“I realize the theme for this year at White Oak Intermediate School is WILD about Learning, but are you really going to begin each blog post with the word WILD,” you may ask.  The short answer is, “Probably not.”  But the title does sum up nicely the first week of school for my technology classes.  Students were WILD about Edmodo.  When I first logged in to my account, the immediate response from most of them was, “That looks like Facebook!”  We talked about how the creators of Edmodo wanted to create a web tool that educators could use that would be familiar to students.  We also talked about why Facebook is required to ask for your birth date before allowing you to have an account.  COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) requires website operators to  protect the privacy and restrict marketing to children under the age of 13.  Edmodo is the perfect social networking site in that it does not collect personal information and does not market to its members.

Once students were logged in, they answered a poll question about having internet access at home and then replied to a post that asked what they most wanted to learn this year.   You can see the responses by grade level to the poll question in the screen shots below:

FIFTH GRADE

FOURTH GRADE

THIRD GRADE

After receiving instructions on joining their classroom teacher’s group, they were anxious to begin connecting with one another using this tool.  After several replies left under the questions I had left them, I realized they needed a group of their own where they would be free to chat in order to keep the WOLab page uncluttered for posts and assignments.  I quickly created a 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade chat room where they spent the rest of the class period typing messages and replying to classmates. It was thrilling to  hear comments like “This is so much fun!” and “I thought I was not going to like school this year.” In the next few weeks, I will be sending home with your child the instructions and code for creating a parent account.  In this way, you will be able to log in to Edmodo and see your child’s activity on the site.

 

This week students will be introduced to the Digital Citizenship unit in Moodle.  They will log in and see the unit is divided in three sections: digital contact (the ten things you never share online without your parents’ permission), digital content (that all that information on the web is not all good, it is not all true, and it is not all free), and digital conduct (if you are not willing for the entire world to see it…DON’T POST IT!)  You can view the content of this unit by clicking on the image below, then clicking on Enhancements, Technology with Mrs. Peery, and logging in with the username: woteacher  password: woteacher.

This year’s theme for White Oak Intermediate School is Wild about Learning. Students in the computer lab are being introduced to the procedures and expectations. Students enter the computer lab, pick up their headphone bag from the counter, walk to Mrs. Peery for a handshake and greeting by name, then sit on the floor in front of the projector, ready to receive instructions for the task of the day. Each student chooses a fidget to keep in their headphone bag. They are allowed to squeeze the fidget in their hand(s) during instruction time. For those students that need movement to be able to help their brains focus, this gives them the movement their brain needs without causing distractions for other students.  After instruction time, they head to their computer to complete the task.  Each student is assigned a computer by number.  They always use the same computer anytime they are in the lab.  When it is time to be dismissed, they LOG OUT of the program they are on, close out to get the screen back to the desktop, close the lid, pack their headphone bag with their nametag clearly visible, push in their chair, return any items to their correct places, throw away any trash, place their headphone bags back in the drawer and stand at the front of the room on the taped line, ready for the hall. When students are ready to leave, if they have completed the dismissal task on time, they will watch a short funny video.

This week students are being introduced to the educational social networking site called Edmodo. Student accounts were created over summer break so they could log in to the site this week and get a feel for it.  This site looks alot like Facebook.  Teachers are allowed to create groups or classes. Through this site, teachers can post notes, assignments, and polls. They can upload resources like videos and documents for student to access.  They can send and receive comments and assignments to their students.  Two of the six strands for Technology instruction in the state of Texas are Communication and Collaboration and Digital Citizenship.  The use of Edmodo will be a great opportunity to incorporate hands on learning for both.  If you would like to know the scope of the TEKS for Technology, visit my page titled TA TEKS on this blog.

