Mesopotamia Rap Music Video

This morning, the Narwhals came to the computer lab excited to try something new. They'd learned a neat rap song in social studies and wanted to make a music video. So, we popped out the iPad, downloaded the song, opened the Video Star app, and started making the video. Taping completed today, and our directors will be completing edits on Monday for a pre-Fall Festival debut on this blog! Here are some sneak-peek photos I snuck around to take as they rehearsed, planned, and shot their video.

Star Power Update

Students in Middle and Upper Elementary classes have continued to do a great job being positive and helpful in class. Students have impressed me this week with their polite words and great questions!  Here are the Star Power standings for this week: 

Oyster Catchers: 97 / 165

Harp Seals: 108 / 180

Hammerheads: 107 / 150

Barnacles: 105 / 165

Coral Creators: 106 / 180

Key: (# stars earned / # stars for reward)

They continue to impress and delight!  Great job!

Carnegie Cyber Academy

This year, students in Upper Elementary and Middle School classes are learning about cyber safety at the Carnegie Cyber Academy.  Students have created their own username and password, and have enjoyed doing in-game activities during Technology classes.   Here's a page where you can read more about the game and see a demo video.

We will be continuing to use the site for classroom activities in the computer lab, but many students have also expressed an interest in continuing the activities at home.  If parents wish, the game portal can be downloaded to the computer at this link:  http://www.carnegiecyberacademy.com/login/  Login information must be entered in order to download the game.  Hey, students: Remember, always ask your parent/guardian before downloading anything onto the computer!  When they are ready to login, students should know their username and password, and the group code is com-8149.

A download-free way to continue the Carnegie Cyber Academy activities at home is by playing the online games and activities related to the Cyber Academy safety game at this link:  http://www.carnegiecyberacademy.com/funstuff.html

Visit the Caves in Lascaux

Middle School students started the year learning about ancient cave paintings and early civilizations. One of the great "virtual field trips" was to the caves in Lascaux in France.  Students used these paintings as a springboard for ideas for their own cave paintings now displayed in the middle school classrooms.  To see this awesome cave painting tour, go to: http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/?lng=en#/fr/02_00.xml

Beginner Robotics Day 3

In day 3 of this group, students built a new robot from plans. Each group had a slightly different build. Students selected the builds from the following choices: Robogator, Strider, Shotroller, and Shooterbot. All groups completed the build, and some made an introductory program. We will do more programming practice next week in the morning, and hopefully build some musical robots in the afternoon. We are having a special lunchtime discussion of robots in history, and their impact on the world during our next group meeting as well.

Star Power Update!

Students in Middle and Upper Elementary classes have continued to do a great job being positive and helpful in class, both to me and to each other!  Here are the Star Power standings for this week:

Oyster Catchers: 67

Harp Seals: 75

Hammerheads: 67

Barnacles: 70

Coral Creators: 79

They continue to impress and delight!  Great job, guys!

Technology Update: Middle School

This was a good week in Middle School Technology classes. 

Students in Emilie's and Linda's classes learned about online searching and citation.  We learned that you should always carefully consider your sources - are they credible or not?  We also learned that you should be a detective and look for facts in at least 3 places to make sure they are accurate before using them in our papers. Students discussed various types of files and information you can find on the internet - videos, interactive activities and games, sound and music files, text, newspaper articles, blogs, vlogs, maps, pictures...and more!  We learned that no matter what it is, if we use it for our paper we have to list it as a source in our bibliography.  We learned the format for citation and how to do a hanging indent on Microsoft Word.  

Students in Katrina's and Seminar classes started this year's cyber-safety activities on Carnegie Cyber Academy.  They will use these games and activities to learn and practice safe skills online, in a fun, game-like format.  Students created online accounts and know our group code, so they are welcome to visit the game anytime they wish. (Many students expressed a desire to continue playing the game on their own time!) We will revisit the game and online activities periodically throughout the year.  

