Literacy ~ Room 208

This project has truly been a work in progress… every student is required to bring their final project to an A quality.  Our wikipages have been revised and edited multiple times… all on the way to learning

My hope is that all of my students will feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of this project~ one that they will look back at with pride.  I know for a fact that I am learning as we go.Our WikiSpaces page 

Our newest project requires a high use of our new computers in the classroom. Students are currently researching their own subtopics under, “You Are What You Eat.”   Every group (or individual) will be responsible for creating a culminating piece: a newsletter, a voicethread, a wiki page, or a podcast.  

The article, “What educators can learn from brain research” by Meris Stansbury, realizes the importance of emotions in the learning process of the brain.  Our class activities are designed to tap into students’ comfort and interest levels~ in order to activate their highest reading and learning potential.  A focus on the DOK level activities of 3 and 4 is the priority of this project.  Students are readying for themselves for the work that will be required from them next year in high school.   Please feel free to read this article, http://www.ecampusnews.com/2009/07/21/what-educators-can-learn-from-brain-research/

Students have chosen a wide diversity of topics of study~ this project promises to be an adventure!

Student motivation is still high… The addition of new technology to the classroom environment has everyone psyched (including me)

Student feedback:

I like the new computers alot because they are cool and interesting. – Brett G.

I love the new computers because they are exactly the same as mine at home and their smaller and just looks better. – Soap. A.

I love this new computers! The keybords they are awesome and I can type faster and better on them.-John F.

The new computers are good because there are more of them so we dont have to share the computer.  Also they are good because they are faster then the other ones- Patrick O. 

The computers are cool. They are different from last years. They blink a lot though but it’s ok. They will come back.-Maile T

I like the new computers. They are very cool and very diffrent from last year and they do blink out alot. When they blink out you have to wait for a while for them to come back.-Halie C

I like the new computers. They are awsome and they are wicked diffrent then last years computers.they do blink out some times.You only have to wait a little while for them to come back on.-Alexis B

Well, its not conclusive evidence, but looking at the numbers ~there seems to be a huge increase in department night participation.   A usual  night involves about 10% of my students staying after for additional time and/or help.

I stayed two nights this week… Both Tuesday and Wednesday… and both nights I had 32% participation.  Now several factors come into play… I handed out progress reports on Monday with any missing/incomplete assignments highlighted to every student.  I also typed out the nights that I would be after on everyone’s report.  I am positive that this added to the incentive to stay after to complete work:)

Upgrading to NComputing provided our classes with the opportunity to incorporate more technology into our learning every day…

So now, rather than have two computers that have complete access to word processing programs and the Internet, we have six monitors running off of one computer.

The benefits to this:

• More students are able to type papers or research at one time
• Updated technology gives us quicker upload & download processing time
• We are going green! One computer saves electricity!

Initial feedback has been positive.  Computers are clean and modern looking… students are excited about working with them

Day two has come and gone… Tired, but content. Sharing and learning are both phenomenal~ but nothing beats meeting a challenge!