Thursday, November 19, 2009

Week 9, 2009-2010

Final touches were put on digital stories for Mr. Ramirez's class this week. Stories were posted on a wiki for parents to view. Students did not come to the computer lab this week due to parent teacher conferences. Classroom books are posted on the TPES Techkidz Showcase page. Here is a sample of one of the books. To see others, please visit the Showcase page.

Classroom ABC Books on Living and Non-Living Things

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Week8, 2009-2010

The laptops were utilized in three different classrooms this past week. Mrs. Saldivar's class used the laptops to perform research for social studies. Mr. Ramirez's class used the laptops to finish typing their narrative stories as well as for digital story narration. Mr. Lee's students typed their reports on the various regions of California.

In addition to technology used in the classroom, the computer lab provided students with technology instruction. Here is a summary of what students did in the lab.

Grade 1: Students in Grade 1 completed their pages of the class ABC book on living and non-living things. Those who finished early, worked on BBC's "Dance Mat Typing", which is an excellent introductory typing instruction program.

Grade 3: Students in Grade 3 were introduced to a collection of online games designed to provide students with keyboarding practice. Students were encourgaed to practice keyboarding at home using the games that were introduced.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Week 7, 2009-2010

This week was another busy week for technology. Fourth grade students in Mr. Lee's class used the laptops for the first time this year for a project realted to their study of the regions of California. The project will involve students using keyboarding skills, using comic strip making software, manipulating pictures, using online folders and more. Students will continue with the project next week. Fifth grade students in Mr. Devores class completed the narration on their digital stories, while students in Mr. Ramirez's class started creating their digital stories. Students imported pictures, rotated, edited, built title and ending pages, created their own music and customized motion. Students enjoyed working with the Photostory software and are looking forward to the narration of their stories.

In computer lab, students continued to advance their technology skills.

Grade 1: Students in Grade 1 used Tux Paint software to create their page for the class ABC book on Living and Non-Living Things.

Grade 3: Students in Grade 3 worked on their typing skills using Type To Learn. Students also prepared for a test that wiel be given next week.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Week 6, 2009-2010

Last weekend I had an opportunity to attend the all-day San Diego Computer Using Educators Conference.. The conference is specifically designed to help teachers integrate technology into the curriculum. At the conference, I was able to see the many ways that actual teachers in San Diego were using technology to enhance the learning experience in their classrooms. I hope to bring some of the exciting ideas I learned about to the classrooms at Torrey Pines Elementary School.

Laptop cart usage continues to be strong at TPES. Mrs. Baniaga's class used the laptops to create Halloween digital stories. Mr. Ramirez's class typed up their narrative stories using the laptops. As for the activities taking place in the computer lab, here's what students were up to for the week:

Grade 1: Students were introduced to a drawing program called Tux Paint. Opening, saving, entering text, resizing fonts and using the paint tools were a few of the skills students learned while working with Tux Paint. Next week, students will be using their skills to build a page for an electronic class book.

Grade 3: Students are making great progress with Type to Learn. A majority of the students are now using the correct keyboard fingering and have been quite accurate in their typing. Way to go third graders!

After-School: K-3 students have been busy with their UCSD buddies working on grade level curriculum games. Students in Grades 4-5 are working on a variety of grade level games, while some are starting to explore individual technology projects.