March 18, 2013 - LAST CLASS 94 minutes Internet Moment: Students had a chance to explore FreeRice.com today. This website, created by John Breen who also created Poverty.com, gives students and others a chance to practice their vocabulary skills while helping to support the United Nations World Food Programme.  After having time to use the site students were asked to prove whether or not this website was bogus or real. After doing some research we learned that though it is a legitimate website (according to snopes.com) another website called the Daily Cow claimed that FreeRice.com does not donate exactly 10 grains of rice for every correct answer. We then looked at a website about the 1993 Velcro Crop Failure in California. This bogus website and others like it serve as a good reminder to students that they have to be very skeptical of what they find online and to always independently verify the facts themselves. Make-up Time: Since this is our last class all students have time to make up any work they may have missed. All projects were handed back and students could submit anything they missed or re-submit a project that they hadn't finished for full credit.  Closure to Computer Class: Students were reminded that computers are constantly changing and that they had to learn to adjust to new programs, new hardware and new ways of using technology all the time. We are all constantly learning to adapt to new technology. March 14, 2013 91 minutes  Excel Pie Chart Project: Students created a data table of the different elementary schools we all went to and the number of students that attended each school. Then each student  Excel Simple Budget Project: In our final project in Excel we created a simple budget for a fictitious bike company. We inputted budgeted and actual income and expenses. We also created formulas to determine if the company made a profit or a loss and made necessary changed to the expenses to balance the budget.  Click here to enlarge the project description. Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a promotional video from the Corning Corporation about some of the uses for their products that they anticipate in the future. March 12, 2013 104 minutes Student Presentations: After some time to prepare and practice each group presented their slide shows to the class.  We also broadcasted the presentations to several other teachers elsewhere in the world using ustream.tv.  We were fortunate to get some feedback from Mrs. Allen a teacher at the Catherderal of St. Raymond School in Joliet, Illinois;  Mr. Karnoscak, a 3rd Grade Teacher at Willowbrook School in Glenview, Illinois; and Mr. Johnson Fernandez from the Centre for Social Studies in India who said "Well done ... More preparation would be better."  In the images below you can see a screen shot of some of the groups as they presented online.  Notice the difference that high contrast and a large font makes for an online audience.   Technology Current Event Video: As a review of how to use Google Drive to collaborate online with partners we watched the first part of a tutorial from lynda.com. March 8, 2013 22 minutes* Internet Moment: Today we explored Google Earth and discussed how a 3 dimensional virtual environment can be used to augment human memory. We started by discussing how people had to memorize much more before technology gave us so may ways to store information (books, calendars, pictures, the internet...). Students were introduced to the memory palace or method of loci as an effective way to use 3 dimensional visual imagery to help you remember large amounts of information. We then talked about how the most popular video games that students play are so engaging because of the 3 dimensional visual imagery that is used in them. Students then opened Google Earth and we began a tour of the earth and the moon. The whole class followed a specific list of locations. Afterwards students were challenged to list everywhere they had gone and what they had seen on their tour of the 3 dimensional visual imagery in Google Earth. This activity helped to demonstrate the effectiveness of using 3D spatial references, such as the virtual environment of Google Earth, to augment memory. Technology Current Event Video:  We watched a short video about techniques for improving your memory. * shorter class period today due to the half-day schedule March 6, 2013 91 minutes Internet Moment: Today we explored Google Sketchup which is a great example of a free CAD program.  CAD, or computer aided design/drafting, has become very common across many fields and students should have some knowledge of what 3D designing looks and feels like on a computer. Though it is available at school, Google Sketchup is a free download that students can download at home so they can continue to learn more about this important skill on their own.  Technology Current Event Video:  In preparation for our PowerPoint presentations next class we watched part of Don McMillan's famous presentation: Life after Death by PowerPoint. March 4, 2013 104 minutes Technology Current Event Video:  We started class today with the video that we were unable to watch last class.  Skype Interview Tips. Internet Moment: Today we explored Google Maps. We started by finding our school on the map and experimenting with getting directions. Next we headed to Las Vegas, NV to check the street views and 3D views of the city. We then used the 3D directions to see what a trip to Zion National Park in Utah would look like.  We also visited Singapore and looked at street views there as well as the 3D building views in Google Earth.  We also visited Greytown, New Zealand to see the town where Mrs. Stevens teaches.  Finally, students had some time to explore the world on their own. Evaluate and Turn in Day at School Slideshows:  Students used edit points to create a unique start button on the first slide. Once this was done we set-up the show as a kiosk or self-running PowerPoint presentation.  We then did a final peer evaluation activity and then turned in their slideshows using the school network today. Technology Current Event Video:  Unfortunately we ran out of time for a video today. February 28, 2013 44 minutes Internet Moment:  Today our students explored PlaneFinder.net which allows you to see the locations of all the airplanes that are in the air in real time. Day at School PowerPoint Shows:  Students had some time to work on their shows today and they added action buttons so 6th graders could navigate though their shows Technology Current Event Video:  Unfortunately we ran out of time to watch a video today. February 26, 2013 91 minutes Internet Moment:  As an example of how to use the the internet to learn independently we went to DrCalculator.com to learn about some basic money concepts and vocabulary. Students experimented with the compounding calculator to learn about interest rates and did an activity to see how much money they could save up for their graduation. We also attempted to experiment with the Loan Calculator but it wasn't working.  Finally we used the Cost of Living Calculator to experiment with the  effects of inflation over time by comparing the current cost of a school lunch to what their parents and grandparents might have paid. Students were then given some time to explore other calculators on their own.  