This week, forms were sent home from the Technology Program to Middle School families.  The first form is the Computer Usage Agreement.  Students reviewed this document in class with the teacher.  Please read over the agreement, discuss with your child, and return it to the school signed by both the student and a parent/guardian.  The second form is about our Google Apps in Education accounts.  These accounts will include email, chat, calendar, online storage, and other useful Google tools to help students complete academic assignments.  We will discuss proper use of these tools in class.  These accounts are administered by the Technology Teacher.  Please review the information and return the signed form before Fall Festival.  If you have any questions, please feel free to email me!  

Technology Update: Middle Elementary

This week students in Team H2O had great classes! We did a lot of reading on the computer. We learned that ebooks (electronic books) on the computer can be really helpful and fun to read! Students were able to login to their new Raz-Kids accounts and read some books in their library. Students alternated between listening to books, taking quizzes, reading themselves, and decorating their Raz rockets!

Surfing Penguins Pictures

Today in the computer lab, the Surfing Penguins played Curious George games and activities.

We also took pictures. Here they are!

Tag Readers

On Monday mornings, I visit Early Learner classrooms with the Tag Readers and books. Here are some pictures of some Sleeping Learners and Terrific Turtles enjoying the Tag Reader activities.

Robert the Artistic Robot

Today one pair of students in the Beginner Robotics group built and programmed a drawing robot! I'm so impressed! When a pen is attached, he draws a neat spiral pattern. Check out this awesome picture:

Computer Forms Going Home This Week

This week at Gatherings, various forms from the Technology program are being distributed to parents.

Parents of Early Learner students received a Tag Reader information sheet, explaining the Tag Readers and providing a list of books in our library.  No action is required from parents in this age level - but if you have questions feel free to email me!

Parents of Lower and Middle Elementary students are receiving a copy of the Computer Usage Agreement.  Students have reviewed this in class, and should be able to understand the concepts within.  Please review with your child, have your child "sign" to the best of their ability, and sign yourself, then return to the school.  You can return to the classroom teacher, to me, or place in my mailbox in the main office.

Parents of Upper Elementary students are receiving the Computer Usage Agreement and a Google Apps in Education permission form.  We use the Google Apps to begin learning about online communications in a fun, safe environment.  These accounts are administered and monitored by the Technology Teacher.  Students in this age group will likely be receiving the accounts in November, and using them for classroom activities in the computer lab, such as composing and sending emails, online chat and IM, making a blog and/or video log (in a safe way!), and using online storage and sharing tools.  This is a great way for these students to practice the online safety rules we learn about and reinforce classroom lessons by sharing and collaborating. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.  Please review the forms with your child, sign the forms, and return them to your classroom teacher, to me, or place them in my mailbox in the main office.

Thank you!

This Week in Technology

This has been an educational and fun week in the computer lab!  We sure have been busy!

Students in Early Learner classes enjoyed visits from Karen with the Tag Readers!  This week students especially enjoyed Go Diego, Go!, The Little Engine that Could, Ariel's Adventures Under the Sea, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, T-Rex's Mighty Roar, and Dora Goes to School. 

Students in Lower Elementary classes had their first visit to the computer lab on Monday!  Students had class in small groups (4-4-3).  Each group spent about 25 minutes in the lab.  We learned the names of devices commonly found in the computer lab (included monitor, keyboard, computer, mouse, printer, headphones, camera, and speakers).  We read Arthur's Computer Disaster, and learned that we should always ask an adult before using a computer, always follow directions about when it is ok to use the computer, and always tell an adult right away if something goes wrong on the computer. Finally, students were able to enjoy a few minutes of playtime on the computer at NickJr.com.

Students in Middle Elementary had a busy classtime!  We learned a new word: device.  A device is a mechanism or electronic equipment that does a specific task.  Students had a great time naming devices, and came up with some good ones!  Examples include: blender, iPad, Computer, iPhone, clock, DS, mp3 player, remote control, and printer.  We then learned another term: peripheral device. A peripheral device is a device used with a computer that enhances the computing experience.  Examples are things like speakers, monitors, the mouse, headphones, or flash drives. We learned how to sort peripheral devices into three groups: Input device, Output device, and Storage device.  Then we started learning about how to stay safe online with FauxPaw the Techno Cat.

