The big push this week was setting up the printing, troubleshooting and delivering in-service training to the teachers on operation and use of the new thin client classroom computers. Each classroom except for grade 3 classrooms received 5 thin clients. Initially, grades K-2 will use the thin clients for center work, research and publishing. Grades 4-5 will focus on research, publishing and academic skill reinforcement.
In an effort to help students focus on grade level skills and research, I have created web pages that provide appropriate literacy and math links for each grade level. In addition, I am visiting the classrooms and working with small groups of students on the operation of the selected software games.
Grade 1: Students worked on an assignment in the computer lab in which they typed and formatted text on plant growth. Emphasis was placed on word wrapping, error correction techniques and file manipulation. The goal of this exercise was to help students work towards becoming independent word publishers.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Week 18, 2009-2010
The main project going on for technology for the past 2 weeks has been creating a video for the IVIE contest. The IVIE video contest is put on each year by the San Diego County Office of Education. The purpose of the contest is to encourage and showcase innovative uses of video in education. Entries created for the contest must address one of the grade level California State Standards.
Students from Ms. Kluch's class created a video for this year's IVIE contest. The video was about writing small moment narrative pieces. Students were involved in brainstorming ideas for the video, script writing, operation of the camera, acting, directing as well as creating title slides throughout the video. The video making process was exciting for all students and really reinforced the material that students had been learning in class. The entry from Torrey Pines was submitted on April 9th and over the next few weeks we will learn if our entry is nominated for further recognition. If nominated, students will be invited to attend a red carpet event scheduled to take place sometime at the end of May.
In other classrooms, assorted technical problems were address in the classrooms of Ms. Hilsen, Ms. Kluch, Ms. Bell and Ms. Randi.
Grade 1: Students in Grade 1 have been working in the computer lab to create Teacher Appreciation projects for their teachers. Their work involves using Tux Paint and Microsoft Word. Students who finish their work early, have the opportunity to work on Dance Mat Typing, a online typing program by BBC.
Students from Ms. Kluch's class created a video for this year's IVIE contest. The video was about writing small moment narrative pieces. Students were involved in brainstorming ideas for the video, script writing, operation of the camera, acting, directing as well as creating title slides throughout the video. The video making process was exciting for all students and really reinforced the material that students had been learning in class. The entry from Torrey Pines was submitted on April 9th and over the next few weeks we will learn if our entry is nominated for further recognition. If nominated, students will be invited to attend a red carpet event scheduled to take place sometime at the end of May.
In other classrooms, assorted technical problems were address in the classrooms of Ms. Hilsen, Ms. Kluch, Ms. Bell and Ms. Randi.
Grade 1: Students in Grade 1 have been working in the computer lab to create Teacher Appreciation projects for their teachers. Their work involves using Tux Paint and Microsoft Word. Students who finish their work early, have the opportunity to work on Dance Mat Typing, a online typing program by BBC.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Week 17, 2009-2010
The era of technology being integrated into the curriculum at TPES is definitely here. Students in Mrs. Baniaga, Mr. Kent, Mr. Devore, Ms. Randi and yearbook club used the laptops this week. Mrs. Baniaga's and Mr. Kent's classes used the laptops to finish a project in Comic Life related to their states report research. Ms. Randi's class used the laptops to type their persuasive essays and Ms. Saldivar's class used the laptops to start their Comic Life bartering comics.
Grade 1: Students in grade 1 completed their friendship quilts this week in the computer lab. Students really enjoyed this project and received plenty of practice typing their names as well as typing short messages to their classmates.
Professional Development: I was fortunate to attend an all day conference this week on Technology Integration into the curriculum. The conference, sponsored by Intel and HP, absolutely was fantastic. Not only did I learn plenty from the formal presenters of the conference, but I was also able to exchange ideas and information with fellow conference attendees. It was a very enlightening day!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Week 16, 2009-2010
The demand for the laptop cards has been off the charts this past week. Mr. Devore and Mrs. Baniaga checked out the laptops for typing papers, conducting research and creating projects using Powerpoint software. Mr. Kent's class used the laptop cart for the first time this year. Students used a software called to Comic Life to create a summary cover page for their state reports. The most exciting news concerning technology this week at Torrey Pines is that Grade 3 classrooms received their netbook carts this week. Funded by Proposition S, the netbooks will be housed in each 3rd grade classroom and will be available for student use throughout the day.
