Born in 1984

Here’s to Week 2 of Christine’s Try I.T. On Monday Apologies that it’s already mid-week!

Announcements for everyone

My schedule is labeled Christine’s ICT Calendar in FirstClass > Desktop > Facility Reservation for all to see. If you would like me to come to your class to observe and help guide your students using school technology, please cross-check my schedule with yours and send me an invitation in FirstClass. Looking forward to working with you and your class.

If you are having trouble printing from a printer at school, first check how big the file size on a document is, especially if you or your students are printing images from a Word or Pages document. Just select the file, go to File > Get Info. If the file size is more than 1MB you will stall the printer and your job won’t print. Once you’ve reduced the file size using iPhoto, see screencast, then print again. We also have printers in different areas in the school. I have added YIS Technology Facilities Maps this summer on the Server > Faculty Resources > Shared > IT Resources > Tech Facilities Maps

I’ve seen Kindergarten, Grade 2, and Grade 5 work with Wordle. Do you know about the wiki dedicated to creating interesting Wordles based on topics so you can guess what the theme of the Wordle is with your class? Check out the Guess the Wordle How To page for ideas of what ways you can use Wordle.

Educational Technology to Share from Elementary

ELC
I meet with the staff twice a week so that I can see each of the staff at least once a week. Junko showed me her BTSN video that she created in iMovie 09 and we are working together to export the movie onto her external hard drive as a back up, but also so that she can upload the compressed video to Vimeo.

Last year, the ELC, Grade 1, and Grade 2 grade levels chose a point person to sign up for Vimeo as a place to upload videos of students. Vimeo has 5 features that makes the service appealing for elementary teachers: Free to sign up with advertisements; Unlimited storage space and 500MB per week upload limit; Share video by embedding or sending parents a link to the video; Levels of privacy appropriate for elementary level that are not found in YouTube; Parents who register with Vimeo can download the video up to one week after the video was initially uploaded.

Kindergarten
The following links for Wordle and CBeebies are on all K1 laptops in the Emergency Save Folder. Please try out these links with your students. Here are some ideas of different ways to use Wordle. Thanks Tasha for telling me about CBeebies, what a great way to introduce students to the world of computers.

Grade 1
1S went to Toy’s Club down the street from YIS, a place filled with toys from the 1950s. Listen to 1S’s comments on their trip to Toy’s Club on their Voicethread (VT). If you have a VT account, I encourage you to add some feedback to 1S’s VT.

I worked with 1S and 1L on setting up a Skype project inviting family members for their Unit of Inquiry and helping the teachers do practice Skype calls, setting up projectors, making sure the Macbook is wired into the network, and using a Macbook rather than iBook or eMac so that they can do video conferencing with the iSight camera available on a Macbook.

A challenge Luke had for me was to find a good tool so that students can visualize migration. We talked about Google Earth but I wanted to find a tool that’s interactive and shows lines going from city to city, similar to flight destination maps I’ve found on the plane. I feel I met the challenge. Please try the oneworld Online TimeTable with your students

Grade 2
“What do you love about Japan?” How would you answer that question? My friend Andrew asked my friends and I what we love about Japan using Wallwisher. I thought I’d ask the Grade 2 to join in with me and add a ’sticky note’ by simply double-clicking the ‘board.’ Why don’t you try this Japan Wallwisher too?

In 2D we also learned how to care for the computers: no running while the computers are out, carry the computer with two hands, sit when you’re using the computer, no liquids near the computers, and other great safety tips came from the class.

Grade 3
I had the pleasure to be in 3W helping out the students while they were completing their profiles in ComicLife and mind mapping using Kidspiration. Perhaps this wiki on Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences can give you more ideas for your unit. There’s also 4 MI tests that your students could use and discuss.

Grade 4
4C were doing their profiles last week. Nick and I were able to help 4C in opening, copying, and working on their profiles. 4C learned that by holding down the option key and dragging and dropping a file copies it.

I had the opportunity to work with 4H and 4G on their online safety portion of their current unit. We used M218 (aka. IT Lab) and went through Safe Surfing together and they completed their Internet License too. What great enthusiasm from both classes, thank you!

Grade 5
I have been looking through the WebQuest QuestGarden database on the topics of Ancient China, Egypt, and Rome and trying to consolidate a list of 5-10 WebQuests per ancient civilization and class. This is a big job but it was a great chance to explore the many resources that can be incorporated straight into a unit.

Currently looking for regular times to meet the Japanese, Art, PE, Music, and Drama specialists.

After talking with the K-5 grade level teachers last week in their unit planning meetings and visiting their students on random occasions, I thought it would be important to communicate my reflections of those meetings and visits to the teachers. There is a Daily Notice that the elementary teachers must read every morning and thought to put the message there. From next week I will prepare the blog post and then send the link to the teachers. Here’s my first message:

I’d like to thank everyone for being so kind about my move to the elementary. In the spirit of the JASCD Try I.T. On Monday Workshops that I helped host and organize at YIS in April 2009, I’d like to offer weekly connections to units in the Daily Notice and weekly gatherings to share educational technology ideas and share different strategies to implement technology in the form of 21st Century Learning Skills.

Here are the few connections I made in reflection of last week and things to share from different grades:

Kindergarten
They created a reflection feed using Twitter. Check it out to find out what’s going on in the Kindergarten! They even embedded it into their their class portal. Did you know that since last week you can check out other grade level class sites too? If you’re interested, see what other students are up to in their classes.

Grade 1
I was shown a shape in Donna’s class that I couldn’t remember and the class shared with me that it was a hexagon, similar to how their tables were arranged Thanks 1SA. They were also using KidPix last week for drawing. Here are some ideas on a blog post about how you can use Mind Maps tools like Kidspiration and Inspiration. Kidpix, Kidspiration, and Inspiration are also available on all Student Computers and Classroom Desktops, and available to download on the Server. From the Server you just need to drag and drop the folder of each into your Applications folder.

Grade 2
All computers have arrived to Grade 2 and they have a storage unit in each room, check their space when you get a chance. Audrey used the projector and the application called Photobooth (already preinstalled in your Mac) in an interesting way to show how to fold origami. Please ask her for more details

Grade 3
It felt great to be warmly welcomed and surrounded by Sonya’s class in the ‘Media Center’ on the Kirin 2F. What a great space and what a great group of students working on profiles using ComicLife. MakeBeliefsComix is another tool if you decide to work on comic creations again Thanks for letting me join you! ComicLife is also available on all Student Computers and Classroom Desktops, and available to download from the Server. You will need a serial number to use ComicLife please send a request form to the YIS Tech Support Desk for the serial number.

Grade 4
Here are some websites I bookmarked on Delicious for the Grade 4 teachers for Unit 1. The links I listed are websites to a few cybersafety and digital citizenship websites I recommend.

Grade 5
Here is last year’s Grade 5 PYP Exhibition blog. Please check out the neat pictures and reflections using a tool called Posterous.

I’d be happy to demo any of the tools above, just email me a time and place. There will be a weekly ‘informal’ sharing tech session every Wednesday from 3pm-4pm in the Kirin 2F ‘Media Center’ – more information to come!

Looking forward to seeing the ELC this week on both Wednesday and Thursday. And looking forward to working with the PE, Music, Japanese, Art specialists in the coming weeks. Special thanks to Brian Farrell for allowing me to connect the Library with the classrooms! Thanks again to all grade level teachers for having me in your planning meetings. Really helps me connect your unit to ICT and the Library. If you have any great ideas of how to connect me to you and your classroom, let me know.

From next week I will put a simple link to my blog so as to not take so much room in the Daily Notice! Thanks for reading

Christine.