some things that I’ve learned and answering some questions I’ve gotten.

First, thanks to all of you that have responded to yesterday’s emails. Special shout out to Hannah Salter and Alaya Booth that helped me work out some technical issues!

Second, continue to reach out to everybody in your 1st or 2nd block classes from THE 3RD NINE WEEKS so that I can contact everybody. Send them a text, snap or whatever way you guys connect each other and have them read their emails from yesterday. If they haven’t any emails from me, have them email me.

Third, make sure you fill out the Student Internet Survey and get logged on to your Office 365 issued from the school. Most of you that filled out the survey indicated that you had no idea that you had an account from the school. The directions are on the left side of this page.

That’s it for now. Talk to you soon!

3/22 (part 2) - Some of yall were having trouble accessing the attachment and survey in my initial email. I sent a second email with the directions to access your school Office 365 account.

You can access the survey here 

Student Internet Survey

Thanks again, everybody! I'll be in touch soon!

3/22 (part 1) - All right, ladies and gents! I just sent an email to you that I need yall to read and respond to. I sent it to the email that you shared with me a couple of days ago or to the email that you used to send in your current events.

I need yall to do me a favor and check with your buddies in either 1st or 2nd block to make sure they received the email and followed the directions.

I'll continue to update this space with important info and announcements.

Stay tuned!

3/20 - Hey guys! Hope that everyone is doing as well as can be expected! I know this is a really weird time filled lots of questions. I really wish that I had answers for all of them. Unfortunately, I don't really have answers for any of them! But that's ok. We're gonna navigate these turbulent waters together.

For now, be on the lookout for an email that's coming from me in the very near future. I'm in the process of collecting everyones email addresses. I hope to send it out tomorrow or Sunday at the latest. It will have a couple of very important things that I need you to do as we prepare to move forward in the last few weeks of your high school career!

Also, sign up for my Remind by texting @hamsclass to 81010. I'll be utilizing that tool more in the coming days.

Now go wash your hands and find another show to stream!

3/19 - On Thursday, March 19, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves issued an executive order that called for all Mississippi public schools to be closed until April 17, 2020.