Have you ever wondered what it would be like to re-invent your classroom?

I have. For quite a while. Years, in fact.

What would you do? Where would you start? What would your objectives be?

The photo above is my lab as it appeared in September 2003, my first year teaching. Twenty-six Dell Optiplex PCs with 6.4 gb hard drives, 15″ CRTs and Windows 98SE. State-of-the-art equipment at the time. (Some will recognize that giant grey box on the right – it’s a projector.)

Fast forward to this school year, nine years later (above). The PCs are still Dell Optiplexes, just several generations newer. Students use the SMART Board (donated to me & my classroom by SMART Corporation) every day. We have other cool tools too, like QX5 Computer Microscopes. It’s an oasis of learning technologies.

While the hardware has changed over the years (and my lessons have too), my students still sit at fixed stations, working on their own, for 42 minutes, once a week. Everyone does the same thing, at the same time, using the same software.

It’s time for a change. It’s time for something new…

We have been talking for months about an exciting new direction for our K-4 Computer Lab. It all began as a suggestion from a parent, Mrs. Amy Hughes, an elementary technology teacher in nearby Margate, NJ. Her suggestion turned into conversations with NCS teachers and district leaders. Brainstorms erupted. A formal presentation was made to our district Curriculum Committee, and ultimately, we received approval for what we are now calling ”K4STEMLAB.”

We have seen the future and it is MOBILE, COLLABORATIVE and ALWAYS-ON

This evolution of the NCS elementary computer lab is the result of many forces converging at once. Thanks to a very successful pilot of Google Chromebooks in our 4th grade this year (funded by our generous community and amazing Parent-Teacher Organization), we are now confident that Chromebooks (the hardware) and Google Apps for Education (the software) are not only viable but essential to our instructional mission.

We will still use Microsoft products, just not exclusively. We live in a blended world, a world where we interact with a variety of technologies every day, more and more of which are web-based. Therefore, we want to provide students with seamless access to the information and resources they need, on whatever device they are using, wherever they happen to be. Groundbreaking technologies available today (like Google Apps and Classlink’s Launchpad product, for example) can make this possible.

Our district is evaluating highly competitive proposals for enterprise wireless connectivity and we are developing appropriate “bring your own technology” policies that make sense for us. Best of all, NCS teachers and staff are at the epicenter of this effort, dedicating themselves to finding creative ways to leverage these technologies in the classroom to help students learn.

Goals of the New Program

There are many things we want to accomplish with this “reboot” of our K-4 Computer Lab program. Some can be described with references to instructional standards, others with metrics relating to skill proficiency. Our district also adopted a strategic goal this year to develop a K-8 STEM program; our efforts represent a solid step in that direction. But the most important goal, in my view at least, is developing an appreciation for scientific inquiry – and in particular, the engineering process – as shown below in this graphic from the Museum of Science:

We are confident that this framework will provide students with a powerful context to build a foundation of critical skills and an interest in careers in science, technology, math and engineering. At its core, education is all about inspiration, isn’t it?

Join Us!

We will launch our new program in September, 2012. (It’s going to be a busy summer.) More importantly, this is going to be a “learning year” for everyone. We are confident that we can develop a powerful new experience drawing on the strengths of our existing curriculum while we inject new, innovative and cost-effective technologies. We are looking for strategic vendor partners, collaborating classrooms, experts on learning space design, interested community members, anyone who wants to be part of this new, exciting adventure for our students. Follow the fun on our new blog: http://blogs.ncs-nj.org/k4stemlab/.

This post is part of a series about our plans to “reinvent” my K-4 Computer Lab class as a STEM (Science, Engineering, Technology & Math) course starting in September 2012. By “thinking out loud” here I hope to keep stakeholders apprised of our ideas, activities & progress while I gain wisdom and perspective from anyone who cares to join the conversation.

Week ending 05/11/12

Kindergarten

What we covered / did / explored:

• Since today’s activity was a counting based lesson utilizing PowerPoint, we warmed up with Leon’s Math Dojo (click the green bar on the bottom left to start) and ABCYA’s Marble Math.
• In some classes we did a semi-kinesthetic warmup activity using students standing in groups to illustrate math facts. Hilarity ensued, of course. :)
• The performance task for this week was to manipulate objects on a PowerPoint slide into addition statements. In the process, kids got experience navigating PowerPoint, clicking and dragging items, entering text, and so on.

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• This lesson would be stronger if I incorporated some more complex arrangements and possibly subtraction facts.
• I could revamp it completely into a template that would allow the student to choose the identity (number) and then the corresponding math fact. Hmmmmm…
• This lesson might be okay earlier in the year. Though most took the better part of the hands-on lesson period to complete their work, it wasn’t challenging enough. It was just tedious.

What students can do at home:

• Counting games like this can be great fun if you use ordinary (or even funny) objects. Set some up and let your kindergartener show you what they know!
• Activities like this can also be easily replicated on just about any software program. Tux Paint would be a good choice!

What we covered / did / explored:

• There was no warmup today as we needed the entire period for our exploration of insects – in this case, common red ants.
• We introduced the lesson with a quick SMART Notebook activity I built based on lessons from SMART Exchange and images from the Internet. Clearly the kids had prior knowledge of insect parts as they sailed through the identification process.
• I demonstrated use of the QX5 microscopes and the subject ants I gathered earlier in the week. (These microscopes are WONDERFUL, but hard to find, this store is selling them online but I have no experience with them, so proceed at your own risk. Here’s a seller on eBay with some as of this writing.) Thank you, NCS PTO, for providing them so many years ago!
• Once I showed/reminded the students what to do and sent them to their workstations, the usual magic happened. (Without fail, every lesson I do with these is a highlight of the year.) Students shrieked with glee as they discovered ant parts up close and personal, grabbing high-resolution images of ant eyes, leg hair, mandibles and more.
• For fun after the lesson, we always let the kids put anything they want under the microscopes, and this class did not disappoint. Ordinary shirt fabric looks incredible at 60x and even moreso at 200x. Hair barrettes, jewelry, fingers and fingernails, shoelaces, tissue paper, whatever we could find, we explored. It was controlled chaos. And it was beautiful.

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• Exploring stuff is crazy fun but I need to do a better job of structuring this lesson around actual inquiry rather than just affirming prior knowledge.
• At one point we had an unidentified object that appeared to be a crystal of some kind, very small, attached to an antennae. We talked about it and concluded it was a grain of sand that came along with the ant when I collected samples outside.
• One of the great joys of teaching for me is watching students as they interact with each other and technology and then listen to what they have to say. A parent volunteer was standing next to me when a student in Mrs. Edelmann’s class on Friday said, quietly, to herself, “…I think I want to be a scientist when I grow up.” She had been working diligently for several minutes, alone, after her partner had gone on to play a computer game once the lesson was finished. I love these “a-ha!” moments that can literally change a student’s life trajectory. As I told the parent standing next to me, *THAT IS WHY* I teach.

