Sunday, October 25, 2009

Week 5, 2009-2010



This past weekend I was thrilled to attend the San Diego Computer Using Educators Conference held in El Cajon, California. At the conference I was able to learn about many exciting web based application and projects that I hope to bring into the classrooms. Workshops I attended at the conference helped me to build knowledge in movie-making, project based learning, student engagements, ways of building online tutorials and more. One of the applications that I am especially excited about trying out is an application called Jing. With the help of Jing, a person can capture whatever is on the computer screen and use it to create online tutorials.

Back at Torrey Pines, the laptop carts were used by Mr. Ramirez’s class to type narrative stories. In addition, the following activities took place:

Grade 1: Students in Grade 1 learned about the different parts of a computer. A cover was removed from one of the computers. Students were excited to see the boards, chips, wires and other parts that made up the inside of the computer. A slideshow was made of the “5 Senses Charts” that had been completed by the 1st grade students last week. The slideshow was shown to the students during computer time. Students loved seeing their work projected on the big screen!

Grade 3: Students in Grade 3 continued learning keyboarding with Type to Learn. A one minute test was administered to some students. Mrs. Baniaga’s class came to the computer lab, but did not work on keyboarding this week. Mrs. Baniaga’s class used their time in the Computer Lab to begin their digital stories.

5th Dimension: Students in the after-school program, continued working on educational games with their UCSD tutors.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Week 4, 2009-2010

Finishing touches were put on digital stories for Ms. White's class. Students in Mrs. Baniaga's class were busy creating pictures for their digital stories. 5th Grade Science students used the laptops to complete online simulations on the water cycle and evaporation. For the water cycle simulation, students followed a water molecule as it made its way through the water cycle. In the evaporation simulation, students used what they had learned in class to test the effect of humidity, temperature and surface area on evaporation rates.

Here is a summary of what students did in the computer lab this week.

Grade 1: Students in Grade 2 completed their senses charts using the software program "Drawing for Children". Additional practice using the mouse was also given.

Grade 3: Students in Grade 3 continued to advance in Type to Learn. The goal for the week was to reach Lesson 4. As always, proper technique was emphasized.

5th Dimension: Much time was spent this week testing and adding 5th Dimension games to the lab computers. Students have been making progress with the help of their UCSD buddies on the computer learning games

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Week 3, 2009-2010

This week, students in Ms. White's Grade 2/3 class, began adding narration to their digital story projects. Students took great pride in narrating their stories, and really enjoyed seeing their stories come to life. The digital story projects will be ready for publishing next week. Weekly rotations continued in the lab. In addition to the laptop cart being used for digital stories, the cart was also used this week by students in the fifth grade to type up narrative stories.

Here's a summary of what students did this week in the lab.

Grade 1: Students in Grade 1 continued working on their "5 Senses" charts, using the program Drawing for Children. Students learned how to load saved files as well as practiced saving their work.

Grade 3: Students in Grade 3 were reminded about proper keyboarding technique and the importance of keeping fingers on the home keys. Letters F, J, R and U were introduced this week.

5th Dimension: Students in the after-school program began working on curriculum related software games with their UCSD buddies. Students are getting to know their UCSD buddies and having lots of fun!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Week 2, 2009-2010

This past week, I met with several teachers to assist in implementing blogs and websites. In case you haven't already heard, one of the newest editions to our growing list of classroom blogs is the TP Science Fun Blog. Be sure to check it out. Find out what the students are learning in Science and learn some really cool science facts!

Digital stories continue to be a wonderful way to showcase student writing. Students in Ms. White's grade 2/3 class wrote narrative stories and created illustrations to go along with their writing. Each student imported their illustrations, edited them and are now in the process of adding narration. These surely will be keepsakes for years to come.

Grade 1 and Grade 3 students visited the computer lab this week. Also, the 5th Dimension after-school program met in the lab. Here is a summary of what went on.

Grade 1: Students were introduced to a program called "Drawing For Children". While using this program, students were able to practice a number of important technology skills. Some of the skills practiced were double clicking, opening and closing files, saving, choosing different tools such as stamps, painting tools, using the Shift key to modify text, importing pictures and much more. Students use the "Drawing For Children" program to work on a project that was directly related to their Science unit on "the Five Senses". As part of the project, students worked on completing a graphic organizer in which they used stamps to indicate what could be seen, heard, felt, tasted or smelled. In addition to the many computer skills practiced through this project, students had an opportunity to reinforce the classroom learning.

Grade 3: Students were assigned computers and began work on the keyboarding program, Type To Learn. Students really enjoy the graphics and time travel theme around which the program is designed. Proper technique was stressed over speed.

5th Dimension After-School Program: The 5th Dimension after-school program pairs Torrey Pines students with a UCSD buddy for learning enrichment activities as well as homework assistance. This week, students participating in the program had an opportunity to conduct a short interview with their buddy and introduce them to the rest of the after-school program participants. Students also decorated folders that will be used for the rest of the year.