Student Review's Her Own Blog

Google Hangout on Air with Wisconsin

As part of Read Across America, we joined a Wisconsin classroom on Google Hangouts to read Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr.

The recording was horrible despite the two sound checks and trial runs the day before.  :(

https://plus.google.com/events/cf5idac90budk97f7s31k514i2o

2 Screens are Better than 1

A student demonstrates how we find information (in an eBook), make something from that information (Word Cloud) and share what we've learned (Blogger jr.).  This is our second product of this type.  The first, used the Educreations app earlier in the school year.

Internet Safety & Coding

In order to get 2nd grade at 12 wpm on home row keys, by the end of the year, we are going to take the first 10 minutes of every class and practice keyboarding.  Students are using Typing Club to login with usernames and passwords so they are able to see the amount of time practiced and their progress.

See Our Keyboarding Symbaloo

All students have just finished two class sessions using Code.org to work on elementary level computer science.  As with every activity, some kids LOVE it, TOLERATE it, or HATE it.  Learning depends on frustration level and interest.  Students all have their own logins to access their own accounts.  They do not need personal information to continue with other courses at home.

Chad prefers to spend "Rainy Day" recess on computer science.

As noted earlier, we are moving on to Internet Safety for all students.  Each session is modified for grade level appropriateness.  The best site to look at is Netsmartzkids.org.  We are having short discussions on the 4 rules, quick video clips, and games on the 4 rules that can be accessed through our grade level symbaloo pages.

Next week, 2nd grade will take a short computerized quiz on the 4 rules, we'll make word clouds on words that kids should recognize about safety and Kindergarten students are learning the importance of personal usernames and passwords that we don't share with others.

Mid January 2016

Firmly planting into students minds what mastery looks like for their grade level login expectations.  Kinder should be able to identify the K and G and numbers 12345 on their keyboards.  First Grade should be able to login with the help of their classroom cards that have usernames and passwords on them.  Second Graders will login without cards or help by the end of the year.

In addition, students must be able to navigate to our Technology Resources page from the Selah School District Home page.  First Graders should be aware of "home row" keys and Second Grade should be able to type 12wpm using "home row" keys.

The last two weeks have been for CBM testing and beginning code classes.  After students complete their 2nd day of code, we will move toward Net Safety with Kinder and First Grade.

Code

Watch as one student problem solves through a coding program. More Coding options for grades K-2.

Alternative Parent Conferences

Read the article and tell me what  you think about using technology to connect.  

FLIPGRID APP

Mrs. Carney's Video on Sunday, December 6, 2015

First Week in November

I found this wonderful visual of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards for Students to guide our work in the technology lab.

Throughout the last two weeks, we have been dealing with a switch to new computers and slow network issues.  We're a little out of sync with lessons being "the same" across grade levels and classrooms.

With 2nd grade we worked on logging into The Typing Club program.  Each student had their own account and were able to log in, but we had issues with the program that we thought were network related.  It is a process of elimination to find out if it's the program causing problems or the network.  Our technicians asked me Friday morning to switch to another program.  So we'll have to step back a bit.

The 2nd plan for this week was to get into eBooks, this hit the "FIND IT" standard.  All students were introduced to the eBook link on the SVT page.  However, because of network slow downs and time, we were hit and miss with the amount of books and sites we were able to access.   For the most part, students were excited to find sites that read to aloud.

Next week, we plan to use the "MAKE IT" standard and create something based on information we "FIND".  Time and network willing, the following step will be to "SHARE IT".  Ultimately, I'd like students to be able to use the Blogger Jr. app.  This will allow them to start sharing what's happening in their classrooms. Cross your fingers!

My Apologies

We had a student blogger take a video and write for you today.  The video did not load.  My apologies to that student!

In the picture below the girls got creative with their iPads.  Enjoy!

Kinder Students Are Teaching Me!

We've spent this last week truly focusing on watching the students tell us what they can do.  In the technology lab, we don't have the time allotted to know our students the way classroom teachers do.  Observation helped me to learn how to differentiate instruction for students.  

By the end of the week, I was asking students to tell me what level they were at. The task was to write their name, highlight it and change it's size.  Next, add stickers and re-size those as well using the "hotboxes".  

If students couldn't identify their letters on the keyboard, we had them write their name in all caps or all lowercase three times:

SUZY

SUZY

SUZY

If they could already write their name, we had them type an initial capital letter:

Suzy

If that was easy, we had them write their first and last name with a capital in the appropriate place:

Suzy Carney

It'll be fun when the kids are blogging about their progress on their own.  Say tuned!

Mouse Practice

Playing Catch Up!

Second Week Target

First Week Target

Kindergarten is using a generic login. But they are learning to do it themselves. This is tough when some of them don't know what a "KG" looks like on a keyboard.  They are powering through and show they want to learn!

First and Second grade have their own cards with logins they will use through high school.  They love it when I tell them they are learning high school stuff!

Some Secong Graders have understood the term "mastery".  Super Cool!

Education on Air. day 1 of conference. May 8, 2015

It Took All Year....

I feel like I'm just getting started with the possibilities of what my students can do with technology. Having had a year of learning the ins and out of programs and tools we are finally creating like we should be.

Kindergarten -
Learned how to take selfies on their computers.  Then we learned how to delete and move picture files as needed.

First Grade-
Went a step further and used their selfies and other pictures to add to an internet safety poster and a Mother's Day Card.

Second Grade-
Created poems using the Scholastic Poetry Machine and blogged them.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/poetry/poetry_engine.htm

Third and Fourth Grade-
Created a Haiku Deck using another person's poetry.  This week we learned how to put those Haiku Decks into our blogs!


Kyleigh mother's day - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires

THINK

Kindergarten
Students watched Internet Safety Video Clips by Netsmartz.org.

First Grade
Attempted to take pictures of themselves using PhotoBooth.  We'll work on adding those photos to an Internet Safety Poster.

Second Grade
Focus was on how to comment on another's blog posts.  THINK before you write for the public.

https://fortna.wordpress.com/2013/11/04/social-media-think-poster/

Third Grade
This was the last week of test preparations.

Fourth Grade
Some classes got to watch our school district bus video.

We brainstormed reasons why someone would go to the trouble of producing something like this. We used the website called bubbl.us.

We also looked at blog comments that were written last week to see if each student used the article to back up their opinions.

April

Kinder and First Grade used KidPix this week to focus on conveying a message with proper use of capitals, spaces, returns, punctuation, etc....

First Grade also got their first taste of real keyboarding.  We talked about posture, home row keys, space bar and the return key.  It's difficult for these little hands to reach the return key without looking!

Second Grade wrote a paragraph about their spring break.  Then they joined a private Kidblog account and transferred that writing into their blog.  Next week we talk about how to comment on someone else's work.  Digital safety and conveying messages to an authentic audience is a part of our daily lives today.  Don't worry, I look at all the posts and comments of students this age before other students can see them.  :)

Third Grade did more test tools prepping.  There are a lot of features that are unfamiliar to our students.  It'll go much smoother next year having had a year of instruction under their belts.

Fourth Grade read an article and took a stance for or against the question proposed.  They were supposed to back up their opinions using information from the article and close with a personal connection to the question.

Stephanie Santana Newsela Tuesday, April 14, 2015 edition

I'll put up some of the great responses after I get a chance to read and review them on the weekend.  :)

ISTE Standards First Grade

First Grade Standards