A drawing by a first grader

A first grader drew this today in technology lab using Microsoft Paint.  He really wanted to print it out and bring it home, so we decided on this green alternative.

A super bird!

Baking Our Own Cajun Cornbread Boy

In class this week, we have read The Cajun Cornbread Boy by Dianne de Las Casas.

Here is a little preview of the book:

All students grades K, 1, 2, and 3 will have heard the story as of Monday the 17th.
I told the students I was going to put the recipe at the end of the book onto my blog SO here it is!

 

The students will tell you that, in the story, the Cajun Cornbread Boy had 2 chili peppers for the eyes, a peppercorn for the nose, and a link of boudin sausage for the mouth.

Actually, boudin is sold at the Kennesaw WalMart and the Acworth Wal-Mart.  It is a sausage made with rice and meat.  SOOOO good grilled!  I also like to cook it in a pan, and then cook lima beans (or butter beans as we call them in South Louisiana) and pour the creamy cooked butter beans over the boudin.

Here is a picture of the boudin that is sold at WalMart locally:

Anyway, there's my contribution to culture education for the week!  Enjoy, cher! 

Laissez le bons temps rouler!!!

Recent Happenings in Technology Lab Grades 4-6

The K-3 post was getting a little wordy, so I thought I would split the upper grades into a new post.

• 4th Grade:  As you know, we have been exploring the world of blogging for the last few months.  I can honestly say, I never expected it to take off like it did, although I was hoping that the students would enjoy it.  In fact, I had to turn off viewing rights for posts and comments temporarily, until I have a chance to catch up with reading and approving posts!  I am thrilled that students are practicing their typing skills in a context that is meaningful.  These students are also realizing the importance of writing for an audience. 
  
  So, the blogs will be utilized throughout the year.  However, we are going to move on starting Thursday to a few new technology concepts.
  
  The students are studying about European Explorers in Social Studies.  Therefore, we are going to implement technology into these lessons to approximate the distance between where the explorers set sail and where they made landfall, utilizing Google Maps.
  
  The week after the Thanksgiving break, we are going to place these numbers into Excel and create a graph.  I know this will be the first time many students utilize Excel, so I will make this as painless as possible with a ready-made document on each computer.  We will then create a graph that shows the differences between the distances covered by each explorer.  FINGERS CROSSED:  This is a lot to take on as fourth graders, but they are very smart and I know they can rise to the task.
  
• FIFTH GRADE:  I am in the process of getting 5th graders signed up for Edmodo, an online learning platform completely secure for elementary, middle, and high schools.  Once this process is complete, there will be no wondering what we are covering each day, as students will log on to Edmodo and a lesson will be there, or a directive of what to do next. 
  We have explored blogging as well in 5th grade, and last week we experienced a web tool called Wordle.  I am attempting to get Prezi accounts for all students, so that we can explore this presentation software.  In the meantime, we will implement Social Studies standards into a Google Maps/Excel assignment as in 4th grade. 
  
• SIXTH GRADE:  My small but powerful group of 6th graders that are in my class daily have been blazing trails with Edmodo, navigating online learning terrifically.  Yesterday they began planning their "All About Me" Power Point presentations utilizing Google Docs and Google Images.

What have we been up to in technology?? K-3

Hello, friends!  Sorry that my posts have been far and few between.
Here is an update on what the students have been learning in technology lab.

• KINDERGARTEN:  Every week I locate a few new educational activities/games for our youngest KCSMA knights to explore.  Almost all of the students have learned how to double-click to open the Kindergarten folder on the desktop, and then double-click the game that they want to play.  Through this, not only are they learning technology skills but also reading, to read the titles of the games in the folder, which are always simplified to be easy to read and remember. If a student chooses to want to paint or type instead, that is always a choice.  My objective is to keep them engaged for the full 45 minutes, and they are always happy when that is happening!  **Starting Thursday, we will explore Microsoft Paint in preparation for this 9 weeks' technology standard:  Use drawing tools to create an original illustration or picture story.
  
• FIRST GRADE:  My objectives for First Grade at this time are very similar to those of Kindergarten, as we have to work less on classroom procedures with first graders.  Also, the games are more difficult and challenging and incorporate more math and reading skills.  First graders are more prone to being able to assist their peers with troubleshooting.  We have also been able to practice shutting down the computer correctly at the end of each technology session.  **Starting Thursday, we will be exploring Microsoft Paint's features, in order to create a picture that tells a story.  We will extend this later in the year to create a concept map on Paint.
  