Grade 1: Students in Grade 1 are learning the basics of working in Microsoft Word. This week, they received specific instruction in typing capital letter, changing font sizes, spacing between words, word wrapping, as well as opening, closing and saving files.
Grade 3: Students in Grade 3 from Mr. Kent and Mrs. Baniaga's class used Google Images to collect images to use in their cover pages for their states reports (that will ultimately be made using Comic Life software).
Grade 1: Students in Grade 1 are learning the basics of working in Microsoft Word. This week, they received specific instruction in typing capital letter, changing font sizes, spacing between words, word wrapping, as well as opening, closing and saving files.
Grade 3: Students in Grade 3 from Mr. Kent and Mrs. Baniaga's class used Google Images to collect images to use in their cover pages for their states reports (that will ultimately be made using Comic Life software).
Monday, February 22, 2010
Week 15, 2009-2010
Our laptops have been seeing lots of use and as a result are experiencing some wear and tear. This week, two of the keyboards had to be replaced due to problems we were having. Additional troubleshooting was done with internet access in the ISS and wireless printing.
Students in the 4th grade used the BLOBZ Guide to Electrical Circuits website in Science along with the laptops this week to review and test knowledge of electrical circuits. The site allows students to earn stars for correct answers to the mini-quizzes that helped students review their knowledge of circuits, switches, conductors and more. They had so much fun on this site that they hardly realized that they were reviewing! Mr. Devore's students used the laptops for research and typing papers. Mrs. Baniaga's students used the laptops for their Powerpoint ABC books and also for researching their state's reports. The laptops were also used for the yearbook club. Digital cameras were used for yearbook as well as for taking pictures of Grade 1 students completing actions for their illustrated HOW-TO booklets.
Grade 3: This week, Grade 3 returned to the computer lab after devoting their computer time in January and part of February preparing for the Winter concert. Students were eager to practice their typing skills and really seemed to understand the value of efficient keyboarding skills after being required to use their keyboarding skills for several assignments in their classrooms. Grade 3 students were introduced to the Keyboarding for Kindness program this week. Keyboarding for Kindness is similar to the popular program Free Rice except that instead of earning grains of rice for answering vocabulary quiz questions, students earn donation money for completing lessons in keyboarding. As part of the TPES Keyboarding for Kindness program I will donate 10 cents for each keyboarding lesson a student completes. The money earned will be used to buy chickens for people in Africa or will be donated to help people in Haiti. The program is only available to TPES grade 3 students.
Grade 1: Students in Grade 1 completed their Valentine Cards. The Valentine Cards included a picture created in Tux Paint as well as a Valentine message typed in Microsoft Word. For the project students gained skills in using the paint program, importing pictures into Word and also in saving files.
Students in the 4th grade used the BLOBZ Guide to Electrical Circuits website in Science along with the laptops this week to review and test knowledge of electrical circuits. The site allows students to earn stars for correct answers to the mini-quizzes that helped students review their knowledge of circuits, switches, conductors and more. They had so much fun on this site that they hardly realized that they were reviewing! Mr. Devore's students used the laptops for research and typing papers. Mrs. Baniaga's students used the laptops for their Powerpoint ABC books and also for researching their state's reports. The laptops were also used for the yearbook club. Digital cameras were used for yearbook as well as for taking pictures of Grade 1 students completing actions for their illustrated HOW-TO booklets.
Grade 3: This week, Grade 3 returned to the computer lab after devoting their computer time in January and part of February preparing for the Winter concert. Students were eager to practice their typing skills and really seemed to understand the value of efficient keyboarding skills after being required to use their keyboarding skills for several assignments in their classrooms. Grade 3 students were introduced to the Keyboarding for Kindness program this week. Keyboarding for Kindness is similar to the popular program Free Rice except that instead of earning grains of rice for answering vocabulary quiz questions, students earn donation money for completing lessons in keyboarding. As part of the TPES Keyboarding for Kindness program I will donate 10 cents for each keyboarding lesson a student completes. The money earned will be used to buy chickens for people in Africa or will be donated to help people in Haiti. The program is only available to TPES grade 3 students.
