MS Publisher

This week in class we worked on an interdisciplinary project between Social Studies and ELA (English/Language Arts). The students conducted research on European landmarks in ELA class last week, and then this week they had to create an advertisement based on the information they gathered.

On Monday, we told the students they had to create a rough draft on paper before they could even turn the computer on. Shelly, my SBTE, said past experience has shown her that students often just sit and stare at the computer if they don't make a rough draft first. Smart thinking!

Tuesday, once in the computer lab, we showed the students how to start and set up their ad in MS Publisher. I was on the teacher computer, which was hooked up to a projector. We had all the students watch as I went through the steps. Then we let them loose. Not even five minutes later were they asking questions over what I had just talked about. How frustrating! But I had to remind myself that this was totally new software to the kids.

By Thursday, some students were finished, but not many. On Friday, we told them that today was the day and we were printing whatever they had, finished or not. It was chaos! We could see that some students didn't even do the things we told them to do originally, on day one. But some kids did an excellent job. So over this Thanksgiving break, I'll be grading projects. Exciting stuff...

United Streaming

I have heard a lot about United Streaming before, but I have never really used it until recently. The school where I am student teaching at has US, so I browsed through it last week. There's tons of stuff; I love it!

In class, we were going to go over WWI and WWII. The textbook had two whole paragraphs about the wars (one per war). Now, I understand that sixth graders may not understand the details about the war, but the textbook gave us peanuts! So I browsed through US and found some awesome clips about the wars. I showed them to the kids, and they were captivated. Watching the videos taught them much more than reading from a book would.

I hope I can get US when I get a real teaching job...

Aha!

Today we had an activity about the Industrial Revolution. We used the computer to project slides of images before, during, and after the IR. We got a SMART Board to project the images; usually, we show things on the TV through the computer, but we thought the TV screen would be too small.

While the slides were up, I lectured and discussed with the kids and told them to take notes. However, I noticed that the kids were having a hard time keeping up with the notes as I said them. Shelly, my SBTE, told me she previously would just write the notes on the chalkboard. I thought about that and admitted to myself that I am a lazy woman, and that there had to be an easier way. And there was! I was struck with a great idea. As I lectured, I typed up the notes. Because we had the SMART Board, the kids could easily read as I did it. After first period was over and I had a break during second, I created a PowerPoint, incorporating both the slides and the notes. Perfect!

Two birds, one stone....

Slide Projector

We will be doing an activity that requires a slide projector...I've never seen one before, much less used one! I really don't want to fiddle with it, so we came up with a solution...my SBTE scanned the slide images and then saved it onto the computer. Perfect! Now I will be able to show the students the slides and won't need the projector. It will save space and time!

I *heart* technology!

Long time no update...

I've been so busy lately that I haven't been able to update in a while. But that doesn't mean nothing as happened! We've done so much with technology that I don't know where to start. (I suppose that's a good thing...)

A few weeks ago, I was on the computer, playing around with the "SMART Board Notebook," the software that's on the computer for the SMART Board. I noticed there was a gallery, and it had maps! Perfect, I thought, because we just started talking about Europe. So, I made a lesson based on that. I projected a physical map of Europe and had the kids come up to the board and label specific landforms. All of the students wanted to draw on it, so they were all engaged. It was great to see them have fun and learn at the same time!

I wish SMART Boards were around when I was in 6th grade!

Maps and Graphs, SMART Board

In class today, I had a packet for the students that contained information about Europe. Locations of places and the population data for the years 1300, 1400, 1500, and 1600 for certain cities were given. I had the students draw out their maps on a sheet of paper, as well as create line graphs of the population data.

However, I noticed that some students had no idea what a line graph was and how to do one! So, on the SMART Board, I created the basic lines and labels for the graph and then showed the students how to fill in the information. I then let them get back to their own work. After everyone was done, I let students put the graphs on the SMART Board for everyone to see. I also let students come up and fill in the map of Europe.

The only downside to this was that the kids kept bumping into the cart that had the projector on it, and so I had to keep realigning the SMART Board.

While the SMART Board wasn't the focus of this lesson, I thought it helped a lot in supporting what I was teaching. Using the overhead projector would have worked, but it would have been boooooring.

Qwizdom

I remember back in CUIN 3111, Dr. Thompson introduced us to a new form of technology. I cannot remember the name of it, but it was the piece of equipment that had the remotes for each student, and we would check in for attendance and answer quiz questions on it.

Well, several classrooms have that at my school; it is called Qwizdom. My SBTE has one, but doesn't use it in the classroom very often. At the in-service workshop that I had on Monday, we teachers used it, too, to take a portion of the TAKS test from last year. It was my first time using this particular model, but it was very user-friendly. I picked up on it immediately. What I love about it is that it immediately lets you know if your answer choice was right or wrong--no suspenseful waiting. Also, instead of having to point the remote to a central receiving unit, the Qwizdom is on a radio frequency; so it has a big range and can pick up the students' answers without a problem.

And what's even more exciting is that the Houston Chronicle ran an article not only about Qwizdom, but they came to my school and saw the students using it. I saw the picture in the article and I was surprised to see faces that I know.

My SBTE loves Qwizdom, but she admits that she hasn't found, or made, the time to set it up. I think I may try it out; I'm afraid I may mess it up, but I figure I can't do so much damage that it can't be fixed....