What students can do at home:

• Microscopes are neat tools for inquisitive minds (if you can’t find one of the QX5s there are many others to choose from.) Similar effects can be obtained with digital cameras that feature macro picture capability. Even common objects can be explored and studied in great detail!

Second Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• We warmed up with a new keyboarding activity, which I used as an assessment: Letter Bubbles. Students did three rounds of the game on “Beginner” mode. Those who scored 95% accuracy or higher got to write their name on the SMART Board regardless of speed (Words Per Minute). They then signed their names into one of three columns on the board indicating speed ranges (0 to 8 wpm; 8-10 wpm; 10+ wpm). I am fairly certain every kid in each class got their name up on the board since it was not a timed activity and all they had to do was be accurate. It was great fun!
• Kids finished their Mother’s Day Coupons (see above example). I am thrilled to know that Northfield moms will be enjoying these tomorrow!

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• Keyboarding speeds are about where I expected them to be at this time of year.
• The approach I used this year – brainstorming the ideas first in a Word document, then rocking the PowerPoint afterward – helped immensely. Everyone successfully completed the project and the quality of this year’s coupons was better than ever. The kids had a blast, too.

What students can do at home:

• THEY CAN DO ALL THE NICE THINGS ON THE COUPONS, FOR STARTERS!!! :)

Third and Fourth Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• We warmed up with a new keyboarding activity, which I used as an assessment: Letter Bubbles. Students did three rounds of the game on “Beginner” (Grade 3) or “Classic” (Grade 4) mode. Those who scored 95% accuracy or higher got to write their name on the SMART Board regardless of speed (Words Per Minute). They then signed their names into one of three columns on the board indicating speed ranges (Third Grade: 0 to 10 wpm; 10-12 wpm; 12+ wpm; Fourth Grade: 0 to 10 wpm; 10-15 wpm; 15+ wpm). I am fairly certain every kid in each class got their name up on the board since it was not a timed activity and all they had to do was be accurate. It was great fun!
• Since this week was NJASK testing, we gave the kids a break and let them play games for the rest of the period. Monster Milktruck is our runaway lab favorite as of this moment!

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• Keyboarding speeds are about where I expected them to be at this time of year.
• Kids need time to relax, and I’m thrilled to have been able to provide them with that opportunity during this stressful week.

What students can do at home:

• Practice keyboarding with Typing Pal or Letter Bubbles, or, take the Monster Milktruck for a spin!

Week ending 05/04/12

Kindergarten

What we covered / did / explored:

• This was yet another week in which we pushed the ‘free play’ time to the end of the lesson due to an exceptionally challenging activity. We’re in “Mother’s Day” mode in Computer Lab this week, with projects involving Mom in every grade.
• Although we covered “days of the week” last time, I found and wanted to use a fun whole-class warmup activity called “Weekdays” at Cookie.com. It would have been perfect last week but was still worth exploring. Students took turns answering the questions (names selected by the SMART Board). It was more challenging than it looks as kids had to visually and audibly distinguish the days of the week, their sequence, etc. It was a fun way to start the class.
• I introduced the lesson, a Mother’s Day ‘card’ via PowerPoint, by showing students the six different templates I’d developed for them. Technically speaking, their tasks were straightforward; they only needed to add text for a message and their name, and add their photo. We’ve done this lesson for years and it’s always a Mom favorite.
• Once I showed everyone how to enter the text they wanted, students went to their computers, chose a template and started working. As they worked, I took photographs (the child above is not an NCS student; I found the photo via Google.) We intentionally did NOT correct student spelling or capitalization as we wanted this to be authentic student work.
• Once students inserted their pictures (see below) we saved the files so I could print them off. Students then got to choose an activity. Monster Milktruck continues to dominate!

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• This is usually one of the most challenging lessons we do every year. Developmentally, I think Kindergarten is too early for PowerPoint, so I go to extremes to make things as simple as possible based on what I know the kids should be able to do. In this case, they needed to enter some text, use the space bar, enter their name with a capital letter, use the enter key, and select their photo from a Windows explorer thumbail selection. All were successful, some more than others, but everyone got it done.
• This lesson would NOT BE POSSIBLE without Lanschool, a $200 software program I received for FREE at the NJEA Convention last year. Lanschool makes it possible for me to have every PC logged in and ready to go with all the templates loaded, and to remotely control all the PCs at once to get them to a particular part of the project (i.e., when it is time to insert their photos). It can be EXTREMELY challenging and Lanschool sometimes does not work as well as the solution we had before (Altiris) but we were successful!

What students can do at home:

• Play “Weekdays” at Cookie.com together – I think you’ll see your child knows their days of the week very well. Ask them if they remember why the voice sounds funny; we talked in class about the voice being “computer generated” – they were amazed by that.

First Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• Our First Grade Mother’s Day project literally elicited cheers when I announced it. Kerpoof is incredibly versatile, supremely easy to use, powerful beyond imagination (the video animation tools are particularly impressive, but we don’t use them in elementary – yet). Students were asked to create a Mother’s Day Card using appropriate images and text. (Note: the example above is not student work.) They also entered text, changed its attributes, positioned, resized, flipped & turned objects to get the layout right. Some kids even used the image search feature.

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• The best technology applications are the simplest. Kerpoof can be used right away (no sign-on required) and the interface is crazy simple. Kids “get” what to do instantly and constantly find and use features I haven’t even demonstrated. One example is the drawing tool. A student showed me how she wanted to create flower stems to place in her project underneath some roses. We were able to figure it out together. She was thrilled. So was I – that she came up with the idea!
• Kerpoof is a Disney property – and I am so glad they have NOT overrun it with Disney merchandise and other advertising. It remains untouched, the way it’s always been. Thanks Disney!

What students can do at home:

• x

[IMAGE]

Second Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• We warmed up with Typing Pal, recognizing members of the “Zero to Hero Club” for getting no mistakes on their practice lessons.
• When finished, students gathered on the carpet in front of the SMART Board to review what we worked on last week – coupon Powerpoint for Mom. We demonstrated how to open files from the network share, “enable editing” in Office 2010 (thank you, Microsoft), and other related editing tasks.
• Students proofread their work for errors, then printed and cut out the coupons, stapling them into booklets.