• SECOND GRADE:  Second graders have really been enjoying the various games that I have located for them to practice math, reading, and technology skills.  I have to say the most popular has been Fun Brain Math.  What I really like about this site is not only all of the math games but the reading as well.  So many students choose to sit and ready chapters of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" during some of their technology time.  They have also enjoyed the Mad Libs section of this site.   ***Starting Thursday, we will be creating a brainstorming map about Fall on bubbl.us.  Students will be encouraged to attempt to create a brainstorming map on their own.  (This is the 2nd grade technology standard for this 9 weeks)
  
• THIRD GRADE:  A few weeks ago, we started a bit of Internet research, just to get our feet wet.  We will continue with this in different subjects at intervals throughout the year.  I have also realized that breaking a technology lesson into chunks is the way to go.  The key is to keep it fun and rewarding, to keep them interested for lifelong learning.  **Starting Thursday, Third grade will be learning/practicing how to search for an image and then saving it to a folder on the hard drive.  We will then insert this image into a document and write about it.  (2nd 9 weeks' technology standard in Third grade:  "Uses appropriate keywords and search strategies to locate information (text and pictures) online")
  

Handprint Calendars

handprint calendars

Do you fellow teachers need an idea to create for gifts?  These handprint calendars are awesome!!!

TERRIFIC TEACHER TUESDAY Thank You's!

A great big THANK YOU goes out to two students who were given my name for Terrific Teacher Tuesdays!
Mason & Family from Miss Ward's Kindergarten class presented me with a bag of dark chocolate Raisinets and a gift card to Target.  Dark chocolate Raisinets are one of my favorite types of candy!  And well, who doesn't love Target?!?

Michal from 5th grade gave me a bag of dark chocolate Raisinets (YEA!  More!!)  and a Runner's World magazine.  Awesomeness!

You guys make me smile big big... thanks for making my day special!

2nd 9 weeks upon us

And so begins the 2nd 9 weeks of school.. already?!?  Wow, that flew by!
This round of specials will extend all the way until October 30th, due to early release for conferences next Mon., Tues., Wed. 

Let's flip it and start with 6th grade:

6th:  My 1st 9 weeks connections class moved on to different and new things.  Congrats to 3 of my students for making over a 100% on their 9 weeks final grade in technology!  They have received a voucher good for one chicken biscuit and drink next Friday for Chick Fil A biscuit day.
I have been given a great group of students with which to trudge through the ever expanding world of technology this 9 weeks.  We have started with blogging on Kidblog.  We are also hoping to explore Edmodo this 9 weeks.  Permission forms went home yesterday.

5th:  We are continuing with blog posts, changing avatars, posting pictures in our blog, etc.  This will continue through until Oct. 29th, when we will move on photo editing with Picasa.  6th graders will also learn to use Picasa at this time.

4th:  We are continuing, again, with blogs, with changing our avatars, adding photos to post, and the importance of Netiquette.  We will also move on to explain the important of utilizing correct spelling and grammar in blog posts.

3rd:  Third grade is doing a tiny bit of Internet Research this round and next round of specials, just to get our feet wet in going to a search engine and finding a reliable web site.  The topic is U.S. Government and reflects what they have been learning in class.  We work for half of the period, and then explore educational activities for the second half.

2nd:  Second grade has been practicing their math skills in the wonderful world of FunBrain Math.  So much more fun than flashcards and worksheets!  I wish this had been around when I was their age!

1st:  First grade gets to explore their science specials time and concept mapping, and then move on to Michael Michael Go Recycle.  It is amazing how this game has spanned the grade levels!

K:  Kindergarten starts out with a game testing their number sequence knowledge as well as mouse abilities on one of my favorite websites:  funschool.kaboose.com.  This game is called "Stacker" and is one of a handful of awesome games for the younger students.


ON ANOTHER NOTE:
We are in the process of receiving awesome, brand new headphones for the lab, courtesy of donors through donorschoose.org!!!  I am so so excited that the headphones will be reliable and I hope much better than these that I purchased at the beginning of the year as a temporary measure.  The headphones I have that are still in good condition will go to various teachers throughout the school who need headphones for their classrooms.

That's all I have for now!  Thanks for reading and as always, for supporting Kennesaw Charter Science and Math Academy!!!

