Posted by cfunke on Aug 27, 2010 in
Uncategorized As with every year, the first week of school in the lab is spent working out the kinks in our day to day computer routines and introducing or reintroducing students to new procedures and software.
With first and second grades, we reviewed how to log in to the computers and set up their accounts to load the correct system preferences.
All 2nd – 4th grade students are using new passwords this year. We distributed those on the first day of computer class and along with their usernames, they will be expected to remember this information to use not only to log in to the computers, but to a number of online resources like Study Island, Custom Typing, TCI, First Class, and our class wikis.
Third and fourth graders began learning how to use Custom Typing, our online keyboarding instruction tool. Each week, 3rd and 4th grade students will be visiting the second computer lab for 30 minutes to practice their keyboarding skills. Once we are comfortable with how all our students are using and understanding the program, we will allow them to use it at home if they wish to get in some extra practice.
Posted by cfunke on May 30, 2010 in
Uncategorized Only 2 days of school left!
Other than tying up a few loose ends on some projects, my classes were rewarded for all their hard work this year with some free time.
Posted by cfunke on May 21, 2010 in
Uncategorized We’re in the home stretch. It was the last full week of school this week and I saw some of my classes for the last time this year.
First graders finished up their 2 week seed project. We imported their seed pictures into Keynote and recorded them narrating their slide shows. They had a lot of fun recording them and loved listening to them when they were finished.
Second graders finished up their Geocaching unit from PE with a short reflection piece online. Mr. Tilbury created a questionnaire about the unit in Google Docs which the students filled out in computers. If you’d like to know more about Geocaching, visit our Geocaching web page which I’ll try to leave up year-round. It’s a fun activity that the family can enjoy together.
Third grade finished out the year with a discussion on cyber-bullying. After taking a short Are You a Cyber Bully quiz (completely anonymous) we discussed what to do when we feel like we’re being bullied by someone on line.
Fourth grade continued to work in MYAccess! and wrapped up their animal projects.
Posted by cfunke on May 15, 2010 in
Uncategorized 1st graders started working on their Seed Slide Show project. They all drew pictures of the 5 stages a seed goes through as it grows into a flower. Next week, we’ll put them into a Keynote presentation and record the students narrating their projects.
2nd graders took a break this week with some EM Games while we wait for them to finish up the GPS unit in PE. Unfortunately, it rained most of the week and they were only able to get outside on Monday. Those classes did a great job though, and had a lot of fun. We’re hoping to get back out again next week but the forecast isn’t looking good.
Third graders continued to study the solar system through a series of online videos and games. We should be ready for a one week unit on cyber-bullying next week.
Fourth graders continue to write in MYAccess and work on their animal reports.
Posted by cfunke on May 7, 2010 in
Uncategorized It’s going to be a busy couple of weeks as we get closer to the last day of school.
Tigercast celebrated a big week this week with a new web site, acceptance to the iTunes music store (we’re still free) and a trip to Springfield to participate in the TECH 2010 conference. We spent the afternoon in the rotunda of the capitol building with 100 other school presenting the projects we do in school to our state legislators. 3 representatives from Tigercast were present and they did a fantastic job and had a great time. We recorded a podcast live from the capitol building which can be found on our new Tigercast site.
Tigercast – http://d102.org/blogs/tigercast
First graders worked in EM Games this week. Next week, we’ll be starting a short project about seeds and the five stages of their growth. We’ll be illustrating pictures and recording an audio narration to go with them in a slide show.
Second graders began an exciting GPS/Geocaching unit this week. In computers, we learned how to use the GPS units on the small playground. I took 8 tupperware containers and put a different word in each one. Students had to use the GPS units to find 3 specific containers and report back to me with the correct words. It was a difficult lesson but the purpose was only to make them comfortable using the GPS units. Next week and the week after, they’ll be using the GPS units in PE to navigate a much larger course on the big playground and the playfield. Then they’ll come back to the computer lab to reflect on the unit through a web page designed by the PE teachers and myself.
Third grade is finishing up their Illinois brochures. Thosse who are finished are learning about the planets through a series of online videos and games.
Fourth grade continues to work on their writing either using MYAccess or getting started on their animal research projects.
Posted by cfunke on Apr 30, 2010 in
Uncategorized MAP testing is almost over and we’ve got a couple of fun projects planned out for the rest of the year and some other stuff to finish up as well. Look here next week for an update on our GPS/Geocaching unit through PE and Computers with 2nd grade and some interesting facts about the Government for 1st grade.
But the most exciting news for next week is that Tripp School is going to Springfield. Well, 4 of us are anyway. As part of the Tech 2010 conference in Springfield, IL, I will be presenting our Tigercast project with 3 of its student participants in the rotunda of the state capitol building. The conference is designed to let schools show our legislators how we use the money they give us for technology. I’ll have some pictures and reflections to post here when we get back.
If you haven’t checked out Tigercast, please do so. The students involved work very hard on it each month. Due to some scheduling issues, we got off to a late start this year but we hope to have 4 episodes up by the end of the year. We hope to have a new episode up on Monday afternoon and a special episode will be posted here on Thursday from Springfield if we can manage to squeeze it in during our short time there.
Posted by cfunke on Apr 19, 2010 in
Uncategorized Sorry for the missed update last week. I was out of school of Friday and forgot to post it before I left on Thursday.
First, Third, and Fourth grades continued working on the respective projects and activities with nothing new to report.
Second graders finished up their Light and Sound project by looking at the data for the entire second grade. They also published their individual result charts to the class wikis. If you’d like to know more about this project, click here.
In other news, it’s time for…
The labs will be closed for the next two weeks for MAP testing. Updates will resume at that time.
Posted by cfunke on Apr 10, 2010 in
Uncategorized Next week will be our last week of computers before MAP testing begins. After that, the labs will be shut down for testing for two weeks and then reopen for the rest of the year.
First graders are getting caught up on their Solids and Liquids and playing some math games in EM Games this week. Look for some new projects to start after MAP testing in a couple of weeks.
Second graders continue to analyze and graph their data from the Light and Sound project. Our last group finsihed up today. I’ll try to post the final graphs here next week.
Third graders are finishing up their Illinois brochures. We hope to have them complete next week before MAP testing begins.
Fourth graders are continuing to write in MYAccess.
Posted by cfunke on Mar 26, 2010 in
Uncategorized First graders are finishing up their Solids and Liquids project with a 6 panel comic on solids and liquds they found in the building. Each student imported 6 pictures (3 solids and 3 liquids) they took with our digital cameras into their comics and labelled them.
Second graders started evaluating the data they gathered last week when they measured light and sound around the school. They created and printed a graph of their individual data in Pages and then started inputting the data into some online forms and graphs so we could see the results for the entire second grade. I’ll post a link to the data when it’s all been collected.
Third graders are hard at work on their Illinois brochures. Look for them to finish up a couple weeks after Spring break.
Fourth graders finished up their African American History wiki projects. You can find them online in the 4th grade wikis.
Posted by cfunke on Mar 22, 2010 in
Tigercast Tigercast is back with some exciting stuff happening this year. More news on that after Spring break but for now, please enjoy our first episode of the year with school news and a 10 Questions interview with Mr. Michels and Mrs. Bhardwaj. As always, Tigercast is written, composed, recorded, and produced, entirely by Tripp School students.
You can listen to it here.