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• It is amazing how creative these kids are, and how efficient they are with using Powerpoint at this age!

What students can do at home:

• Practice keyboarding with Typing Pal. Celebrate with them when they achieve “0 errors” because accuracy is more important than speed. Speed comes as their finger muscles mature!

Third Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• We warmed up with Typing Pal, recognizing members of the “Zero to Hero Club” for getting no mistakes on their practice lessons.
• Students logged into Glogster EDU to finish and print their projects.

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• The Glogster EDU service has been much more reliable for us since they agreed to give us multiple free Teacher Premium accounts. The servers are fast, errors are greatly reduced and things just move a lot more smoothly!

What students can do at home:

• Practice keyboarding with Typing Pal. Celebrate with them when they achieve “0 errors” because accuracy is more important than speed. Speed comes as their finger muscles mature!
• If students remember their Glogster EDU login, they can access this resource from home. If they don’t remember the login, please contact me.

Fourth Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• We warmed up with Typing Pal, recognizing members of the “Zero to Hero Club” for getting no mistakes on their practice lessons.
• Students came to Computer Lab having pre-written acrostic poetry (or something approximating it, as above, which is not student work). Students created colorful full-page Word projects pusing images, text boxes, formatting tools and more. These are pretty impressive when printed in color and laminated!

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• Spelling is still a developing skill for fourth graders! That said, they did dream up some impressive wording!

What students can do at home:

• Practice keyboarding with Typing Pal. Celebrate with them when they achieve “0 errors” because accuracy is more important than speed. Speed comes as their finger muscles mature!

DISCLAIMER: as a Google Certified Teacher (and lover of all things Google), I truly hate to see Sketchup go. Kids love using it in our school. I spent last summer tutoring one of our 5th graders on its use (he’s absolutely an engineer in the making). Heck, I used it with my 4th graders this past week, blowing kids’ minds by showing them how it was used to help create the “Uncharted” video game series. I love getting kids excited about technology and the future … but I digress.

Tinkercad – like Tinkertoys, ‘cept digital

This powerful tool for 3D modeling is being wildly embraced by the 3D design educational community because of its ease of use and ability to interface with devices like 3D printers. Its simplicity means reduced features (you can’t import scaled vector graphics (.SVG’s) or anything for that matter) but the tradeoff is the user interface is super simple. Check out the tutorial video:

3DTin – no metal required

I am not even sure I recall how I came across 3DTin (not that it matters!) Some might say it looks like a more “serious” version of Tinkercad. Its user interface is therefore more complex, but it still remains very simple. One nice feature is the ability to import other people’s models, as shown above. This makes it easier for people like me with no design skills to see how complex items come together. Check out this quick video tutorial but be advised, the computer-generated voiceover may creep you out:

You design stuff, sure, but you PRINT with them! There are already expensive 3D printers in many schools but for home use, check out Origo, the 3D printer “for ten year olds.” Brilliant!

Big software companies are moving their tools to the web with amazing speed. Check out AutoCAD WS, allowing you to open and edit AutoCAD programs on various mobile devices. Or, how about Autodesk Homestyler, the free tool for designing home spaces in 3D. Both are free.

Is this a great time to be a ten year old, or what?

Hope this helps,

-kj-

Week ending 04/28/12

Kindergarten

What we covered / did / explored:

• We usually start each lesson with something fun as a warmup. This week, because we had a lot to do, I had students sit down on the carpet in front of the SMART Board as soon as they logged in so we could start immediately. This way, we had a better chance of a) everyone finishing and b) getting the most amount of free/play time possible (once the lesson is complete.)
• We started with a discussion of the days of the week. Kids were solid on them, as I expected. As I handed out random worksheets (GASP! Worksheets? In Computer Lab?) for each student (example: here) I explained we would be watching a movie called The Very Hungry Caterpillar (by Eric Carle); students would have to identify the food the caterpillar ate on their particular day.
• The students listened intently as the movie played; we stopped from time to time to be sure everyone knew which day of the week they were watching for.
• I stopped the movie just before the very end when the caterpillar turns into a butterfly and opened a SMART Notebook activity that reinforced the days of the week and some simple numeracy skills. (Every student had a turn at the board, which is always my objective.)
• We then watched the remainder of the movie and saw the caterpillar change into a butterfly. I stopped briefly to discuss the concept of symmetry (which they knew well) and then introduced their performance task, creating a butterfly using Tux Paint. It has a wonderful “kaleidoscope” tool that allows very rapid symmetrical drawings; most kids can outline something that approximates a butterfly shape very quickly and easily. From there I again reviewed the concepts of symmetry and showed how the “bucket fill” tool can be used to color in different sections so that symmetry was preserved.
• With that, students scampered off to their workstations and began creating their artwork. The example above is exemplary and adds details I never even mentioned in my example.

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• Students know the days of the week but can get confused when seeing them in printed form.
• Some students created butterflies without the symmetry tool but were still very successful.
• One student located the butterfly stamp and used that in his project. I give him credit for navigating the software in an area we hadn’t really explored in detail yet (stamps).

What students can do at home:

• For students that have Tux Paint software, the butterfly activity is easily replicated. Ask your child to show you how!
• Software is hardly necessary for drawing butterflies; any paper and crayon will do!
• Watch The Very Hungry Caterpillar with your child and have them identify details from the movie.

First Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• This week we also got started right away with the lesson, moving free explore/play time to the end of the period. The students didn’t seem to mind!
• We began with a discussion of tally marks and used the “Graph and Tally” activity at Cookie.com to have each student show their knowledge. Everyone sailed through this, effectively making it our warmup.
• We then discussed surveys and their purpose. We conducted our own simple survey of pets in the class and recorded the data on the SMART Board. I then demonstrated how to enter the data into a spreadsheet and how to access the chart and picture-graphs that were automagically generated. We discussed the data, asking questions and exploring trends, doing some basic mental math.
• Students then went to their workstations where they entered the data themselves (I left the SMART notebook page on the screen) and generated the table, chart and picture-graph. They entered their names and we printed the one page they wished to take home.

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• I hate how some Flash websites don’t perform correctly with my PC and the SMART Board. I wish I knew if the issue was hardware or software based but it’s very frustrating when activities are counter-intuitive. That was the case with our simulation at the beginning.
• I think the spreadsheet activity could be more robust, perhaps with more rows of data and the ability to enter text as well as numbers.
• The creepy computer-generated audio in the instructions was a fun “teachable moment” – kids wondered why it sounded so funny. We discussed computer-generated speech and how it was different from real human speech.

