Week of April 21, 2008

This week our 5th grade one-to-one computing classroom worked on creating math posters in Excel. The students learned how to setup their worksheet to be able to print 4 sheets for their poster. The chose a math topic they had learned during the year, created a title in Word Art and inserted a text box describing their topic. They also inserted graphics either from the web or something they had created using the drawing toolbar. We were even able to print them on a color printer which made the activity even more exciting!

I worked with another second grade classroom this week on our butterfly project for science. I inroduced them to using the laptops and their safety and good keyboarding skills. The students them created double bubble maps comparing and contrasting butterflies and moths. This group got to do something a little different. After we talked about the parts of a butterfly, they completed Excel labeling worksheets.

On Friday of this week we had a professional development day. It gave me a chance to work with some teachers on ideas and lessons for the classrooms. I also talked with the 6th grade math teacher. We had some interactions during the year but I did not have the chance to work with him on technology integration. He shared that he had tried some integration the previous year but had some hesitations. He would really like to try again next year.