Volunteers! Important! Morning Car Pool!

Please read the note below from Principal Frey concerning morning car pool:

Could you please put the word out that we need another volunteer at the first left turn entrance.  Our volunteer was not out there this morning (it’s the first time he’s missed). Parents were pulling into both lanes, holding up traffic, then  merging into cars who’ve been following carpool procedures.

Things have been running very smoothly until this morning.  So I guess it really will take a person standing there to ensure that people do the right thing.

What a shame.

Will you put the word out on “volunteer opportunities” for an adult or two to help with this each morning, to make sure parents who insist on parking in the this area to walk their child in, know they are there to stay until carpool is over.  No one exits that area until carpool ends.  It is dangerous it’s not fair to other parents, and I cannot believe we are still struggling with this rule.

Thank you

Mrs. Frey

Tux Paint Spotlight

This was created by Pearson in Kindergarten.  He used Tux Paint to create this picture.  He was using the mirror image effect under Magic.  He showed me how he created his skeleton, and then he used inventive spelling to type skeleton and then typed his name at the top.
Very impressive and I had to share!

FIRST WEEK OF OCTOBER! technology time

Kindergarten:  This week, our kindergarten students have their own "K" folder on the desktop.  We are logging into the computer and then double clicking this folder to get to many fun activities.

First Grade:  The first grade students are experiencing some fun brain puzzles on knowledge adventure's website.  Here are links to three of them:
Monkey Banana, Tower Blocks, and Memory.  Another one that a student discovered is Count the Cubes, which is awesome for spatial sense.

Second Grade:  I decided that the third grade lesson from last week was so successful, I wanted to try it with second grade.  We are creating a brainstorm map on bubbl.us on everything they have learned so far in Science Specials class, and then once recycling is discussed, we move on to playing Michael Michael Go Recycle.  They LOVE this game, and I hope the idea of picking up litter (and of course not being a litterbug in the first place) is wearing off!

Third Grade:  This week I decided to give the third grade students some experience with Microsoft Word, specifically font style, color, and sizes, by typing words from their current social studies and science units.  I am also encouraging them to practice typing with more than 1 or 2 fingers... no hunt and peck! :)

Fourth Grade:  We are moving on to commenting on blogs, and discussing "netiquette" and the proper way to comment.  We are also discussing not putting personal information on the Internet and why that is important.  Most fourth grade students have really enjoyed blogging and have taken it to the next level with many blog posts at home.

Fifth grade:  We are FINALLY finishing up with presenting our Power Point presentations, and we will be moving on to blogging.

Sixth Grade:  We are finishing up with a week on blogging, and will be moving on to photo editing next week followed by inserting those photos into Windows Movie Maker.

Lots of Links, Blogging, and more

Quick run down of this round of specials:

Kindergarten:  practicing Mouse skills of click and drag as well as double clicking with opening shortcuts of links on the desktop to these two games:
ABC "Puzzles"  &  Number Matching.
As always, when the students finish the games/activities assigned, they are able to peruse the rest of the website.  Many times, they find some really cool activities that I hadn't discovered yet!

First Grade:  Last week, while we were all in circus mode, I found a website with some fun carnival-esque educational games.  The first graders are starting out this week with Math Popper. Another one of my favorites is Circus Simon.  (I just found a classic Simon game at a thrift store for $2.  Circa 1984-ish!)  Again, the students are able to go onto other educational games on Funschool after a few rounds of Math Popper.

Second Grade:   Second graders are showing me their mouse skills plus understanding of clicking on links (active links), scrolling, etc.... all skills needed for manipulating the Internet and other programs.  We are using Mousercise, which ends with a really cute certificate that we were going to print and bring home; However, the names are not showing up when we print them!  From there, the students are practicing their typing skills on Alpha Munchies typing game on ABCYa.com.