What students can do at home:

• Have your child create surveys for any subject of interest; make it fun!
• Play the “Graph and Tally” activity at Cookie.com together.

Second Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• We warmed up with Typing Pal, recognizing members of the “Zero to Hero Club” for getting no mistakes on their practice lessons.
• When finished, students gathered on the carpet in front of the SMART Board to review what we worked on last week – our list of coupon ideas for Mom. We demonstrated how to open files from the network share, “enable editing” in Office 2010 (thank you, Microsoft), and the use of bullet lists.
• We then showed students how to open the template we use for this project and how to create their coupons. We demonstrated some of the more advanced features but I always like to let the students explore and find new features on their own, too.
• When finished, students saved their files to their network drive and either played games or helped others.

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• As good as the students are getting with file opening and saving, I am wondering how much easier this would be in Google Docs as opposed to PowerPoint, and, how nice it would be to have automatic saving of files. Hmmmmm…
• It really helped having the students brainstorm all five coupon ideas in advance. That was always the achilles’ heel for this project. Building in some basic word processing skills helped too.

What students can do at home:

• Coupon books like this have been made long before computers or PowerPoint. Challenge your child to create one, with or without technology! (We’ll be doing these for Father’s Day, too.)

Third Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• We warmed up with Typing Pal, recognizing members of the “Zero to Hero Club” for getting no mistakes on their practice lessons.
• Students created Mother’s Day greetings either using Glogster EDU (above) or Kerpoof. Some finished; others will need to complete them next week.

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• I essentially said this last week, but. the better the user interface (UI) is on a program, the more time I can spend answering questions from those who need help. This is one reason why I love Glogster so much.
• Praise aside, quirky problems (like images failing to upload) can derail projects quickly. I wish there was a way to troubleshoot these issues but it’s nearly impossible when it happens inconsistently.

What students can do at home:

• If students remember their Glogster EDU login, they can access this resource from home. If they don’t remember the login, please contact me.
• Practice keyboarding with Typing Pal. Celebrate with them when they achieve “0 errors” because accuracy is more important than speed. Speed comes as their finger muscles mature!

-and-

Fourth Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• Today’s lesson was a follow-up to last week’s but with significant hands-on work. After a brief warmup with Typing Pal, we gathered on the carpet to watch the video above, “Designing Uncharted 2 with SketchUp.” This quickly got everone’s attention as several students were familiar with the “Uncharted” video game series. This short, powerful video explains how professional video game designers used the free Google Sketchup* to design levels and scenery in the game. It provided me the perfect opportunity to hammer home my main point – here, in fourth grade, students have access to the very same software professional video game designers use. I reminded them that when they look back at today’s technology 10+ years from now, it will seem crude and archaic. I also pointed out that any one of them could grow up to be a game designer – they only need the desire to do so.
• For the performance task, students had to create a basic structure in Sketchup after I demonstrated the basic features. Most were moderately successful, considering that for many this was their first exposure to the tool.
• We also explained how to access and incorporate items from 3D Warehouse, a free collection of models built and submitted by people worldwide.

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• Kids LOVE this tool. It is more complex than most of the software we use in the lab but that didn’t slow many people down. I need to do a better job with the hands-on demo at the beginning of the lesson however. And, we need better tutorial resources (anything on YouTube is blocked.)

What students can do at home:

• Download Sketchup IMMEDIATELY if you haven’t already. The asterisk above is in reference to the news announced THIS WEEK that Google has SOLD Sketchup to a company called Trimble. There is no telling how long the free software will be available, so, get it now while you can, right here: http://sketchup.google.com/.
• Talk about design careers with your child. Sketchup is a powerful tool to visualize just about anything. Let their imagination run wild as you ponder different careers with your child. How might this software help them discover their calling?

Week ending 04/20/12

Kindergarten

What we covered / did / explored:

• We usually start each lesson with something fun as a warmup. This week, because the lesson was challenging, I had students sit down on the carpet in front of the SMART Board as soon as they logged in so we could start immediately. This way, we had a better chance of a) everyone finishing and b) the most amount of free/play time possible (once the lesson is complete.)
• Today’s lesson could be considered word processing but it’s really more what I would call “word processing awareness.” Developmentally, kindergarten is too early in my view for any significant amount of keyboard-based work. They’re just not ready, they can get frustrated easily, and the value of them creating much via the keyboard is questionable.
• That said, we do like to incorporate simple, fun projects using keyboarding apps because I believe the exposure is positive, and, there are some kids who clearly are ready for this sort of learning.
• This week’s lesson involved learning about basic keyboarding concepts – letters, the cursor, space bar, enter key and backspace keys. The main thing I wanted the kids to distinguish was the concept of putting only ONE SPACE between words. This is a struggle for every youngster as they move to digital text input; they are used to putting a LOT of space between words when they write and one space just doesn’t LOOK right to them.
• We started the lesson with a few students writing their names on the SMART Board, using an image similar to this one projected onto the board. (Kids love using the SMART Board and I try to get as many of them as possible to use it each week.) Once we had a few names up on the board, we had a quick conversation about capitalizing first letters, then we had students write a simple sentence on the board: “The cat is fat.” (The example above isn’t perfect but it is authentic work; the name was changed so as not to identify the student.)
• We used that sentence to illustrate the following concepts: capitalization of the first letter of the sentence; spacing between words; and a period (a.k.a., “stop-sign”) at the end.
• Students then went to their computers to complete a Learning.com EasyTech lesson called “Words, Spaces & Enter.” (I have provided instructions to parents on how to access Learning.com at home, if you need them, please use the contact form above.) This lesson is wonderful due to its gentle pace, fun graphics, pleasing verbal instructions and easygoing error handling. Once the kids completed the task (every single one scored 18/20 or higher, BTW, with most scoring a perfect 20/20) students then returned to the carpet and SMART Board for the more challenging part of this week’s lab work.
• I loaded a prepared template onto the screen with enough space for three lines of text. We used the Fabelvision’s fantastic “Stationery Studio” program for this. Students were to write their first name on the first line, then press enter; write the sentence we practiced, ”The cat is fat.” on the second line. Then, they could write a third sentence of their choice on the last line. When they were done, I would save the files and print them for taking home (Kindergarten students by default do not have printing rights.)

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• This was a challenging but rewarding activity for my Kindergarten students. Much of what we do in the lab is art-based. I’ve found that as we enter the latter half of the school year, Kindergarteners are ready for more complex projects. This week’s experience validated that assessment for me.
• Every student was able to successfully complete the project. We intentionally did not correct EVERY mistake; sometimes we’d remind students about adding a stop sign or asking them to check the spacing, but we generally did not correct spelling errors.
• Most students attempted the “challenge” activity, writing the third sentence. The student above came up with the sentence all by themselves. (BTW we have no Kindergarten student named Emma; this student was not a native English speaker, making their work even more impressive.) I liked the way this lesson scaffolded automagically. This was one of our most successful lessons in recent weeks.