Grade 1: Students in Grade 1 completed their Valentine Cards. The Valentine Cards included a picture created in Tux Paint as well as a Valentine message typed in Microsoft Word. For the project students gained skills in using the paint program, importing pictures into Word and also in saving files.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Week 14, 2009-2010
This past week was a busy one for Technology at TPES. During TPES Science Night, our laptops were used by students from grades 3-5 and their parents for several interactive activities. Students were able to test their knowledge of weather by taking the Jimmy Bowtie Weather Challenge. They were also able to create their own talking Voki (similiar to an avatar) in which they were to create an avatar, record what they had learned at Science Night and have the avatar say it back. The laptops were also used to generate CD's of digital stories that were created in the classrooms. For classroom work, the laptops were used by Mrs. Baniaga's class for two different projects. Students used the laptops to perform research for their states reports. They also used the laptops to begin creating their Powerpoint ABC books.
Grade 1: Students created their drawings for their valentine's cards using Tux Paint. After creating their drawings, they imported the pictures into their Microsoft Word documents. Through this project, students gained skills in file management, and using Microsoft Word.
Voki for Science Night to get kids interested in making their own Voki characters. Click arrow to play.
Get a Voki now!
Grade 1: Students created their drawings for their valentine's cards using Tux Paint. After creating their drawings, they imported the pictures into their Microsoft Word documents. Through this project, students gained skills in file management, and using Microsoft Word.
Voki for Science Night to get kids interested in making their own Voki characters. Click arrow to play.
Get a Voki now!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Week 13, 2009-2010
This week, the laptops were used by students in Grades 3, 4 and 5! Students in grade 3 used the laptops for working on their States research reports, students in Mrs. Saldivars 4th grade class used the laptops for narrating their digital stories and students in 5th grade used the laptops to create Powerpoint presentations on New World Explorers.
Completed digital stories for Ms. Saldivar's class can be viewed at: tpesr10.wikispaces.com (Note: A password is required for viewing the digital stories. Contact Ms. Saldivar or Mrs. Lin for the password).
Grade 1: Students in grade 1 completed their "I Have a Dream" project. For this project, students used Tux Paint to draw a self-portrait. Then they used Microsoft Powerpoint to add their "dream for the world". The above projects were created by students of Ms. Gonzales. Projects for Ms. Chiaro, Ms. Hilsen and Ms. Kluch can be viewed on the TPES Techkidz Showcase page.
Completed digital stories for Ms. Saldivar's class can be viewed at: tpesr10.wikispaces.com (Note: A password is required for viewing the digital stories. Contact Ms. Saldivar or Mrs. Lin for the password).
Grade 1: Students in grade 1 completed their "I Have a Dream" project. For this project, students used Tux Paint to draw a self-portrait. Then they used Microsoft Powerpoint to add their "dream for the world". The above projects were created by students of Ms. Gonzales. Projects for Ms. Chiaro, Ms. Hilsen and Ms. Kluch can be viewed on the TPES Techkidz Showcase page.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Week 12 2009-2010
Welcome back from the winter break! Students in Mr. Ramirez's 5th grade class were first to use the laptop cart after the winter break. Students were busy this week working on their Explorer's Presentations that they are creating using Microsoft Powerpoint. Students in Mrs. Saldivar's 4th Grade class came to the computer lab to build their digital story projects using Microsoft Photostory. Next week they will add narration to the projects. I can't wait to see the results!
Grade 1: Students in Grade 1 started a new project in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. For the project, students were asked to draw a self-portrait using TuxPaint. Next week, they will import the project into Microsoft Powerpoint, and write one of their own dreams that they have for the world. Here is an sample of what the finished product will look like.
Grade 1: Students in Grade 1 started a new project in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. For the project, students were asked to draw a self-portrait using TuxPaint. Next week, they will import the project into Microsoft Powerpoint, and write one of their own dreams that they have for the world. Here is an sample of what the finished product will look like.
After-School: A new group of UCSD students were introduced to the after-school program this week. Torrey Pines students worked with their buddies on a variety of programs in the computer lab, including a program that let them create their own music as well as a fantastic drawing program that teaches them to draw their favorite cartoon characters called "Drawing Now" .
