-tictech message:
Tony, thanks for sharing info about your wonderful successes. I wish I had
something similar to share, but we're nowhere close to moving ahead as a
building the way Hale is.
On a much smaller scale, I'll share a little about the way my class of third
graders is embracing technology. They do most of their writing on computers
(I have 14 in my classroom), and they are extremely comfortable at the
computer. We've dabbled in Excel for charting. They use the internet to
complete weekly web assignments, and they work on cooperative research
projects using Word and the Internet.
I've not introduced PowerPoint until recently. This is a tool they are just
taking off with! They wrote 4-5 slide direction presentations (like "How to
Make a Smoothie") with a partner, composed individual slides as part of a
goodbye card/slideshow for our student teacher (complete with pictures of
themselves taken by their classmates). The latest adventure is to develop a
slideshow with a partner describing our recent field trip to the Science
Center. They passed the Mavica around during the trip, so they have lots of
pictures to choose from as they prepare their presentations for the school.
Right now they are making decisions about what is important to describe, how
best to say it, how to illustrate it, how to make their point effectively,
etc.
It's been very fast and easy to save their work to our LAN and make it
available to the whole school - talk about a motivator!
These 8 and 9 year olds continue to amaze me with their ease in the medium
and their quick grasp of new tools. I wish it was happening school-wide, but
I'm happy to be pushing the envelope with just this small group. I know
they will grow up having a head start. It's not just that they know how to
use PowerPoint or how to use a digital camera... What they know how to do
is to master new technologies. They have confidence, they are curious, and
they are proud. They will do well. - Mark
Mark Ahlness
mahlness@halcyon.com
The Earth Day Groceries Project
http://www.earthdaybags.org
Arbor Heights Elementary School
http://www.halcyon.com/arborhts
-end tictech message. To join, leave, or visit
the message archive, go to tictech on the Web:
http://www.earthdaybags.org/tictech/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed May 15 2002 - 10:50:16 PDT