Third Grade:  I am writing this post about 3rd grade before my trial run with the lesson occurs, so I am hoping for the best as it is a tad complex.  For the last two rounds of specials, I have been attempting to focus on concept mapping.  Our excursion into Scriblink.com was fun, to say the least.  I didn't quite go in the direction I hoped it would, with us creating a concept map together.  So then last week we created All About Me concept maps on Microsoft Paint, which went very well.  I think the students enjoyed the activity which was a little more organized than the Scriblink activity.
ON TO THIS WEEK:
We were going to use showscreen.com to broadcast my laptop to all computers via the Internet.  This is a cool tool for anyone to use when explaining a process to someone.  However, my 5th and 6th graders tried it on Monday and it did not quite cooperate with our Internet connection here in the lab.  So, I scrapped that idea and we created a brainstorm map on bubbl.us together as a group about everything they have learned in Science Specials class.    The students then played a game teaching about recycling and cleaning litter called Michael Michael Go Recycle!  In their new 3rd grade folder on the desktop of links, I also added Arthur's Groovy Garden, which Mrs. Borg's class played on Monday.

Fourth Grade:  Fourth grade is exciting for these next two 'rounds' of specials as we are BLOGGING.  These are very safe, educational friendly blogs at kidblog.org.  Each class can only view the posts of the students in that class, and the blog is private to only our class and myself.  Also, each post has to be approved by me, which goes for posts and comments as well.

Fifth Grade:  Fifth graders are finally getting to present their Power Point presentations that they have been working on for three weeks now.  All students are grading each other as well, and there have been some great comments coming out of this process.

Sixth Grade:  Sixth graders presented their Prezi presentations on Monday over doughnuts.  This week, they are delving into the world of blogging.  Today they learn some aspects of Netiquette= how to write in a non threatening way on the Internet as well as commenting respectfully, etc. The students will be graded on two blog posts as well as two comments on another student's blog post.

Looking back, this post was quite wordy!  I hope some of you are getting use out of the links included in these posts!

Rubrics for Classroom Procedures~

I had to get this thought out and on "paper" while it was still in my brain...

How neat would it be to expose kindergarteners and first graders to rubric grading by using rubrics to 'grade' their understanding of classroom procedures?

In fact, this could be used up through grades 5 and 6.  Create a rubric with the highest standards of a certain classroom procedure, and then downgrade for the various spots on a rubric for behaviors necessary for a procedure that were left out.

Let's see if I can come up with an idea that I could use in my own class:

I am thinking that this would expose younger students to the world of rubrics at an earlier age.  This could be made into a picture rubric for Kindergarten and First grade so that they could see the behavior they need to be exhibiting when they come into class.  A poster of this procedure with the pictures and rubrics would be beneficial as well.

Let me know what y'all think!

Why couldn't someone have shared these with me in 1997??

So as I was searching for various sites to plan lessons in technology, I stumbled across some classroom management sites that I deemed important and helpful.  I knew if I let them slip through, I would be wanting to refer to them again one day, to assist myself and refocus on classroom management as well as possibly help out a rookie one day.

As yes, I too was a rookie teacher way back in 1997, and wow, classroom management was just not something we talked a lot about in undergrad school.  Of course, I am not sure to what degree those talks would have helped me. It is definitely an art that must be mastered by doing.  As a beginning teacher, you feel like you can change the world just by being present, and that all in your room will focus on your voice and be entranced like the animals in Snow White when she sang (or in Shrek when Fionna sang).  I also only had one child at the time, a very quiet little 2 year old who, at the time, never gave me much grief.  My experience with children was limited to my babysitting experiences in high school and my brief stint as a student teacher, where I had Mrs. Carlos to maintain control.  (I did learn a lot from her about classroom management, that is for sure.)

Back to the links on classroom management.  Pass them on~
Have some awesome ideas???  PLEASE PLEASE comment and let us know!

• Five Essential Classroom Management Strategies
• Five Critical Classroom Management Domains
• A Classroom Management Wiki
• Classroom Management Entry in a forum
• 5,4,3,2,1- a blog entry from an ESOL teacher in South Korea

NOTE:  I have to add my idea from when I was teaching first grade.  Now this is in a school with daily conduct charts.  I tried various methods and none seemed to really work for me, until the "GOLDEN CLIP".  I wish I had a picture of it to share, so let me describe.  I created a chart out of foam board, library card pockets, and index cards.  Each student had a number, so the pockets were numbered.  Any visitor on any given day did not know who's pocket was who's, so therefore no embarrasment on the kids who were having an off day.  The cars were color coded, and the students all started on green, and moved down through the colors in the pocket.  I cannot remember the order, but I know I am not a big fan of red for failure, so the last color was definitely not red.  The students knew the consequences for a move-down of each color.  (Parent note home, parent phone call, etc.) 

