Become a Tekkie in the classroom

A palindrome reads the same backwards as forward. This video reads the exact opposite backwards as forward. Not only does it read the opposite, the meaning is the exact opposite. This video won second place. When they showed it, everyone in the room was awe-struck and broke into spontaneous applause. So simple and yet so brilliant!

Lost Generation

Recently at several professional development classes, I heard this question.  Should kindergarten, prek or even 1st grade be in computer class?    The answer I always give is:

YES! YES! YES! YES!

They are never too young to learn, so why put a limit on students by not exposing them to computers?   I understand the hesitation.  Some parents feel like too much exposure to computers at a young age is like too much TV exposure.  Some teachers feel that the children will not be able to sit and pay attention to a computer lesson, will break the equipment or will not be able to learn anything.

I can understand these concerns, but let me start by addressing overexposure.  Computers are different than TV because children are interacting with the computer.  If you find the right software, children are growing and learning without being placid observers.  In the right program, they become active learners.   They also are differentiated because most “games” I teach are leveled.  So as the student gets better, the game becomes more challenging.

To teachers who feel the young grades cannot handle computers.  I tell them, they learn at home anyway.  I spent last Saturday watching my excited goddaughter (all of 3) showing me how to move Hello Kitty around the screen!   Computers should not be a substitute for the classroom, but rather another TOOL in the teachers toolbox.   And what a great tool.  If you need some student to focus on phonics, there are tons of websites that highlight the letter sound or letter combination you are teaching.  The student finds another mode of learning and loves it because they are in control of their learning.

To avoid students breaking any equipment, I spend a whole lesson on the importance of treating the equipment  correctly.  I have never had a problem with a student not following these rules.   They even remind each other to treat the mouse gently.

So now that you are convinced (I hope) what grade to start?  I say as soon as they are in elementary school.  In my school we have a 3 year old pre kindergarten class and the we start there.  The children were originally going to have only 30 minutes, but we found that was never enough time so now we go to the standard 40 minutes. 

I found the best way to start teaching is to model.  I gather the children on the floor around my computer and I talk to to them.   I show them the different parts and then I discuss how to handle a mouse, etc.    Before, they come into the lab, I place the keyboards out of their way.  This was I find that they have more room to work with the mouse.

Then we talk about our “magic finger”.  The kids love this concept because their magic finger moves the left side of the mouse.   Finally, I just let them go.  Most have had exposure to computers, but some have not.

Here are some great websites for each grade level.  Its no secret to anyone who knows me that I LOVE PBS kids.  I can spend the whole year there and find lessons each week that correspond to the curriculum in the class.   By four years old, all my kids know how to navigate the site and locate their favorites.

PreK3:  Sesame Street is what I use almost exclusively.  I find the cursor is a star that sparkles and easy to navigate.

PreK4:  Curious George:   I teach a lot of Curious George with them.  I find the games are leveled and they get harder as the kids get “smarter”

Kindergarten:  Anything in PBS kids but mostly Super Why and Between the Lions.   I think this is the age they focus on phonics, so Starfall is another great option.

This year I ventured into Excel for students as young as 1st grade.   I wanted to coordinate with the classroom teacher’s science curriculum.   Plus the students are getting ready for science fair.   I held my breath and ventured into Excel.  

Surprise!  It wasn’t bad at all.   I quickly found out the way to get students excited is just change the graphs.    Instead of graphing a random class with random names, I wanted to connect it to the student’s interest.  So, I changed the names.  We learned excel with SPONGEBOB characters.   The students loved it and the classroom was alive with the excited classroom chatter.    It’s very easy to incorporate and add a clip art of Spongbob and you’ll have your classroom using Excel in no time at all!

Take a peek at my 2nd graders:

I’ve been in a constant debate with educators and in the business field about teaching MS Office or not.   I use MS Office XP and I know that MS Office has gone through many changes.   At home, I use MS Office 2007 and love it.  Every time I use 2007, I start thinking maybe it is time to switch to 07? 

