December 10, 2012 - LAST CLASS 91 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 if the site is bogus or real.  They were also shown websites like this one about the California Velcro Crop as an example of a completely fake website that looks real.  We then did an activity to demonstrate how to research the validity of any websites by independently verifying the facts. Students also had a chance to explore snopes.com and UrbanLegends.About.com as an examples of websites where they can verify internet rumors. 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.  Computer Class Rubric: We completed a rubric that gave students an opportunity to reflect on their own computer skills and their performance in this class. 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. 104 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 experimented with the Loan Calculator and talked about how car loans work and what a credit score is. 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. Changing Passwords: Before the end of class all students had to create a new password today and they were reminded of some good password practices. Student passwords must fit the following parameters:
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 created a pie chart of the data and formatted it for printing in black and white.  Click here to enlarge the project description. Excel Simple Budget Project: In  Technology Current Event Video:  We watched several segments of a TED talk given by University of Pennsylvania researcher Vijay Kumar concerning small flying robots that he and his team are working on. December 4, 2012 94 minutes  Finish the History of Computer Slide Shows:  Today the remaining 3 groups did their presentations. Once again the presentations were broadcast through the internet using Ustream and several teachers from our school and around the world were invited to watch and comment on their performance.  Mr. McCarthy, Ms. Hanna and Mrs. Chernaya from Russia all gave our student useful feedback about their presentation skills. Students were reminded that this would probably not be the last time they participate in a presentation that was broadcast through the internet. 
November 30, 2012 91 minutes Finish the Day at School PowerPoint Projects: Students completed their Day at School PowerPoint presentations and turned them in using our network. Finish the History of Computers Projects: Each team had some time to complete their slide shows using Google Presentation. Students were then shown how anyone with a gmail account could go to Google Drive and start a Presentation that they could share with any group of partners, anywhere in the world. We then downloaded the slideshows as a PowerPoint. Each group then had 15 minutes to make any final adjustments to their shows and to practice their presentations. History of Computers Presentations: After having time to practice we started the student presentations. The first two groups presented today and the remaining 3 will present next week. During the presentations the rest of the class completed an online peer evaluation survey to give feedback to the presenters. The presentations were also broadcast over the internet using Ustream.tv so other teachers elsewhere in the world could view the presentations. Unfortunately, due to the timing of the presentations no one else was available to view the first two groups. Technology Current Event Video: We finished class with a video about how simple robots are being used in England to help educate autistic children. Unfortunately the sound didn't work today. Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy November 28, 2012 104 minutes Internet Moment: Today our students had an opportunity to view 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. Finish PowerPoint Projects: Students completed their Day at School PowerPoint presentations. There was time to complete the narrations that we started last class but several students still had problems getting their microphones to work. We did a final evaluation rubric and activity and then the projects were turned in using our network.  Technology Current Event Video: We ran out of time to complete this video about Google Apps and online collaboration. We will watch the rest of the video next class. November 26, 2012 44 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.Continue PowerPoint Project: Students worked on their 6-9 slide show for the 6th graders.   Students added narration to their slide shows today. We ran out of time before we could finish all the narrations - we will finish this part of the project next class. Technology Current Event Video: We watched a short video about shopping trends on "Cyber Monday". Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy November 19, 2012 44 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.  During the Holiday Break:  Students were encouraged to download Google Earth at home over the Thanksgiving break and spend some time learning some geography. * class time was shorter today due to the half-day conference schedule November 15, 2012 104 minutes Internet Moment: Students explored Google Books as a resource for free ebooks and they were shown how to search the text of a book. The legal controversy surrounding the Google Books Project and copyright laws as well as the settlement to date was also discussed. Students were shown a video of a book scanner so they could see how Google was digitizing entire libraries. Downloading ebooks from Google Books to various devices such as ebook readers, tablets, computers and smart phones was also discussed. Continue PowerPoint Project: Students had some time to complete their 6-9 slide show. Students then were introduced to using action settings and internal hyperlinks by taking a survey that was made in PowerPoint. The computer term "infinite loop" was also introduced as part of this demonstration. For our break today we did a gallery walk which gave students an opportunity to share their shows with one another.  