Week 9

Another week in which much time was spent resolving technical issues. Print drivers were installed on 15 of our newer laptops. In addition, a new printer was was installed for Mrs. Bell. The second laptop cart was used for the first time this week. The laptop cart was used this week by Ms. Randi, Mrs. Bell and Ms. White. I had the rare opportunity to be in the classroom while the laptop cart was being used. Was definitely impressed at how teachers and students managed the use of the cart!

Grade 3: Grade 3 continued to work on their state trading card project. This week students added their pictures to their trading cards and made text boxes.

Grade 4: Grade 4 continued to work on their Explorers web pages. This week students added a picture of their explorer as well as a link to an external website. Webpages can be viewed at the 4th grade webpages link. Go to the bottom of the page. Search for the teacher named: tpeslajolla.

Grade 5: Grade 5 did not come to the computer lab this week due to their Balboa Park field trip.

week 7

Much time was spent this week attending to numerous technical issues around the campus. Updates were installed for the laptop computers as well as printing issues resolved for Mrs. Bell, Mrs. Baniaga and Mr. Berry. Time was also spent addressing a problem with one of the document cameras. The laptop cart was used by Mr. Devore and Mr. Ramirez.

Grade 3: Grade 3 continued to work on their state trading cards. As a warm-up for this project, students had an opportunity to play a word game that challenged their skills on state names. Students also practiced copying pictures from the internet for their trading cards.

Grade 4: Grade 4 did not come to the computer lab this week, due to parent teacher conferences.

Grade 5: Grade 5 students gained background knowledge on the solar system by visiting a website where they earned space trading cards: http:// http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations/trading/directions.html and also a site where they acted as a space doctor taking care of astronauts who had landed on Mars http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/playspace/games/spacedoctor/. Students completed a space oriented crossword puzzle to reinforce their knowledge of planets, asteroids and comets.

5th Dimension: Due to UCSD spring break, the 5th Dimension after-school program was not held this week.

Week 6

The TPES technology committee met this week to discuss the school technology plan as well as brainstorm ideas to increase use of the laptop carts in the classrooms. The laptop cart was used this week by Mr. Devore and Mr. Ramirez.

Grade 3: Students started making “States” trading cards in Microsoft Word. This week students learned to make a table as well as modify the sizes and color of different rows of the table. The project will continue next week with inserting auto-shapes into the table, using Google Images to search for photos, inserting the images into table cells and creating text boxes. Students practiced saving word documents into their individual folders under My Documents.

Grade 4: Student in Grade 4 continued to work on creating their Explorer’s webpages. This week students continued to research and compose text for their webpages. Some classes started building their webpage.

Grade 5: Students worked with their partner to record their podcasts using Audacity software. After recording podcasts, students had a chance to mix in an intro soundclip. Students enjoyed exploring the different effects that could be added to make their productions sound professional such as fading out the intro music. Listen to the 5th grade podcasts, by clicking on the 5th grade podcast listening link. Completed podcasts are also available for download from the 5th grade dropio site: http://dropio/grade5computerlab/login.

Week 5

This week was the first week of computer rotation for many of the 4th and 5th grade students. The laptop cart was used this week by Mr. Ramirez and Mr. Devore.

Grade 3: Students spent time in the lab doing research for the states reports that they were doing in class. Remaining time was spent using Type to Learn software to practice typing. Students also learned how to input their entries into the classroom blog. Students enjoyed creating entries for their classroom blogs.

Grade 4: Some of the lab time this week was spent on housekeeping activites (seat assignments, moving files, going over rules) since some of the students were new to computers and/or had switched rotations. Students were also introduced to a new project that involves creating a simple web page on an Explorer of California (Cabrillo, Vizcaino, Cortes, de Portola).

Grade 5: Some of the lab time this week was spent on housekeeping activites (seat assignments, going over rules) since some of the students were new to computers and/or had switched rotations. Students were introduced to podcasts and were give time to write a script for a persuasive podcast they might want to produce. A suggested topic for a persuasive podcast was attendance.

5th Dimension: After school 5th Dimension students who were interested in creating digital stories continued to work on the stories with their UCSD buddies. Other students completed computer based activities.

Week 4

This week was the last week of computer rotation for many of the 4th and 5th grade students. New students will be joining existing computer classes starting in the lab next week. The laptop cart was used this week by Mr. Ramirez and Mr. Devore.

Grade 3: Students came back to the lab after an absence of 2 weeks due to the holidays that fell on the previous two Mondays. Students continued to work on their keyboarding skills. Although some debate whether or not keyboarding should be taught in the lab, I feel strongly keyboarding instruction should be emphasized at the grade 3 level. For the most part, students in grade 3 are very open to keyboarding instruction. In fact, most seem to enjoy keyboarding and like the structure of the Type to Learn keyboarding software that we are using. As a parent of two girls in high school, I have observed that being able to type efficiently offers the middle and high school student a huge advantage, since most assignments must be handed in typed. Other computer skills essential for success in middle and high school are internet research skills and also being able to express learning through a variety of media (powerpoint slideshows, papers). Students in grade 3 were introduced to the 3rd grade classroom blogs that they will be contributing to. Several students volunteered to contribute to their classroom blog. Blogs will be up next week.

Grade 4: Students who did not have a chance to present their Energy and Magnets Powerpoint Quizzes presented their quizzes to fellow classmates. As mentioned last week, great work by the students. Students especially enjoyed the challenge of incorporating animation into their quizzes. Students were shown a variety of "cool" applications that could be built with Powerpoint, including claymation and games created with Powerpoint.

Grade 5: Students have been studying the colonial days as part of their Social Studies curriculum. To complement this unit, student in Grade 5 completed an online simulation called the Jamestown Adventure. In the adventure, students re-enacted the voyage of English settlers to Jamestown. They were faced with many decisions (just as the real settlers were) such as where to settle, what crops to plant, how to related to the Native Americans that they met and what resouces to use. Students referred to the charter from the queen to help them make decisions, they also considered the advice of the Native Americans. If student made wrong decisions, the settlers did not do well in the New World. If the right decisions were made, the settlers thrived. Upon completing the simulation, students filled out a crossword puzzle that tested their knowledge of the settlement of Jamestown.

5th Dimension: After school 5th Dimension students were shown additional examples of digital stories by a visiting professor from Sweden who had been involved in creating digital stories in Sweden. Students worked on their own projects, some taking pictures to incorporate into their digital stories.