The students could move UP in color throughout the day for good behavior.  If they were already on a top color they would earn the GOLDEN CLIP, a clothespin that I spray painted gold.  In my last year, I also had golden bejeweled clips, which were like super awesome terrific.  The rewards for these clips were big "I did it!" stickers at the end of the day, plus smaller scratch and sniff stickers, and also good notes home, good phone calls home, etc.  I had a treasure box, if I remember right, but attempted not to use that too often as that was the extrinsic reward the kids always jumped for.

Edmodo-a whole new method of teacher/student collaboration

Inching into my grad school class this semester of creating an online learning experience, I am hoping to break ground with Edmodo here at Kennesaw Charter.  Here is a link to the many features and aspects of Edmodo.  I myself am very new to this experience, and consider it an opportunity to familiarize myself with it's features while the students learn about it as well.  A collegue of mine informed me just yesterday that both Cobb County and Fulton County have domains at Edmodo and many schools already utilize this resource for extension of the classroom. 

Last night I added Kennesaw Charter Science and Math Academy to the Edmodo map, creating our school's place in cyberspace there.  I am in the process of collecting permission forms from my small but awesome class of 9 sixth graders for utilization of Edmodo this 9 weeks.  The online class I am creating for grad school, which will be implemented in the Spring, will most probably be created in Edmodo.

So, if you are a parent/guardian of one of our 6th grade technology students this nine weeks, please send in those permission forms a.s.a.p. so we can get moving with collaboration and giving these students a great experience that will carry over for a lifetime of 21st century learning.  Students will be required to take at least one online course for high school graduation within the next year, and this will definitely carry over when these 6th graders hit high school.  For them to have this experience now would give them a 'leg up' in the future.

Plus, don't we want them getting excited about education even when they are not in the confines of our halls?

Thanks again for your support!

K & 1st explore Tux Paint software

KCSMA Kindergarten and First Graders have been exploring Tux Paint, which is a free downloadable software.  It extends a bit beyond MS Paint, and includes a number of stamps that students can add to their art work, as well as various "magic" effects, shapes, lines, brushes, as well as text.  Again, the lab gets loud with excitement when students discover a new feature.  I particularly enjoyed the "foam" magic effect, as well as "rainbow". 


This is pretty cool.. the foam effect looks like frog eggs!

 

 

 

 



Fun web tool alert! Scriblink!!

This 'round' of specials, KCSMA 3rd and 4th graders have been experimenting with and exploring a web tool called Scriblink.  It is a web-based whiteboard that is fun enough to draw and write on alone- the cool thing is that you can collaborate with 1-5 friends (for a total of 6 allowed at a time on a board) to draw, write, etc. 

 

As this image shows, from Scriblink you would click on "Get URL" in order to send the web address to someone you wish to draw with.  This web address can be copied and then pasted into any chat program, email, etc.

 

Some students have found it exciting and fun... some have been a little frustrated... we have learned the skill of respecting other peoples' work as some students had their artwork colored on or cleared by a peer in the class.

 

The computer lab has gotten quite noisy at times when we were checking out Scriblink.  However, one student stopped me at carpool and said it best, "Today at technology, it felt more like we were in art."  That's the overlapping power of technology integration.

 

Have fun with Scriblink!  Come back for updates on our next fun web tool.



Prezi-nting the 6th graders

My class of 6th graders is only 9 strong, but we have accomplished much in these short weeks.  They have created a brainstorming document of ways to create a presentation to help younger students, which we will possibly begin creating in the next week.  Then, the students created an "All About Me" Powerpoint which they will present today in class, with all peers giving feedback to each other (as well as teacher feedback, of course!)  We have explored the online presentation software Prezi. This software has a few more bells and whistles than Powerpoint and is a little different to manipulate, so once we have a few more basics down, the students will begin creating their "how to" 'video'/presentation for younger students in Prezi. 
My goal as the technology teacher is to teach these 6th graders as many useful web tools as possible before the 9 weeks is over.  There are so many out there that if I just expose them to a handful, many many more will be familiar enough to search out and use in the years to come.

Fifth Grade Power!! (Power Point, that is)

Fifth graders have been working on "All About Me" Powerpoint Presentations. 
Most students are getting pretty far into them in only 2 class periods.  It will be possible that they will be able to present them after the third class.  Some of the students have much experience with Power Point, and some students have never worked with the software before.  It is fun to watch them explore and learn a new tool.  So many tech tools to come this year!