What students can do at home:

• Any computer can be used to reinforce the ideas we worked on this week: capitalization, one space between words, use of the Enter and Backspace keys, etc. Open up any word processing program and let your child show you what they know! Challenge them to explain what’s around them. More advanced students will probably want to experiment with font and color settings; let them do so!

First Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• We usually start each lesson with something fun as a warmup. This week, because the lesson was a lot of fun to begin with, I had students sit down on the carpet in front of the SMART Board as soon as they logged in so we could start immediately.
• We learned about maps this week – specifically digital maps. We first discussed what we knew about ordinary maps, what they are for, where we find them, etc. and then talked about how maps on the computer are similar and different. We talked about road markings, town markings, the compass rose, and more.
• I loaded Bing Maps (sorry, Google, but Bing Maps has better images!). I entered the school address and we looked at a traditional (non-satellite view) map to identify its parts. I then showed students how to activate the “Birds Eye” feature. Audible gasps could be heard as I zoomed into the highest level of magnification. “That’s our school!” “I see our room!” (The clarity of these images is stunning.) We used the “rotate” buttons to change perspective on the images we saw.
• We talked about our home city of Northfield, showing houses belonging to teachers, then exploring local landmarks like Birch Grove Park, McDonald’s, the Bike Path, Ritas, Chido Burrito, and more. (Ask your student what Birch Grove Park was before it was a park – and where the lakes came from. )
• We then talked about the importance of remembering our full address, including number and street. While many kids knew this information, we didn’t expect most to, so, I prepared slips of paper with everyone’s number and street so they could enter the information themselves.
• Students then went back to their computers where they accessed Bing Maps on their own and entered their home address, which they then explored in detail.

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• Students (like everyone else) love to see their house on the Internet! Providing the little slips of paper with addresses was a huge help and everyone was able to enter their address and see their house.
• We experienced a serendipitous error – Mrs. Best’s address is INCORRECT in Bing Maps. As a class, we looked at where the map said her house was, then she showed us where it actually was. We discussed why this might have happened (her house is too new) and how you can’t just trust information because it’s on the Internet. It was a fantastic teachable moment!
• We noticed that the trees in the picture were different. We wondered why. Then I asked the students to think about the time of year or season in which the pictures might have been taken. We concluded that most of the images were taken in winter because there were no leaves on the trees.

What students can do at home:

• Head over to Bing Maps and start entering addresses. Be sure to click the “Bird’s Eye View” button. Prepare to be amazed as the images come up. Go to family residences, famous places, explore Northfield, it truly is amazing. Ask your child what they see. Let them direct the exploration.

Second Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• We warmed up with Typing Pal, recognizing members of the “Zero to Hero Club” for getting no mistakes on their practice lessons.
• When finished, we gathered on the carpet so I could introduce the lesson, a “Mother’s Day Coupon” project we do every year. It is essentially a Microsoft PowerPoint lesson. This year I decided to expand things a bit to both reinforce word processing skills AND make sure everyone had the required five (at least!) coupon ideas for Mom.
• We began by sharing descriptive words about our Moms on the SMART Board. As kids shouted out, I used the SMART Board text recognition feature to change the handwriting into text. Kids loved it. The feature doesn’t always work, but it’s reliable enough.
• I then explained what our project goal was – creation of a colorful book of coupons to give Mom on Mother’s Day. In the past, some kids struggled to come up with five ideas. So, I decided to add a word processing component to the project to reinforce Microsoft Word skills: students were to create a simple text document with a bullet list of five coupon ideas, then save the document to their H: drives.

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• As I suspected, many kids had problems getting all five coupon ideas written down; about half of each class needed help to complete their lists. Students helped each other! It was great to watch.
• Virtually all students easily created the basic document and saved the file correctly, which was nice to see.

What students can do at home:

• Sssssh! This project is a secret! Don’t tell Mom!

Third Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• We warmed up with Typing Pal, recognizing members of the “Zero to Hero Club” for getting no mistakes on their practice lessons.
• We continued working on our Internet Safety projects using Glogster EDU, a great tool for creating vivid, interactive digital posters. NCS (elementary AND middle) gets the “School Premium” service for FREE because I’ve agreed to periodically blog about their wonderful service. Students use it heavily in middle school in several classes including the Media Center.
• Having learned the basics of Glogster last week, students used a fun video and information on this page: Get Cybersmart with Phineas and Ferb to find ideas for their posters.

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• I’m constantly amazed at students’ ability to learn reasonably complex software – almost completely on their own. Granted, Glogster is very well designed and highly intuitive, but, it’s great to be able to work with students on content and style as opposed to mechanics.
• Animated head-banging KISS-styled (the rock band) teddy bears are the most popular graphic choice (though Sarah decided to skip them and go with a more traditional look for her project.)
• Glogster EDU is a wonderful service that we are fortunate to have!

What students can do at home:

• If students remember their Glogster EDU login, they can access this resource from home. If they don’t remember the login, please contact me.
• Practice keyboarding with Typing Pal. Celebrate with them when they achieve “0 errors” because accuracy is more important than speed. Speed comes as their finger muscles mature!

What we covered / did / explored:

• Today’s lesson was all about looking into the future … and getting inspired. (This is part one of a two part lesson.)
• I’ve done this lesson with 4th graders since 2009, and while it changes a bit every time, it remains one of the most memorable experiences my students have all year.
• I wanted my 4th graders to reflect for a moment about the technology that surrounds them every day, ubiquitous in their lives, tools that largely didn’t even exist before they were born just nine or ten years ago.
• I wanted them to think about what they can do with TODAY’S technology – and what they might do with TOMORROW’S technology – tools that haven’t even been invented or imagined yet.
• We started the lesson with the video above, “World Builder.” It is an amazing, powerful short film (that we stop showing at the 6 minute, 30 second mark for a variety of reasons). As they watch the video, I point out things that are clearly fantasy – but will be important later in our discussion.f
• We then watch one of my favorite TED talks, Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry demo SixthSense. I make a point to mention what they are seeing was done THREE YEARS AGO. As the movie played, I stop it from time to time as some of the technology shown in the first video – presented as fantasy – is actually possible. Again, THREE YEARS AGO.
• We then watched a video about the recently announced Google Project Glass, explaining that it is a prototype and therefore not available today, but, still a very real project.