After much discussion, this has been the consesus.   YES, teach MS Office even the outdated version.   Why you ask?  I’m glad you asked here are some of the opinions.

1.  It still teaches the student the features of each suite.  Word Art is is Word Art no matter where you find it in a menu bar.   Students must know what is out there to use it.   If they never learn features like, clip art, word art, graph wizard, etc, they will not use it.

2.  Teach the shortcuts!  I love this suggestion.  The shortcuts work in any addition.  So instead of File/Save teach Ctl+S.    I have to say that this comment stayed with me, because I still use Ctrl+V and Ctrl+C all the time.   It is instinctive at this point.

3.  Teach graphing.  MS Excel is an excellent tool to teach tables and graphing.  It allows the student to create and visualize their tables and graphs.  I was worried about using this in primary grades, but I have come to see my 1st, 2nd  and 3rd graders embrace it.   According to their math teachers, they also have an easier job of teaching graphing when they have already used it in Excel.

4.  Most high schools that my students will go to use MS Office XP and a lot of offices, places of business, etc have not upgraded to 2007.   

5. Finally, once they know XP it will be easier to convert to 2007.

Bottom Line:  Don’t stress if your MS Office Suite is outdated.  Teach it and it can be a lifetime lesson for your students.

To All St. Ferdinand parents waiting for updates on their child’s work on the computer:  Our school might not be renewing the teacher web site.  So, that is why I haven’t updated it.   I am working on creating a new site and once it is up, I will provide the students with the address.

Thanks for your patience.

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Recently,  I had an incident where cyberbullying had occured with one of my students.  Luckily (and I hope strategically it was not during school time) but it still is an important topic.  I usually spend little time on this topic since I only have my classes once a week.   But this was a wake up call for me.  I am dedicating this whole month to cyberbullying.

I have found great resources for adults, but not many kid friendly resources for my middle school.

Some great site for the younger set are:

http://www.ikeepsafe.org/iksc_kids/

The website claims: iKeepSafe educational resources teach children of all ages in a fun, age-appropriate way, the basic rules of Internet safety, ethics, and the healthy use of connected technologies.”

But I found this works best with primary and not middle school kids.

I did find this video very effective when teaching:

We have started with a classroom discussion.

I then created online surveys to see if it is a problem in my school.

And finally we will create wikis on how to stop cyber bullying.

Every year gets better and better.   I have to say so far my 5th grade and up blogging effort has been a success.  I finally found the formula that works.   That is TAKE THE TIME!!   I know I rushed it last year and my students felt rushed and hated blogging and I felt frustrated because they were not understanding what a great tool blogging is.   

So, my list of things that worked:

1. TAKE TIME.  ABSOULUTELY, take time to blog.  In my case (since I get my kids once a week), I am taking all of September to blog.  The students are learning about format, submitting, editing, logging in and just the technical side.  But they are also getting used to the idea of writing.  They need the time to write and respond.  So, take the TIME.
2. TYPE OF BLOG: Decide what type of blog you want your students to write.  I am looking for an informal blog.  I just want my students to write.  Spelling and grammar count, but not as much as writing and creativity.   I want them to feel like they can write freely and not necessarily have to continually edit themselves.  This is not a formal paper, but merely and expresssion of idea.
3. CHANGE THE TOPICS: Last year, I had one topic.  What did you learn this week.  It got boring fast.  This week I assign different topics.  Everyting from, What did you think of President Obama’s speech to if you can choose one image to represent yourself what would it be and why?   I also have  a free blog day and on that day student just write.
4. TAKE TIME TO RESPOND: Give the students a day to respond and read classmates blogs.   Give them time to comment and respond to comments.   I am lucky because I teach at two different schools and two VERY different communities.  Students can comment on each others blogs and are excited to read what other 5th or 6th graders are writing about.
5. TAKE TIME TO GO OVER THE PLEDGE: Safety, Safety, Safety.  I may not be in love with gaggle.net.  But it does provide great safety features for FREE that I cannot find anywhere else.   Student have to know the risks and dangers out there in cyberland and I also have a responsibility to make sure that they are protect.