K-2 Skills in Tech Lab

This round of specials we are focusing on mouse and keyboard skills in kindergarten, first, and second grades.  Mouse skills are one of the first important basic computing skills to have a handle on before continuing to more complex skills.

We began with this game in Kindergarten and First Grade:  Blooper's Colors
Whenever students showed mastery of this basic game, they were allowed onto other games on that website.

Second grade was beginning with this game:  Bees and Honey, again another mouse skills game.
Second graders were allowed to go on to other games on TVO Games, which are all educational in nature. 

The students have amazed me with their abilities!

3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th typing practice

These are a few sites I have found to help students with their typing skills.  We will use these periodically throughout the year.

Desert Typing Racer:  Type the words and stay on the road!  Avoid the crazy drivers!

Keyboard Revolution:  Type the moving letter when it is in the circle.. keep up with the beat!  Break it down...

Online Typing Games- Alphabet- HOW FAST CAN YOU GO????  Reply with your high score!

Finger Frenzy- type the alphabet as fast as you can!

Spacebar Invaders- I Loved Space Invaders as a kid! 

Cup Stacking Game- As fast as you can!! type the letters as they turn black.  Beat your high score!


Add a comment and let me know what your favorite game is and why!


We also have this awesome site for typing fun:
Dance Mat Typing



If you are just starting out, start with level 1, stage 1.  Work your way up!  Your fingers will be dancing across those keys in NO time!

State of Georgia Technology Standards

Many of you teachers, parents, family members may wonder what the technology standards are for the state of Georgia schools.

Georgia follows the ISTE NETS-S.
Per the ISTE website:  "ISTE's NETS for Students (NETS•S) are the standards for evaluating the skills and knowledge students need to learn effectively and live productively in an increasingly global and digital world. "

Here is a link to these standards:  NETS-S.

Here is a link on the GA Dept. of Education website to activities in each grade level and subject area correlated to the ISTE standards:  NETS-S Performance Tasks.

Can I get a "Whoop Whoop"???

I HAVE to post on here the successes I had yesterday!
All classes went really well, to start.
My 6th graders, a handful of them, were much more productive working on the brainstorming for their presentations we are planning.
4th and 3rd went really great as well, with a student (I think it was my new friend "Who Dat!" Brandon- he had a fleur de lis necklace on and loves the Saints... instant friendship!) said I was the coolest teacher because I knew about The Incredibles.

Other than that, here are the fires I put out around the school:

• A handful of teachers were having problems logging onto their pretty old computers. (IBMs with 3.5 disk slots and Windows 2000),  One day they could, the next they couldn't.  Many of these teachers had many documents on them that were super important... I am buying them a flash drive for Christmas! :)  Anyway, my brain actually shifted into overdrive and thought a problem out backwards and I realized how to get them to log on... get them off of the network and then log on, and it worked!  These teachers could retrieve their documents!!!!  I think I will go send a friendly email reminder right now to all staff to back up their stuff just in case... you just never know!
• I am looking into a price for getting flash drives customized for all staff.  Best present I think they could ever get!
   
• Another teacher was having issues getting on the wireless, her wireless device just would not connect.  I downloaded an updated driver for her wireless device to my lovely little hot pink flash drive, and then installed it on her computer and TA DA!  Success!  This is something I totally would not have known how to do 2 weeks ago... Mrs. Moore had a similar problem and somehow I stumbled upon this way to fix it.  As well as Mr. Page's issue with his video driver.
• One other teacher finally got a computer.. I hope she can get an HP charger for it this weekend and that it works well for her.

I truly love this job, although I don't ever stop.. but the combination of teaching with putting out these fires for the staff... there is a challenge at every corner!!!!!

Week 1 update

Quick little synopsis of what we have been doing in technology lab with each grade level.

6th- This class is comprised of 10 students, and we are forging ahead with a project I named "Teach the Younger Kids".  Yesterday, the older students brainstormed ways in which we could use technology to help younger students.  I asked them to focus on K-4, and most of them focused on K-1.  This could be an idea to help them in any facet of life, not just school related.  They came up with some great ideas, typed out on Microsoft Word, and today we are going to go a step further with that, brainstorming ways to create a presentation using speech, video, pictures, music, and text.  This will be done via Google Docs.. I am excited to put this engaged learning project in action.

