April: Reverse mentor project- Second grade was working with imovie to make movies for Mother’s Day. Some of the students shared with fifth graders the ins and outs of imovie and the video making process began!
April 16- Dr. Tabakman visited the 5th grade students to discuss orthodontia and technology. He is the sponsor for our t-shirts and the kids enjoyed meeting the person behind the name. He also chose some students to create molds of their hands. The students received goodie bags at the end of the presentation.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Talking it up!
March: This month was spent saving the files- jpeg and movie files onto the server so that they could be accessed by multiple computers. The jpeg files were easy to open however the movie files- avi,mpeg were a little trickier. The Dell laptops would not easily open the files. Students also continued to browse through scrapbooks looking for photos.
Interview process began. Students communicated with teachers through email- my sbisd accounts- and set up appointment times. Working with a partner they interviewed teachers using the flip cameras.
Student interviews were informally arranged on the playground area and at lunch. Once again the flip cameras were used.
Interview process began. Students communicated with teachers through email- my sbisd accounts- and set up appointment times. Working with a partner they interviewed teachers using the flip cameras.
Student interviews were informally arranged on the playground area and at lunch. Once again the flip cameras were used.
TEAM work
February: Students continued researching the past and present of Meadow Wood for our Legacy Project. Teams started brainstorming questions to ask the community, past students, parents, and teachers. Most importantly interview teams developed their questioning scripts:
Student interviews - Leading questions:
1) Who are the lifers? Have been at MWE since PK
2) What students have had or have siblings attending MWE with them?
3) How many MWE alums have children of their own attending MWE?
4) Any husband/wife who both attended MWE and now have their children attending MWE?
5) Organize questions for interviewing students.
Teacher interviews - Leading questions:
1) How long have you been teaching? At MWE?
2) What is your favorite memory of MWE?
3) Why did you choose to work at MWE?
Students were set up on mysbisd email accounts. They used these to communicate with the teachers to schedule convenient interview times. These accounts were challenging for the students to remember their passwords. We had to keep a reference list handy so that they could access their email.
Student interviews - Leading questions:
1) Who are the lifers? Have been at MWE since PK
2) What students have had or have siblings attending MWE with them?
3) How many MWE alums have children of their own attending MWE?
4) Any husband/wife who both attended MWE and now have their children attending MWE?
5) Organize questions for interviewing students.
Teacher interviews - Leading questions:
1) How long have you been teaching? At MWE?
2) What is your favorite memory of MWE?
3) Why did you choose to work at MWE?
Students were set up on mysbisd email accounts. They used these to communicate with the teachers to schedule convenient interview times. These accounts were challenging for the students to remember their passwords. We had to keep a reference list handy so that they could access their email.
Putting it all together
January: Fifth Grade Legacy Project- The History of MWE video project
Students filled out applications for director of the following committees:
Artwork
Building Research- past, present and future
PK-2 Programs
3-5 Programs
Teacher interviews
Student interviews
Editors
Video lay out designers
Audio designers
Faculty Research
Ten directors were then chosen to lead the committees. The teams met from 12:30-1:15 daily to plan the video. Each team had a folder where they could keep track of their work. (This time was during their lunch and recess.) It was a voluntary commitment. We sought the help of some of our parents and they help supervise the students while they researched using the internet and laid out plans for the video. The PTA provided us with old scrapbooks which the students would browse through to find old pictures of the school and then scanned them into the project.
Students filled out applications for director of the following committees:
Artwork
Building Research- past, present and future
PK-2 Programs
3-5 Programs
Teacher interviews
Student interviews
Editors
Video lay out designers
Audio designers
Faculty Research
Ten directors were then chosen to lead the committees. The teams met from 12:30-1:15 daily to plan the video. Each team had a folder where they could keep track of their work. (This time was during their lunch and recess.) It was a voluntary commitment. We sought the help of some of our parents and they help supervise the students while they researched using the internet and laid out plans for the video. The PTA provided us with old scrapbooks which the students would browse through to find old pictures of the school and then scanned them into the project.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Seamless integration
Our goal of getting the students to see the itouch as a learning tool is coming to light. Mrs. Lewis taught a lesson on context clues using the Dictionary.com app. Students practiced determining meaning of words in a small passage, and then worked together to decide which definition fit best in context. Students then used the dictionary app to check what they thought a word meant while reading in their book club books. It was a great (and simple) integration of technology into our Reading day!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Spreading our enthusiasm - what we want to do next
Future plans: Which we do not have any problems coming up with ideas, the problem lies in finding the time to implement!!! Here are just a few:
Purchase green material to make “green screen.” We have parent willing to sew our screen together, but need to research the best homemade plan. Using green screen, students in fifth will write hints about- Where in the World is Lilly? These will be accompanied with pictures of different places and then shared with the school through KMWE. The clues will begin easy so to include PK/K/1st(with the places being around the school) These clues will gradually get harder to include places around Houston, Texas, United States and then the World.
Recruiting parents to help supervise “Lightbulb lab” so that students can work on projects throughout the day when work is completed.
Establish student email accounts through district mysbisd domain to possibly connect with epals and skype partners.
Blogs- students will first contribute to class blog and then after practice- set up their own blogs based on book clubs or topic discussion.
Having students record book club conversations with itouch devices then sharing with others. This will allow the teacher to be “omnipresent.” These conversations can be later replayed by the teacher to provide oral language grades as well as to help hold the students accountable in their discussions. “The teacher is listening!”
Podcasts for instructional uses- having students record their thinking for working math problems and then sharing through itouch devices with other students who are struggling with the concept.
Multi-grade learning:
Third grade Planet project - Reverse mentor- when they have finished with their project, third graders will “present” to fifth graders. After presentation- fifth and third grade students will work together using the itouch and planet applications to further both of their understanding of the planets and then present together to other groups.
Second grade Bird Unit- fifth graders will mentor second grade using bird applications on itouch. They will also help them with their research on purple martins.
Purchase green material to make “green screen.” We have parent willing to sew our screen together, but need to research the best homemade plan. Using green screen, students in fifth will write hints about- Where in the World is Lilly? These will be accompanied with pictures of different places and then shared with the school through KMWE. The clues will begin easy so to include PK/K/1st(with the places being around the school) These clues will gradually get harder to include places around Houston, Texas, United States and then the World.
Recruiting parents to help supervise “Lightbulb lab” so that students can work on projects throughout the day when work is completed.
Establish student email accounts through district mysbisd domain to possibly connect with epals and skype partners.
Blogs- students will first contribute to class blog and then after practice- set up their own blogs based on book clubs or topic discussion.
Having students record book club conversations with itouch devices then sharing with others. This will allow the teacher to be “omnipresent.” These conversations can be later replayed by the teacher to provide oral language grades as well as to help hold the students accountable in their discussions. “The teacher is listening!”
Podcasts for instructional uses- having students record their thinking for working math problems and then sharing through itouch devices with other students who are struggling with the concept.
Multi-grade learning:
Third grade Planet project - Reverse mentor- when they have finished with their project, third graders will “present” to fifth graders. After presentation- fifth and third grade students will work together using the itouch and planet applications to further both of their understanding of the planets and then present together to other groups.
Second grade Bird Unit- fifth graders will mentor second grade using bird applications on itouch. They will also help them with their research on purple martins.
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