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• I love watching students’ reactions as these videos play. They are awestruck. One 4th grader, when she heard that the SixthSense researchers were based at MIT, shouted “That’s where I’m going to college!” (LOVE that enthusiasm!)
• I enjoy explaining to kids that some day, when they are grown up, they will look back on the technology they used in fourth grade and will be amazed at how crude it is in comparison.
• I also enjoy making the point, when we are talking about Google Glass, that any one of them could some day be a Google Engineer working on projects like that.

What students can do at home:

• Watch these videos together. Talk about them. (Note: view the entire “World Builder” movie yourself before watching it with your child so you can decide if the last few minutes are worth seeing.) Ask your child to think about the future, what they think technology might be like, and what their role might be in the workplace – engineer, scientist, designer – there’s no limit!

Week ending 04/06/12

Kindergarten

What we covered / did / explored:

• We warmed up with a quick game of “Cut the Rope,” a highly addictive and cognitively challenging activity designed to test understandings of simple physics and cause & effect. I love that this game lets you skip levels that are frustrating because no one likes to stay stuck. We did the first few levels as a class to understand how to play and then sent the kids off to do their best.
• Today’s lesson was about working/playing together. I asked the students to think of a really fun play date with a friend or relative. Who were they with? What did they do? What made it fun? Then we asked the students to think of a play date that was NOT so much fun. What happened? Why? What could be done about it? The discussion was wonderful as it always is with this lesson with kids relating great details and offering great explanations. We concluded the discussion by talking about the things that worked (and the things that did not.)
• We watched Crawford & Harriett Work Together (the entire series is great and free to watch online). We discussed what we thought would happen as the movie played out. At the end of the movie I asked each student to use Tux Paint to draw a representation of a good (or bad) play date showing the people involved and what happened.

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• Kids are overwhelmingly positive. Although several shared some “bad” play date experiences orally none chose to illustrate one.
• Almost every student spelled their name correctly and used initial capital letters.
• Fine motor / mouse control skills are improving steadily.

What students can do at home:

• This lesson is easy to replicate with Tux Paint or any other painting/drawing program. Encourage your child to incorporate as many details as possible – then let them explain what’s happening. You will be amazed!
• Play ”Cut the Rope” together. Explore. Strategize. Try to improve. It’s fun!

First Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• We warmed up with a quick game of “Cut the Rope,” a highly addictive and cognitively challenging activity designed to test understandings of simple physics and cause & effect. I love that this game lets you skip levels that are frustrating because no one likes to stay stuck. We did the first few levels as a class to understand how to play and then sent the kids off to do their best.
• Today’s lesson was about fractions and a basic exercise in PowerPoint. I provided the students with a template that required them to identify quarter, half and whole objects, to delete or remove objects that didn’t match, and (optionally) to write a simple sentence in the area to the right of the image(s) they chose. They also got to choose a design template.

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• Students did well identifying fractions visually despite not having spent a lot of time on them in the classroom.
• Students had no problem repositioning and resizing PowerPoint objects or entering text.
• Students love choosing design themes…it’s all about the visuals.

What students can do at home:

• This lesson is easily replicated at home with a variety of common objects and software. Try gathering items around the house or taking digital pictures and have your child identify them. A program like Tux Paint would work well also.
• Play ”Cut the Rope” together. Explore. Strategize. Try to improve. It’s fun!

Second Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• We warmed up with a quick game of “Cut the Rope,” a highly addictive and cognitively challenging activity designed to test understandings of simple physics and cause & effect. I love that this game lets you skip levels that are frustrating because no one likes to stay stuck. We did the first few levels as a class to understand how to play and then sent the kids off to do their best.
• We then had a discussion about animal adaptations and identified common examples. We discussed how adaptations help animals survive.
• We then used http://www.buildyourwildself.com/ to make some crazy creatures. First we showed how to represent themselves (without animal adaptations) and then modify their “wild self” using different adaptations. To select the adaptations in question, students used a special spreadsheet template I prepared that randomly assigned “attributes” they needed to accomodate via their selection. Click here for an example. Students created creatures accordingly.

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• This lesson is always a student favorite. It would be most powerful if presented when students were working on their annual Animal Report projects. We didn’t get the chance to do that this year, but it’s still a fun exercise that gets students thinking about nature.

What students can do at home:

• Visit http://www.buildyourwildself.com/ and “go wild!” Beware, though – your printer may run out of ink quickly!
• Play ”Cut the Rope” together. Explore. Strategize. Try to improve. It’s fun!

Third & Fourth Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• We warmed up with a quick game of “Cut the Rope,” a highly addictive and cognitively challenging activity designed to test understandings of simple physics and cause & effect. I love that this game lets you skip levels that are frustrating because no one likes to stay stuck. We did the first few levels as a class to understand how to play and then sent the kids off to do their best.
• We introduced Glogster EDU, a great tool for creating vivid, interactive digital posters. NCS (elementary AND middle) gets the “School Premium” service for FREE because I’ve agreed to periodically blog about their wonderful service. Students use it heavily in middle school in several classes including the Media Center.
• Students in Third Grade are working on an Internet Safety Glogster project while Fourth Graders are doing a variety of Glogster projects in different curricular areas (Science or Social Studies).
• Here’s a quick video illustrating the basics of this tool:

• As is the case with all well-designed programs, the learning curve here is very gentle. Kids figure out the basics quickly and then explore and show each other the more advanced features. This allows the teachers in the room to roam around and make sure the students’ focus is on content.
• Students will be finishing these projects next week.

What students can do at home:

• Glogster EDU is available at home (or any Internet-connected computer). Students will need the username and password I gave them at school. Contact me if they need the credentials.
• Play ”Cut the Rope” together. Explore. Strategize. Try to improve. It’s fun!

Week ending 03/30/12

What we covered / did / explored:

• We warmed up with ABCYA’s Number Order activity, which is a great little application for practicing number sequences up to 100. It can get a little wonky, with numbers hiding behind others, and there is no way apparently to move an incorrectly placed number, which is regrettable, and I need to contact the site author to find out what’s up.
• This lesson was based on the excellent Common Sense Media activity, “Cyberspace in School.” We began by brainstorming ways we could get messages to Mrs. Hess in the elementary office. Their responses were mostly what you’d expect but one suggested (though they needed help with the exact phrase) ‘carrier pigeon.’ (Didn’t see THAT one coming!) We watched a quick BrainPop movie about email that the kids really enjoyed, then we moved on to the main activity – a live email demo!
• I asked each Kindergarten teacher to go back to their room and wait for a message from me. As a class we composed a simple message to each teacher with the proper “ingredients” and then pressed “send.”
• While we waited for a reply, we reviewed Twitter messages from all over the world that were sent to me earlier in the day via the hashtag #ncskdg. Here’s the collection of tweets (which I reviewed before showing). We used Google Earth to travel to NCS, then to many of the places mentioned. The kids loved it!
• Finally, the students went back to their seats and created an image of how email worked using Tux Paint. Here are some of their creations. I am in awe.