Above image found at: http://www.public-domain-image.com/animals/insects/ladybug/slides/ladybugs-insects.html

Here is one great idea to incorporate in your summer plans.  This was a full-page feature in the June 28, 2012 White Oak Independent newspaper.  It is called “The Lost Ladybug Project”, and here is how you can be involved.  According to the feature, some of the species of ladybugs are disappearing in North America. The three species that are declining in number are the nine-spotted ladybug, the traverse ladybug, and the two-spotted ladybug.  Entomologist need our help to look for and document the siting of any of these ladybugs.  If you locate one of these species, note the date, time, location, and habitat. Take a picture, if possible.  Then send the information to http://www.lostladybug.org.  Or send a printed picture with the information to: Lost Ladybug Project, Cornell University, Department of Entomology, 4117 Conrstock Hall, Ithaca, NY  14853.

Dig Deeper:  What is a ladybug?  How did it get its name?  What benefit does their color have?  How are they different from mosquitoes? What is an entomologist?  How many species are there in North America?  Why is the traverse ladybug named that?

 

The third graders have been working on creating something out of plastic.  To introduce this project, we watched the videos below while running a backchannel on TodaysMeet.

Driving Question: What product can your group create by re-using plastic to reduce plastic waste in the environment?

Students are placed in small groups and given a project planning sheet where they can sketch their idea and think through the supplies they will need. They determine what they will bring from home and what they need me to supply. As the groups work on their project, they document each step by taking a picture with the iPod Touch. When they have completed the project, they will use the StoryRobe app on the iPod Touch to create a video of the process. The videos will be uploaded to my TechNeckHowTo channel to share globally. Students are instructed to find the embed code of their video and post it to their blog.

Here is a list of other sites and videos containing ideas of how to re-use plastic:

http://www.stufftocraft.com/2009/05/recycled-soda-bottle-sprinkler.html

http://lifehacker.com/5841459/make-a-lunch-box-from-a-milk-jug

http://alphamom.com/family-fun/holidays/cherry-blossom-art-from-a-recycled-soda-bottle/

http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/make-plastic-beads-1002430/

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i1W9Mi7jPM

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aptZF-291kg

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfBgCbLS8BA

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX01nw4toRs

TEKS covered:

111.15(b)(3.14)(A)(B)(C)(D)

112.14(b)(1)(A)(B),

113.14(b)(18)(A)(B), (19)(A)(B)

126.3(b)(2)(A)(B)(C)(E), (3)(A)(B), (5)(A), (7)(A)(B)(C), (8)(A)(C),  11(A)(B),

 

As noted in the previous post, the fourth graders are researching famous people of Texas.  I have witnessed them struggle with attempting to read information from a website and summarize the most important parts.  Even when they have the help of their computer (we use macbooks in the lab) that can read the text to them through the use of text to speech, they still want to quit due to frustration before they get the job done.  Today I read about a search engine called InstaGrok from a post on Engage Their Minds and decided to give it a try.  I searched for what others might be saying about InstaGrok.  Click on the blog names below to read what other educators are saying:

Engage Their Minds

FreeTech4Teachers

Edudemic

Teachers For Tomorrow

Watch the video below to get a quick overview of InstaGrok.

I believe this will be such a useful tool for my students in the lab, I am placing a widget on the left of my blog so students can access it easily.

The fourth graders are beginning a project involving twenty historical figures required by the Social Studies TEKS.  The famous people include Cabeza de Vaca, Francisco Coronado, Martin de Leon, Mirabeau B. Lamar, Audie Murphy, John Tower, Lorenzo de Zavala, Joseph Glidden, Rene Robert Cavelier, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Anson Jones, Cleto Rodriquez, Barbara Jordan, Gail Borden, Patillo Higgins, Charles Goodnight, Lizzi Johnson, Richard King, and Jose Antonio Navarro.

To introduce the project, students will view the video of the power of one life (used with permission from the creator). They will then watch the following portions of It’s a Wonderful Life (4:11-11:38, 1:49:40-1:52:36, and 1:56:52 to the end) to understand the driving question of this project. A backchannel using TodaysMeet will capture students’ responses to the videos while allowing them to practice good digital citizenship and proper grammar and sentence structure.

