Thursday 3/10/05 Reported & Photographed by Ann

Class Log

Class began with a review of last week’s class. Most of which was unfamiliar to this roving reporter due to the fact she had to leave early last week for a family event. This roving reporter regrets the fact she had to leave early as she realized from listening to the rest of the students how much she missed. You cannot be gone, this reporter has decided. Listening to OneBigHead Podcast by Jim Moore made us more aware of the necessity of educating people in the use of technology. Many points were made by Jim Moore were discussed by students: “The mere presence of technology does not bring change...” “Curriculum has to change first....” “You have to have everyone on board before it works....” “It is monetarily more feasible to buy handhelds than laptops for a school....” Our esteemed professor, Tony, then showed us many podcasting links on his web site: learninginhand.com, and encouraged us to listen to many of the podcasts. He also explained how to load an MP3 file on to a handheld. The MP3 file must be loaded on an SD card which is then inserted into the handheld. His suggestion is that teachers can load these files on cards, give students the handhelds complete with headphones and students can listen to lessons or information necessary for their education. We were then lucky enough to listen to the fifth grade Super Students Space Mission webcast on Radio WillowWeb. This included eight fifth graders from Willowdale who put together information and fun facts about the Planets. We thank Alex - host, Maggie - poetry, Jessica - riddle, Nicola - Information on Pluto, Erica - Did you Know?, Ben - Bad joke, Good Joke, Andrew - Vocabulary Theater, Drew - Wonderful Website: www.nasakids.com for their wonderful information and webcast abilities. Tony also shared a notebook with us that he uses with his students to help them write their segments. Teachers also use these notebooks to help the students with their Willowcast assignments. One piece of information that Tony gave us is that podcasting is not good unless there is great content for students and that content is aligned with the curriculum. We were then given a quick explanation of how to use GarageBand with podcasting. Tony pointed out that the music on this podcast was written by Alex during a special computer club before school. Giving students this opportunity to create music and use it on a podcast is excellent. Tony suggested that all music created be kept on hand at the school to be used with other activities where the students need original music that is not copyrighted - excellent idea. Sketchy sharing was the next item on the agenda. It was pointed out to us that this Sketchy program was far more stable than any other versions. However, it was found that there were some frustrations with the program. The animations that were shared were awesome. It was obvious that the students in this class enjoyed the assignment, and very obvious to this roving reporter that she really missed a lot last week. Dinner was next and we thank Rick for the sloppy joes or barbecue sandwiches and chips. The dessert was an excellent ending to the meal and conversation around the table. Rick assures us that is was low calorie and low sugar. The remainder of class was spent discussing lesson plans that have been developed for past classes. Sample lesson plans can be seen on learninginhand.com. One example of a lesson plan is Exploring Roman Numerals. Tony gave a demonstration on how the lesson should be taught. He also passed out the worksheets that were needed for the lesson and beamed to us the Numerus application, needed to complete the lesson. We were also beamed the Roman Numeral eBook that allows students to check answers to the lessons. Tony then treated us a fifth graders and demonstrated the lesson Getting Silly with the Parts of Speech. The application for this lesson came into being because of a wish list of applications that Tony had listed on his web site. Tyson Stephen, from Canada, saw the list and sent a possible application, he had designed, to Tony and his students. The fifth graders played with the application and then sent their suggestions back to Tyson. After a series of trials, the application was completed and offered as free ware on the Internet. Getting Silly With the Parts of Speech would be a great lesson to use with students who have a basic understanding of the Parts of Speech. Tony warned us that we would all be giggling by the time we were done with the activity. And, yes, we were. After working with both these lessons, it became even more clear to me how effective handhelds would be in elementary classrooms. They would work so well with those students who normally do not like paper and pencil assignments. What an incentive for students to do their work! Tony also took the time to go over the rubric that he will use to grade our own original lesson plans that are due April 21. There are many parts to the plan but it is very self explanatory: Each category will be rated differently. The lesson plan will take lots of thinking. There are to be no duplications from previous classes. It cannot be boring. The components that need to be included are: Title Author Activity Summary Content Grade Level Required handheld software Other technology or materials needed - Important Goals of lesson Procedures to use Handouts must be original When handing in/emailing lesson plans to Tony, do not use any advanced formatting - use the notes on blue handout to follow formatting. Quizzler was moved to the next class because of lack of time. Class ended with Tony beaming an application to us: Hexplode, a strategy game that you can either play against the handheld or play with two people against each other. The object is to make every space on the screen your own color while obliterating your opponent. Tony pointed out that he prefers to play against himself or against another person. He also said that you might win more often if you play on the harder level. Back