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• It’s the little things. Kindergarteners were enthralled by this lesson. It was way more lecture/whole group than I ever do, but it worked. The different media, the correspondence with the teachers, the Google Earth activity and finally the Tux Paint drawing all combined into (what I am surprised to say is) one of my most fun and effective lessons all year.
• It’s human nature to, upon seeing Google Earth, immediately become fixated on seeing one’s house. :)

What students can do at home:

• Set up an email account for your child. You will use it together. Many Internet Service Providers (e.g., Comcast) offer features-rich email ideal for such situations (parental controls are built-in). Work with your child to understand how email operates and how it should be used. Correspond with family and your child’s trusted friends (via their parents doing the same thing.) You will do more to help your child develop 21st century communication skills than any lesson I’ll deliver in 42 minutes, that’s for sure.
• Ask your child to draw a picture representing how email works, then have them explain it to you. Sit back and marvel at your child’s view of the world!

First Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• From time to time, depending on the way lesson “days” fall in my rotation, assemblies, absences, in-services, natural disasters and other interruptions to my teaching rhythm, I make a mistake when planning. Such was the case this past Friday when I was to start my new content with first graders. Minutes before class, I realized I’d already taught the lesson the week before (it was the one on Internet Advertising). As the students scampered into my lab, I decided to let them choose an activity for the day. (It was the last class on a Friday afternoon, so giving the kids what amounted to free time was a win on many fronts.)

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• It is amazing how many students gravitate to learning games. HoodaMath is a school-wide favorite. Their Logic Games collection is impressive; Factory Balls isn’t as hot as it once was but many students were playing it. Their Physics Games collection is also terrific and many were enjoying Red Remover, probably the single most popular activity we see in the lab.
• Inspired by this, I asked if anyone wanted to come up to the SMART Board and try to solve some Crayon Physics puzzles. A small group of students gathered. They played for most of the class period; they made excellent progress and exhibited (mostly) good teamwork skills. They had a BLAST determining cause & effect, trying different theories, seeing what worked, and what did not. They literally played until the end of the class period.
• Some students created original artwork using Kerpoof. I saw several sibling birthday cards and some get-well-soon notes.
• Others designed intricate sand art sculptures using ThisIsSand.com (a.k.a., “The Sand Game.”)
• At least one student was using Storyline Online, which I know they use in the classroom.
• And of course, several students found their way to Monster Milktruck. Play it and you’ll see why.

What students can do at home:

• Actually, all of the above. Every activity listed is Internet-based. Let them explore and tell you why they enjoy playing (and learning!)

Second Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• The title of this lesson is “Where’d ya get that photo?” (I apologize for the incorrect grammar…) We started the lesson with a discussion by asking students if they often create art or music, and what kind. (It should come as no surprise that there are many budding artists and musicians in second grade.) We discussed the concept of ownership and intellectual property (properly scaffolded, of course). We all agreed we would feel angry and/or sad if someone took our work and represented it as their own. We then had the students create a Word document and use The Weather Underground’s excellent collection of images to create a single page poster of our favorite season, with attribution at the end. (These are second graders; in later grades we introduce more detailed citing/referencing techniques.)

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• Students genuinely seemed to care about this lesson and its messages. I firmly believe elementary school is the best possible time to reach kids and teach them good habits early.
• Keyboarding skills are strong thanks to our emphasis on keyboarding practice. Most kids easily navigate Microsoft Word, as well.

What students can do at home:

• The project we did above is actually easy to replicate at home. A simple search of The Weather Underground’s photos will yield multiple subject photos which can be copied and pasted into documents. The key is to add the credit statement at the bottom!
• Practice keyboarding with Typing Pal. Celebrate with them when they achieve “0 errors” because accuracy is more important than speed. Speed comes as their finger muscles mature!

Fourth Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• We warmed up with Typing Pal, recognizing members of the “Zero to Hero Club” for getting no mistakes on their practice lessons.
• This was the Fourth graders’ week to work with Voki. Students came prepared with research (various projects) and wrote scripts in Microsoft Word. They then used Voki to create animated characters that brought their words to life.

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• Great user interfaces, like Voki’s, don’t require a lot of explanation. Students learn them quickly. I gave essentially no direct instruction on the tool; kids figured out the details on their own.
• I would love to have a school subscription to this site. $29.95 for the year isn’t much. It’s just that these expenses add up quickly when you’re paying your own way…

What students can do at home:

• Use Voki to make research projects or homework more exciting. Have students create Voki‘s that share knowledge. It’s a lot more fun than working in PowerPoint!
• Practice keyboarding with Typing Pal. Celebrate with them when they achieve “0 errors” because accuracy is more important than speed. Speed comes as their finger muscles mature!

As I enter my tenth year in the classroom, I’m not so sure.

I have the good fortune work (virtually and face-to-face) with some pretty high-powered people. Some that earn five-figure keynote speaking fees, and others that direct the daily operations of a classroom full of rambunctious students.

One particular individual in the latter category has me questioning my views about time.

This person has already forgotten more about teaching and learning than I will ever know. A natural leader, their command and control skills would impress General Norman Schwarzkopf. This person always makes time for me, no matter how overwhelmed they are. They constantly ask me about new technologies, use me to help them think through creative lesson ideas, and work tirelessly to keep morale up on their team and in our school. They are an inspiration.

And yet despite these laudable skills, abilities and talents, this individual is, increasingly … out of time.

The futuristic thriller In Time (2011, Twentieth Century Fox), set in the year 2161, features genetically-altered human beings whose life force is regulated by an embedded countdown clock. The movie is far more complex than I can explain here, but the basic idea is that the amount of time on your “clock” determines your wealth – and literally, how long you have to live. When your clock reaches zero, you drop dead. Unless you find a way to earn (or steal) more time to add to your clock.

These days, it’s as though my inspirational colleague’s clock has ticked down close to its final zero. The result? Pressure to do the things necessary for their survival become paramount – paperwork – parent meetings – differentiating lessons – IEPs – more meetings – more paperwork – and, of course, delivering instruction.