5th- We have been mostly working on, as with all grades, procedures for computer lab since every student is new to them, as am I.  I have been showing 5th, 4th, and 3rd a presentation on Prezi with a little intro on me, since I am new to this school as well.  For 5th, we continue on to discussing the desktop picture on their screen currently, which is the first personal computer ever sold, an IBM release in August 1981.  We talk about the use of this computer in the 80's, what it could do and what it couldn't, as well as the price.  Then we go through the steps of logging onto our teachers' blogs, as very important information is on these blogs that the 5th graders need daily.

4th and 3rd grades are very similar to 5th grade.  4th graders are actually covering supply and demand, scarcity, and other topics of economics in Mr. Page's Social Studies class, so they have awesome comments concerning our discussion of the older computer from the 80's/the price guessing, etc.  Today, with the 4th and 3rd grade classes I had, we went to Microsoft Word or Paint, just to determine some basic skill levels as I floated around the room.

2nd grade-  Second grade was very similar to 3rd and 4th, with the exception of Word and Paint.  We had enough time for intros, sitting at computers, procedures for when they need help and when I need their attention, and turning the computers on and shutting them down.

K & 1st grades-  Kindergarten and 1st grades met Google the giraffe, our technology lab mascot, through a story constructed on Prezi.  (Google the giraffe writes to a friend in Israel, and I actually had a student today who's name is Israel!  That was a neat surprise.)  We then discussed my signal for attention as well as getting to sit at a computer after I called roll.  Next class we will turn the computers on!

Busy busy busy

That is all I can say about the last 2 weeks.. and this week, of course, is surpassing last week's business due to the fact that specials started yesterday=I started teaching classes.  Today is my first full day.. and I say full meaning in 30 minutes or so, I will have my first class, will not stop until my lunch at 12-ish and will continue through until almost 2.. with afternoon car pool starting at 2:10-3:45. 
Classes are basic right now, just getting in the introductions, learning names, etc.  We will kick it off at a faster pace soon with 5th and 6th, and possibly 3rd and 4th.  Kindergarten was INTERESTING to say the least yesterday- about what I expected, for sure, but I still don't know how to sit all of them at a computer anytime soon and get anything accomplished.  Classroom management is the key, I surely know that.  I will have to research it IN MY SPARE TIME (HA!).

Grad school assignments are due tomorrow.. yes that is in full swing once again.  I am hoping that, somehow, my brain will react like my muscles... the more I use it, the more endurance I can wring out of it.  No one send me anything contradicting that fact.... I surely can just fool myself into believing it.

Soon I will post the pictures of all of the gear we collected from Cobb County School warehouse.  Mr. Matos has 50 of the desktops ready to go to classrooms!  OK, I need to inventory them..um.. WHEN??? :)

OK, off to teach my first class of the day.  Wish me luck....

Beginning Again

And so I begin another journey in the realm of education....
My last excursion with teaching was almost 10 years ago, with first graders at Acadian Elementary.

The family of Kennesaw Charter has graciously accepted me, and I have enjoyed getting to know many people this week through the trials and tribulations of technology problems.  In between all of the meetings of preplanning, I was engaged in assisting teachers with laptop screens, monitors, Internet connection, with the icing of the week to be driving to Cobb School's warehouse and picking up hundreds of computers, boxes of printers, and miscellaneous other furniture.

I truly saw the excitement as a team at the Cobb warehouse, even in the eyes of Mrs. Davis's husband who knows how valuable all of this equipment is to the teachers of KCSMA.  I felt like we had just rounded the corner at a thrift store to spot the most awesome find ever, and that feeling was amplified in the eyes of the teachers that were there.  The possibilities of utilizing this technology for student learning... hoping, hoping that all of it works, or at least some of it works.  Wondering if those desktop computers with no CD-Rom drive could be used for parts...picking through a pile of "to be dumped" furniture for useful items, including a drawer full of tangrams that I, as a former first grade teacher, could NOT leave there!

And so, the dawn of a new school year is almost here....
As I write this, ginormous boxes of wires and keyboards and monitors are being delivered to the school.
As I write this, I have search windows open, researching ways to clear out computers easily, hoping something will work to get these computers distributed as quickly as possible in the school.
Hoping that I can figure it out to do it quickly without having to wait for assistance..
knowing I will need assistance and wanting to drag Todd over there before the weekend is up.

And so on to the next chapter of this excitement..