Students also added the following to their shows today: a Table of Contents, action buttons, a video, and a custom shaped start button using edit points. Then students did a peer evaluation activity where they watch each others shows and wrote down specific suggestions to improve them.Technology Current Event Video:  We watched a videos today from NBC News about  the drop off in sales of ereaders.   November 13, 2012 44 minutes 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 traffic and weather. We then used the 3D directions to see what a trip to Zion National Park in Utah would look like. We then went to Singapore to see street views of the city and explore it in 3D. Finally, students had some time to explore the world on their own. Continue the Day at School PowerPoint Project: Students continued their slide shows for the 6th graders. Today they added graphics to all their slides. There was also a demonstration on adding hyperlinks the the internet in PowerPoint. Technology Current Event Video: To finish class today we watched a TED presentation by Blaise Aguera y Arcas, a software engineer at Microsoft, about creating augmented reality maps. November 9, 2012 94 minutes Internet Moment: In continuing with the theme of protecting yourself online students were shown the website OnGuardOnline.gov and given an opportunity to try some of the games in the Video & Media section. Some of games were:  Phishing Scams, Invasion of the Wireless Hackers, Cyber Criminal & Invest Quest. Finish Final Word Project: All students finished the Gettysburg Address project today. They printed them out and turned them in. 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 PowerPoint. We then prepared a short list of good things to do in PowerPoint. View a sample T-chart here.
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy November 7, 2012 104 minutes Internet Moment:  Student watched a presentation about how VOIP and webcams are combined to make video chatting possible. We also discussed the differences between a circuit switching communication system and using packet switches on the internet for VoIP communication.  Streaming video from the internet was demonstrated and we watched live video from Cocoa Beach in Florida. The increased use of security cameras was discussed and we also discussed privacy rights and exactly where people should not be video recorded. We also visited EarthCam.com to view some online webcams from all around the world.   Office Yoga Break: Whenever we have a long class students are reminded that they should limit their time on computers and take breads every 30-40 minutes. For our break today students practiced a simple yoga stretch that can help prevent carpal tunnel syndrome. Technology Current Event Video:  At the end of class we watched a short video about job interview techniques using webcams. November 2, 2012 44 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.  Technology Current Event Video: We watched two short videos from NBCNEWS.com. The first one was about the new Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and the second one was about the recently released iPad mini. October 29 & 31, 2012 Classes Cancelled due to storm damage in our area. October 25, 2012 94 minutes Internet Moment:  Students were shown this website (TodayInComputerClass.com) and told that they can check here anytime to review what work was done in class. Their parents will also be sent an email with a link to this website so they can also review what we are doing in computer class every day. Typing Test: All students took a typing test using http://www.typingtest.com. Each student had 10 minutes to take the 1 minute test multiple times. Their best adjusted speed was recorded and graphed in an Excel spreadsheet. The average typing speed for this class was:  32.7 WPM  Click here for more information about typing speeds at Newtown Middle School.   Business Letter #2: Students practiced professional communication and typing by making a second block format business letter. To make this letter students started by copying text from Business Letter #1.  We finished this project today and most students printed it.  Click here to view the project description. Technology Current Event Video: We watched a video from ABC News about the development of Windows 8 which is scheduled to be released tomorrow. Watch More News Videos at ABC October 23, 2012 91 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.  Technology Current Events Video: We watched a TED presentation by Pattie Maes, from the M.I.T. Media Lab, about a possible future computer concept that was being developed by one of her graduate students, Pranav Mistery. October 19, 2012 104 minutes  Log On & Explore: All students were given time to explore the start menu and the various programs available to them at school. MS Paint Project: Students were shown how to open and use MS paint to make a simple drawing. Students then shared their drawings using various district network resources and basic skills such as saving to a network drive and using drag & drop. The best use of the H: & X: drives was also explained. 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. 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 which we started today. |
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