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Week 11, 2009-2010
The laptops continue to be very popular with the upper grade classrooms. Mr. Ramirez, Mr. Devore and Mrs. Saldivar used the laptops this week to type up personal narratives as well as biographies for their author's reports. Observations of students using the laptops has highlighted the need for keyboarding instruction and practice. All students are urged to practice their keyboarding skills over the break. There are some excellent, free sites on the internet that offer keyboarding instruction as well as games for reinforcement. Two of my favorite sites are: Dance Mat Typing and Free Typing Games. Both sites are geared toward children and offer lessons as well plenty of practice opportunities.
As far as activity in the computer lab, Grade 1 students finished their very first Microsoft Word project. For the project, students typed and formatted a Snowman Poem. As part of this exercise, students learned the following: opening, closing and saving Microsoft Word documents, importing clipart, changing fonts and many other skills. For a first attempt at using Word, students did great. We will continue to reinforce this skill throughout the year.
As far as activity in the computer lab, Grade 1 students finished their very first Microsoft Word project. For the project, students typed and formatted a Snowman Poem. As part of this exercise, students learned the following: opening, closing and saving Microsoft Word documents, importing clipart, changing fonts and many other skills. For a first attempt at using Word, students did great. We will continue to reinforce this skill throughout the year.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Week 10, 2009-2010
The laptop carts were fully utilized this week in the upper grade classrooms. Mr. Devore's class typed "letters to the editor" and worked on their Explorer's Powerpoint presentations. Ms. Saldivar's class and Ms. Randi's class typed their literary essays. All fourth grade students researched polar bear facts as part of Ms. Isom's Science Rotation and began creating a fact sheet of their findings.
In addition to classroom laptop cart usage, students in Grade 1 were introduced to Microsoft Word in their weekly computer lab rotation. Students typed simple words and learned about the space bar, changing the font size, use of the enter key and more.
In addition to classroom laptop cart usage, students in Grade 1 were introduced to Microsoft Word in their weekly computer lab rotation. Students typed simple words and learned about the space bar, changing the font size, use of the enter key and more.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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!
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.
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.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Lots of Changes this Year for Technology!
Many exciting changes have been happening in the world of technology for Torrey Pines Elementary! With the district initiative towards technology integration, I will be spending more time in the classrooms helping to integrate technology and less time in the computer lab. Students will soon be using new district equipment purchased with Prop S Funding (due to arrive in October for Grade 3) and will also use Foundation purchased laptops to work on technology projects in their classrooms. I have been busy so far this year holding a staff development workshop on technology projects for the teachers, providing one-on-one assistance in teacher website building plus performing yearly maintenance on laptops and computer lab stations.
Here is a brief summary of what went on in the computer lab during the first week of rotations:
Grade 1: Students were introduced the lab then received instruction on using the mouse (left click, right click, double click). Following their introduction, students had a chance to practice their skills using a program called mouseprogram.com. Students were introduced to basic computer terminology such as desktop and icons.
Grade 3: Third grade students will focus on learning to type this year in the computer lab. Students were introduced to the keys typed by the left and right pointer fingers (12 keys in all)! The children practiced typing with the left and right pointer fingers along with a song.
Here is a brief summary of what went on in the computer lab during the first week of rotations:
Grade 1: Students were introduced the lab then received instruction on using the mouse (left click, right click, double click). Following their introduction, students had a chance to practice their skills using a program called mouseprogram.com. Students were introduced to basic computer terminology such as desktop and icons.
Grade 3: Third grade students will focus on learning to type this year in the computer lab. Students were introduced to the keys typed by the left and right pointer fingers (12 keys in all)! The children practiced typing with the left and right pointer fingers along with a song.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Week 17
Second grade students have been busy getting familiar with using the laptops. Mr. Serafin's class created Powerpoint presentations to showcase their knowledge of animals. They also created friendships quilts in which they typed messages to each of their classmates. Mrs. Nieto/Gordon's participated in a digital storytelling project in which they wrote, illustrated and narrated text to make their stories "come alive". Completed projects were displayed at Open House and enthusiastically received by parents. Click here to view one of the digital stories. Students in Mrs. Nieto/Gordon's class also completed their claymation projects, culminating a writing/research project on animals.
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