While this could be viewed simply as a matter of priorities, I see it differently now. The initiatives I have underway with this individual are state-of-the-art could generate transformational change in our school. These are the big dreams. We have a shared vision. The results, to date, have be incredibly positive. We have a mandate. We are agents of change.

And yet, we sputter. Little things don’t get done. Opportunities are missed. Potentially brilliant ideas spring to life, only to atrophy from lack of attention.

I used to believe that people simply made time for what was important. That was it.  Now I’m not so sure.

What will you accomplish before your clock reaches 00:00:00?

And how will you decide what to work on in those final days, hours, minutes, and seconds?

-kj-

Week ending 03/23/12

Kindergarten

What we covered / did / explored:

• We started the lesson with a little Keyboard Zoo fun. After we returned to the carpet, we worked through a SMART Notebook lesson where we identified signs of spring and enjoyed a brief animated explanation of flowers and seeds by “Timothy Littleboots.”
• Afterward, the students worked through a SMART Notebook lesson on their own where they had to unscramble some words (with picture prompts) and complete a matching game.
• For fun, we demonstrated Monster Milk Truck, taking the kids to Mount Everest, the Grand Canyon, and even our own school, then we let them “drive.” Good times! (Here’s a video of the game in action.)

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• The students hadn’t learned about flowers and seeds yet but most could easily identify the parts of a plant.
• Students also enjoyed spotting the hidden “signs of spring” in the interactive image at the start of the lesson.
• Monster Milk Truck was … EPIC!

What students can do at home:

• Have your students use a painting program to illustrate parts of a plant, step by step, starting with the seed.
• If they haven’t already asked you, play Monster Milk Truck together. Visit places you know and far off landmarks around the world. Anything significant topographically will be of immediate interest, as will most large cities and landmarks, as they are likely to have 3D representation in the game.

First Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• We started the lesson with a little Keyboard Zoo fun. We came back to the carpet to learn about Internet Advertising using several of the most popular gaming websites at school including Hooda Math (above), PopTropica, School Time Games, and more.
• We discussed what advertising is, why it exists, how to spot ads, what to do and not do, and we also discussed home some ads (pop-ups) can also be dangerous to your computer.
• This lesson was based on the excellent “Find the Ad” lesson on Cybersmart Curriculum.
• For fun, we demonstrated Monster Milk Truck, taking the kids to Mount Everest, the Grand Canyon, and even our own school, then we let them “drive.” Good times! (Here’s a video of the game in action.)

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• Most kids immediately recognized advertisements and knew how to avoid them. Some get confused when ads open new tabs in Internet Explorer (as opposed to new windows). They need to be reminded that tabs can be closed independently.
• Students understand that advertising is intended to change behavior – get them to buy things.
• Students know to look for things that “don’t belong” (unrelated to the site they are on) as a likely sign of an advertisement and therefore something to avoid (so they aren’t interrupted).

What students can do at home:

• Go to any popular website together and ask your child to show you where the ads are.
• Talk to your child about advertising and the role it plays in society. Ask them what they think.
• Review with your child what they should do if they encounter pop-up ads on your home computer. Stress the importance of clicking the “red x” (and nowhere else) and/or getting help from an adult.

Second Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• This was PASS testing week so we wanted something fun and relaxing for the kids. We warmed up with Typing Pal, recognizing members of the “Zero to Hero Club” for getting no mistakes on their practice lessons. We also allowed some students to work on Arcademic Skill Builders to practice their math and other facts.
• Using Microsoft Word, students wrote at least three sentences about respect, based on discussions they have had with Mr. Sacco, our elementary guidance counselor. These were checked for grammar and spelling.
• Students used Voki.com to create a character that spoke those sentences using voices the students selected.
• For fun, we demonstrated Monster Milk Truck, taking the kids to Mount Everest, the Grand Canyon, and even our own school, then we let them “drive.” Good times! (Here’s a video of the game in action.)

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• Keyboarding skills are steadily improving in second grade! Most students were very proficient getting their sentences written down quickly.
• Voki.com is a wonderful resource with endless options, most of which we didn’t even explore!

What students can do at home:

• Make animated characters using Voki.com - be prepared to have them be on the computer for a while – they LOVE this activity! Challenge them to WRITE the scripts FIRST however using a word processor then to HIGHLIGHT and COPY/PASTE from the word processor into Voki.

Third Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• We warmed up with Typing Pal, recognizing members of the “Zero to Hero Club” for getting no mistakes on their practice lessons.
• It’s not common knowledge, but, we have a set of 10 Kindles at school. They haven’t been used, so recently, I asked if any teachers were interested in having them in their classrooms. Mrs. Scheffler and Mrs. Smith (both Kindle users)  indicated they’d like to try them, so, we are in the process of getting them set up. Accordingly, we began thinking about doing an e-reader survey here at NCS. So, we used class time to get some input from the students about e-readers and to help us formulate questions we will use for a survey of all students in grades 2-8 later this year.
• We used the free and fabulous http://todaysmeet.com/ website to allow everyone in class to share their opinions. I will be using these to form the survey questions. Watch for the survey soon.
• For fun, we demonstrated Monster Milk Truck, taking the kids to Mount Everest, the Grand Canyon, and even our own school, then we let them “drive.” Good times! (Here’s a video of the game in action.)

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• Kids love using digital technologies to communicate! (Newsflash…right?) They instantly understood what to do (and what not to do) in the http://todaysmeet.com/ space.

What students can do at home:

• Talk to your child about surveys and why they are useful. Have them consider writing their own simple family survey and tabulating the results.

Fourth Grade

What we covered / did / explored:

• We warmed up with Typing Pal, recognizing members of the “Zero to Hero Club” for getting no mistakes on their practice lessons.
• I’ve been asked to help with test prep, and I found three pretty decent websites for kids to use for skill building:
• http://harcourtschool.com/activity/elab2004/index_2004.html - Math – has audio instructions (click the speakers) and supporting printable worksheets, depending on the activity.
• http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hme/k_5/quizzes/index.html#4 - ILA (grammar) – nothing flashy, just text. Keeps score.
• http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/test_tutor/build19/ - ILA (grammar) – nothing flashy, just text. Keeps score.
• For fun, we demonstrated Monster Milk Truck, taking the kids to Mount Everest, the Grand Canyon, and even our own school, then we let them “drive.” Good times! (Here’s a video of the game in action.)

What I learned / observed / inferred:

• These sites are prevalent on the web but have limited educational value. They are acceptable for a brief review or perhaps formative assessment but beyond that, not too much.

What students can do at home:

• To build writing skills, kids should write, for reading skills they should read, and for math skills they should solve problems (not just worksheets but real problems)!