Driving Question – What effect did the life of the historical figure have on Texas, and if applicable, on my own life?

Students will be placed in groups of three or four.  Each group will draw the name of one of the historical figures listed above.  The group will use guided research to find information to record on their data collection sheet.  Click on the graphic below to access the websites for research.

The students will produce a short essay describing their famous person and answering the driving question. Students will collaborate in their groups using Google Docs.  When the essay is complete, each student will create a talking avatar in Voki using the built in microphone feature of the Voki website to record themselves reading the essay.  Each student will embed their Voki in their blog.   The best Voki of each famous person will be selected and featured in a Moodle quiz over the twenty famous people.

 

TEKS Covered in this project:

Social Studies: 113.15(b)(2)(B)(E), (3)(C), (4)(B),(5)(B)(C), (17)(D), (20)(A)

ELA: 4.13(A)-(H), 4.15(A)(C)(F), 4.16(B), 4.17(A)-(D), 4.18(A)-(H), 4.19(A)-(I), 4.20(A)-(C), 4.21(A)-(F), 4.22(A)(B), 4.25(B)

Technology Applications: 126.A(b)(1)(A)(C), (2)(A)(C)(F), (3)(A)-(D), (4)(C)(D), (5)(A)-(G), (6)(B)(C)(D)(E)

Once again, Tuesday and Wednesday classes will not come to the computer lab due to the STAAR test.  The other three days students will have the opportunity to create their own story using the characters and support from my StoryMaker.  Fourth graders used this site last year to write their own story and print it out.  Students will also be able to use the time to complete their Voki project or work on their blog.

For the next few weeks, fifth graders will be working in pairs to create a video definition of a science term. There are 53 science terms to define.  Each team will randomly pick a term they are to define using Animoto, JellyCam, SAM animation, green screen video technology, or any other video software they deem appropriate.  When all the videos are complete, the definitions will be hosted on the Science Definition page of this blog. Check out the videos below for a demonstration of SAM animation and JellyCam.

For additional resources, click on the Bundlenut picture below:

This is another one of those strange weeks in Technology where I will not see classes on Tuesday or Wednesday.  We are having benchmark STAAR tests in Math and Reading for 3rd and 4th graders on those days.  I have decided to allow the students to explore BrainPop on their own while in Technology.  I was fortunate enough to get a free limited subscription while at the TCEA Convention in Austin last month.  Click on the graphic to explore BrainPop, too.

This week the third graders had some QR Code fun with ClassTools QR Code Treasure Hunt.  I chose ten math questions from the 2010 3rd Grade Math TAKS test and went to ClassTools to create the treasure hunt.  The hunt was a cinch to create in ClassTools.  I printed off the codes and attached them to a yellow piece of construction paper and then taped or stapled them around the room.

I created answer documents for the students to place their answers on.  The documents were numbered to correspond to the number on the back of the iPod each team used.  I paired the students up (since I have a set of 12 iPod Touches.)  The first person I called on the team picked the iPod up from the holder and the second person on the team got the answer document.

I attached my iPad to the projector so I could show the students the QR Code reader app they would be using on the iPod.  The iPods and iPad were equipped with the i-nigma

Once the students were paired and equipped with their iPod and answer document, I sent them off to find the 10 codes while setting the timer for 20 minutes using the Timer+ app on the iPad.

When students scanned all the codes and answered the problems, or when time was called, students returned their answer documents to me.  I would not accept their documents from them until they had returned their pencils and iPod and thrown their trash away.  We worked all the problems together using the ShowMe app on my iPad.

I will have to say this was one of the most engaging activities I have done with my students.  Even though they were answering math problems (which is NOT the favorite subject of some of them), infusing the QR Code Treasure Hunt and completing the problems on the screen increased their interest!

QR Code Treasure Hunt