Happy Bloggin All!

Welcome to a new school year!

Im excited to start anew and use all my lessons from last year and apply them to this year. I read a wonderful book last summer called “The First Days of School” By Harry Wong. This is my favorite kind of book, action, action, action. It has specific techniques to help you start the school year. Last year, I used it but I didn’t have a vision of what i wanted my class to look like. The vision took shape about January. I am lucky this year, because I can start the classroom with the vision.

First day, we discussed blogs. I still am on the fence about gaggle.net. But I have no choice. The site is free and it has great controls over emails and posting rules. Everything else I found is either 1.Not free or 2. really really plain. THe drawback of gaggle is that 1. I cant tag it. 2. Its embedding options are limited 3. Advertising Everywhere 4. Unstable. I considered using Edublogs  but they are not free and my students have to have email address.

So gaggle it is. I started with setting up our blogs (5th grade and up) and then reading the blog pledge. I created a simple pledge so students can understand it and use it.

Student Blog Pledge

I agree to abide by the following rules.

1. I will use my blog for Technology class.
2. I will publish pieces that I have written. 
3. I will cite sources of any ideas of writings that are not mine.
4. I will not write about anyone without their permission.
5. I will not mention my last name or other identification information.
6. I will not make bad comments about my school or community.
7. I will not publish pictures of myself or friends on my blog. 
8. I will agree to allow my teacher to monitor all of the work on my blog and promptly remove any objectionable items.
9. I will post comments to other students’ blogs responsibly and respectfully.
10. I will notify my teacher if I suspect that a breach of trust has been compromised. 

 I know I got this pledge online somewhere (and I will post the link when I find it).  We talked about each one and signed it.

Recently, I read an article about web 2.0 and what is driving it. More and more the author points out that teachers are moving web 2.0 forward. We are using online learning games, (like edhead.org), multimedia resources and teacher generated content. Why are we doing all of this? I believe it is the direction technology is headed. Also, because students are the driving force. Right now there is a large gap between our “digital” student at home and the student in the classroom. It doesn’t have to be. With new technologies, it is easy to marry both.

Teachers driving Web 2.0?
By David Needle on April 7, 2009 5:28 PM
Forget the old view of teachers as anti-technology luddites more comfortable in front of a blackboard than a home page. Teachers get high marks for driving the adoption of a wide variety of Web 2.0 technologies, according to a recent survey.

Specifically, K-12 teachers were most frequently cited for driving the adoption of digital multimedia resources (78 percent), online learning games and simulations (65 percent) and teacher-generated online content (60 percent), in the national research survey of more than 500 district technology directors commissioned by Lightspeed Systems and Thinkronize.

The two companies have more than a passing interest in the results. Lightspeed Systems makes network security and management software for schools, while Thinkronize is the creator of an educational search tool called netTrekker. Atomic Learning, which also provided support for the survey, develops Web-based software training and curriculum resources for schools.

While teachers rated highly the group most cited for driving the adoption of social networking and student-generated online content was none other than … drumroll … students themselves.

“The research indicates that the movement toward Web 2.0 use to engage students and address individual learning needs is largely being driven in districts from the bottom up — starting with teachers and students,” said Dr. Jay Sivin-Kachala, vice president and lead researcher at Educational Systems Design.

“Furthermore, the results show that many districts are using or planning to use Web 2.0 tools in teacher professional development, which suggests that teachers will become increasingly comfortable with these technologies and better able to teach students how to use them safely and productively.”

There is a persistent gap between how today’s “digital” kids learn in school and how they work and interact outside of school, the companies noted in a release announcing the results. It’s a trend they say underscores the critical need for districts to keep pace with technological advances and adapt to students’ learning needs.

Is it safe yet?