Students in Upper Elementary are learning about online safety and responsibility at the Carnegie Cyber Academy!  (http://www.carnegiecyberacademy.com/index.html) This fun format for learning encourages students to complete lessons and activities to reinforce important lessons about safe and responsible communications, avoiding and ending cyberbullying, and making smart choices online, in a fun, game-like format. Students will register for an account (as part of the CS group - no name or identifying information shared!) and download and install programs on the computers in the lab with my supervision and direction.

Students in Middle School learned about formatting documents, how to search for information online, and citation of online resources. Students created a sheet of information about themselves that utilized various formatting. We watched the Google Digital Literacy video entitled "Detecting Lies and Staying True", and discussed smart search strategies like reviewing a website, checking up on the author(s), and finding multiple sources that agree with each other to fact-check.  Finally, we learned how to cite online sources.  Just in case they forget, here's how:

Last Name, First Name. (not always available; if not provided, skip)

"Title of Specific Page."  Title of Website. www.URL.com/specificpage  Date of access (DD Mon YEAR)

Or here is a completely made up example (courtesy of Katrina): 

"Asteroid to hit Earth Today." NASA. www.nasa.gov/news/notreal.html  13 Sept 2012

Whew!  That's a lot of hard work!  I'm super proud of all the students for their hard work and attention, and look forward to next week's classes! 

Star Power!

This year, students in Middle Elementary and Upper Elementary classes are trying a new way to earn free time.  This new method is called Star Power!

As students do positive things in class - participating in discussions, following directions, helping friends, using kind and respectful language, etc. - they will earn stars on their star cards.  As a class, they have a star goal to earn 10 minutes of free time.  Free time can be used to do any appropriate activity of their choice, including games, drawing, videos, music, and more! As individuals fill their star cards, the cards will be replaced and the full star card will be placed on the "Wall of Fame".

Current Star Power earnings:

Andrea's Class: 28*
Tulie's Class: 52
Keri's Class: 40
Kim's Class: 55
Betsy's Class: 55

I'll keep updating the Star Power boards to keep classes and parents updated on our awesome progress!

*short class this week  :-) 

Pivot Stickfigure Animator

In our first classes of the year, we have used a free software called Pivot Stickfigure Animator.  It is a simple program that allows users to create short animations using stick figures.

Students asked that I provide the download link, so here it is:  http://pivotanimator.net

Kids, remember the rules we learned about online safety - who do you need to ask before you download that program?  :)  If you said "A trusted adult" you are right!  Preferably the trusted adult who owns the computer you are using.

pivotanimator.net

Bonus tip: make sure as you download that you unselect the extra free software if you don't want it.

Beginner Robotics: Day 1

Today we had our first meeting of the first robotics group of the year! The students divided into four pairs, and each group built a simple rover. This afternoon they were given programming challenges related to movement. Next week we will cover sound and display blocks, complete challenges combining these skills, and add sensors!

We had a great first day! I can't wait for next week!

Welcome Back! & Rule Review

Hello, everybody!  Welcome back for another fun year of learning in the Computer Lab!  This week all classes are learning/reviewing our technology rules.  

The computer lab rules are as follows: 

1.  Always treat classmates and teachers with respect, and use a respectful tone with any person you encounter in the computer lab.   

2.  Please be mindful of websites you visit.  Do not do things on the computer that are inappropriate for school time.  

3.  Always ask a teacher’s permission before you use any kind of equipment. Do not willfully damage equipment. Use equipment only as instructed.

4.  Do not disrupt other students’ opportunity to learn.  This includes, but is not limited to, such actions as: distracting other students or the teacher by poking, hitting, or yelling at them. 

5.  Although it is ok to ask for help, or to work together on some projects, please do not copy another student’s work.  

Various forms, such as the Computer Usage Agreement and information about programs and accounts your child may be using as part of our Technology program, will be going home in students' Gatherings packets later this month.  Students in Elementary classes will begin the year with computer safety, and being safe online.  Middle School students will begin the year learning how to do basic tasks (format papers, online research, save and print) in support of classroom assignments.  

I'm so excited for the new school year!  We're going to have a great year of learning and fun!