Technology Current Event Video:  We watched a video from the Wall Street Journal about how much information can be collected from your "digital fingerprint". February 22, 2013 104 minutes Internet Moment: Today students were introduced to the idea of online education by exploring the Open Course Ware that is available from the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology. Students were shown a presentation about college that included vocabulary terms such as major, syllabus, and different higher education degrees (associates, bachelors, masters and doctorate). We then went to ocw.mit.edu and students selected a program to explore from the courses by department. As an example of a college level lecture we visited Physics I: Classical Mechanics by Professor Walter Lewin. We tried a sample exam and watched part of Lecture 11: Work, Energy, and Gravitation. You can view the last segment of the lecture that we watched in the video above. Each student then had some time to explore the website on their own and they were encouraged to check it out at home also. Office Yoga Break: Students are always reminded to not spend too much time in front of computers and to take breaks every 30-40 minutes. Today we practiced a simple yoga stretch that helps prevent carpal tunnel syndrome.  Before the stretch the causes and symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome were explained to the class.  After the stretch all students had an opportunity to take a short break and move around. Mystery Skype:  Today we did a mystery skype activity with Mrs. Harris's 5th grade class at Highlands University Preparatory School in Sebring, Florida.  During the activity her students asked our students yes and no questions to determine our location on the map and then we asked them yes and no questions to locate them on the map. Technology Current Events Video:  As a follow-up to our Internet Moment about online education at the college level we watched a video from 60 Minutes about KhanAcademy.org which offers free 10 minute video lectures in mathematics and many other academic subjects. February 20, 2013 44 minutes PowerPoint Introduction: Almost all students identified that they had suffered through some bad PowerPoint presentations in the past. As a catharsis activity we made a list of all the bad & ugly things our students have seen in a PowerPoint presentation. We then prepared a short list of good things to do in PowerPoint. View a sample T-chart here. Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a video from the Wall Street Journal about the newest computer designs including those running the new Windows 8 operating system from Microsoft. February 14, 2013 91 minutes Internet Moment: As a follow-up to the video about PhotoSynth that we watched last class our students viewed zoom.it which demonstrates Windows Azure and Microsoft Silverlight to create very large images that you can easily pan and zoom through. As an example of a zoom.it project students checked out the NMS Mosaic Project and a deep zoom image of Yosemite National Park in California.  Technology Current Event Video:  Today we watched the second half of a TED presentation by Juan Enriquez from 2009.  In this presentation he explains several mind boggling developments in robotics and biotechnology. February 12, 2013 104 minutes Internet Moment:  Google News - Students were shown how to use this popular news aggregator to find current event stories and how to search the news for topics that interest them or might be required for another subject area.  Students were also shown how to search the Google News Archives and we looked at this story from 1964 about students being snowed in at Council Rock High School.  Office Yoga Break:  Students are always reminded to not spend too much time in front of computers.  Today we practiced a simple yoga stretch for your shoulder and arm and then students had some time to get up and move around. Technology Current Event Video:  We watched a TED Presentation by Blaise Aguera y Arcas, a software engineer from Microsoft about the development of Seadragon and Photosynth.  We also looked at the NMS Mosaic Project which was made using Seadragon and we visited the Photosynth website. February 8, 2013 94 minutes Internet Moment:  Students were shown Weather.gov (the National Weather Service) as an example of a huge online database that's full of real-time and archived information. We checked our local weather and spent a few minutes checking the satellite images and Doppler radar for the whole United States. Students were also shown how to access the hourly weather graphs for our area to get precipitation predictions.  This was of  Business Letter #2: Students practiced professional communication and typing by making a second block format business letter. To make this letter students have to copy text from Business Letter #1.  They have to set-up a table, merge cells and copy and paste text. They will also be using the header and printing their letters using one of the network printers in the room.  Click here to view the project description.   Technology Current Event Video:   Today we finished class with a video from a TED Conference. The concept of TED (Technology Entertainment Design) was introduced to the class and the background of the presenter, Pattie Maes (an instructor at the MIT Media Lab), was also discussed. February 6, 2013 91 minutes Internet Moment:  Students were shown TodayInComputerClass.com and told that they can check here anytime to review what we did in class.  We also discussed what a web log or blog was and how this website is a blog for our class.  Students were also told that their parents will be sent an email with a link to this website so they can also review what we are doing in computer class each day.  Assign Seats:  All students have an assigned seat/computer in the computer lab. Students have a responsibility to report any problems with the machine they have been assigned. In this way we all participate in maintaining our school computers.  CRSD Acceptable Use Policy: Students were shown how to access the CRSD Acceptable Use Policy and they were reminded that they are in a network environment where their actions on the computer can be easily tracked. Middle School Technology Use Video: Information about the Council Rock School District Acceptable Use Policy, and a quick review of the Facebook Privacy Policy. Direct link to the Technology Use at the Middle School Video February 4, 2013 104 minutes  Introduction to Basic Computer Skills Class: Basic rules and classroom procedures were explained. Students were specifically reminded that because technology is constantly changing they should get into the habit of helping each other out and demonstrating the ability to learn new computer skills through experimentation. All students reported that they had helped an adult with computer skills but they also need to get used to helping each other.  An overview of the 7th grade computer class curriculum was also explained.Log On & Explore: All students were given time to explore the start menu and the various programs available to them at school. Setting up Student Passwords: Each student was reminded about how to create a new password today and we discussed some good password practices. Student passwords must fit the following parameters:
Computer Class Survey: All students take a computer class survey. The results of this survey are used to guide the instruction for the class. You can view the survey to the right.  Click to enlarge. We then used the survey as the outline for the following presentation. Introduction to Computer Class Presentation: Technology Current Event:  Most classes end with a current event video. Today's video was inspired by an original presentation created by a high school teacher in Colorado, Karl Fisch. Here is a link to his blog:  THE FISCHBOWL for more information. |
