November Entry
In the assignment on problem solving, my sixth grade enrichment class really did a great job in writing their own problems.  We did this assignment in conjection with the chapter on problem solving.  Each student created two word problems that used the order of operations to find the solutions. After the students finished with their first copy, we read aloud the problems and had an open discussion.  This discussion help my students look for and understand how misleading material is used in story problems. After this, the students were placed in groups of four and began to type their problems using Microsoft Word. This was a little slow because we could only use the teacher’s coping machine to produce our hard copies, but we finished it in three days. To finish this assignment, each student read his/her own problem while the rest of the class tried to be the first one to correctly solve the problem.  To finish up, I had each student write a short summary of how well he/she like this assignment. 

December Entry
    Due to the fact that Maury is not online, I have not made as much progress as I would like to have made. Still, I have printed off the problems in Brain Teasers and brought them into school for my students to solve. This has worked to a certain level, but I can see that my students only see this as more work with little rewards. I tried to use the software you sent over but the files kept saying that there was no data. 
    The part my students have liked about the classroom web page  is the fact that they can go to my web-page and see that there is help for them. They also like to use the county web page to find puzzles and games. December’s Tech Update page was great, but we could use a few math puzzles. 

January  Entry
The sixth grade students at Maury Middle School have been working on their Brain Teasers project. They have been writing math word problems that we hope to have linked to our school grade level page soon. We are still without the Internet due to the building program, but the students enjoy the weekly challenge that Brain Teasers gives them. I am now downloading the site question for the week and bringing it in for the class to view on our classroom computer. 

I've also created an interactive PowerPoint presentation to use in instruction. 

February Entry
   This past month, I worked on updates and revisions for my TLG 2000.  I am still waiting for my evaluator to approve these before I can go to the next step.  Still, I enjoyed using many of the lesson plans that I have been able to find on the Internet. 
    My students are making great progress with their PowerPoint presentations. While we are still not connected to the net, the students are taking their presentations home and adding sound, and animations. I was surprised at how many of the sixth grade students were eager to take out time from their nightly routines to make review power points for their classmates to use. These are going to be posted on my school web page for any student to use to help review chapter concepts and study for test. This has been a truly rewarding experience for my students and me.  I have also found the great Math Goodies site that has a PowerPoint word search puzzle that my students enjoyed solving. 
     I used the laptop computer this past month while I was being evaluated. While I was using the teacher’s stations to introduce the lesson on improper fractions, my evaluator used the Laptop to view the same presentation. I also was able to turn in my lesson plan on a disk for her to evaluate as well as a hard copy.  She loved it and so did I! 

March Entry
     The sixth grade students are still working on our Brain Teaser problems.  While we are still not connected, my students are working at home to view the page and work problems. 
     I used my PowerPoint program to teach Multiplies and factors. Many of the students have made their own presentations and we use these to do our daily reviews. This is still in the process of being linked to my school web page. 
    In using the Internet resources, I have printed out and used three lesson plans on probability. These lessons can be found at  http://www.mathgoodies.com/lessons/vo16/intro_probability.html. 
     My first TLG was finally approved. I have started on two more but when I went to do my track, I could only get the first track to save. I spent numerous hours working on this and hope soon this problem will be fixed. 

April Entry
TLG Experiences :  The tlg’s were a great way for teachers to earn money to use for technology materials in the classroom.  However, the problems of not being able to log on and update my grants or find the tracks and rubrics made this a very difficult project to complete.  This was a project that many teachers just did not have the time to finish at school and few had the extra time to work on this at home.  I enjoyed how Martha replied 
promptly to all of my submissions. She was very helpful in helping me complete this project. 

Internet resources:  The Internet resources I found were very useful. My students really enjoyed doing the lessons and many continued to use the practice sites on their own at home.  I have book marked most of the sites and plan on using them next year. I plan on using these in the math lab I will be getting next year.  This will be a great way to help to expand on the textbook and improve students’ basic skills.  I look forward to next year and putting this new resource to use 

Integration of Technology:  Over the last month, I have setup a new E-mail site for my students to use to contact me after school and on the weekend. Many of my students use this to get help over what we covered in class. Some students are using this to get the assignments they will miss if they are out of school. Parents are now beginning to contact me to get extra practice sites for their children. 

May Entry
  In using the Internet this year, my students have not had a direct school connection to the Internet because our school is undergoing a major remodel. Nevertheless the knowledge I gained by being involved in the 1999-2000 Jefferson County Cyber Exchange Program will help my students next year because we are going to have a math lab. In this lab, the web pages I have found and brought in for the students to use at home can be used in the classroom. One of the most beneficial projects I did through the Cyber Exchange was learning how to design power point predations. I have used this to help my students learn how to design their own presantations.  Many students now help me design a lesson’s objective for me to have to use with students that need reteaching. These are used by my students in their study hall time and can be signed out to use at home as a study aid when preparing for test. Next year, I plan to use this growing PowerPoint Library as a method for students to keep up with their assignments when they know ahead of time that they are going to miss school. My students also participated in the Brain Teaser project by my printing off each week’s question and then having the students work in small groups of four to come up with the solution. Even though we could not do this directly online in the classroom, my students really did a great job.  In using the web site lessons, I have been able to help my students enjoy math as a life skill. I enjoyed watching my students work thorough using math in shopping activities and cooking activities that I found on the lesson sites on the web. I plan to use these sites in class next year.

   I used the lesson plans that I found on the web to help enhance the 6th grade math curriculum by downloading lessons on diskettes and bringing them into the classroom. Many of the lesson sites were so complete that I left them for my substitute to use when I was out for a day. This is a wonderful way to keep the curriculum moving without having any downtime.  I also listed the site address on the board for my students to copy and use at home. Many students enjoyed helping find sites that had online drill and practice that helped them understand their math assignment.

 I used ICQ in 1998 to communicate with the seventh grade math teacher and class. I had my students to create story problems and then challenge the upper grades to solve them in a set time frame.  I also have a separate email account for my home computer that my students and parents use to communicate with me after school and on the weekend. Many students forget their assignments or just need a little extra help with their assignments and this has been the greatest tool to use to meet this need.  I have found that some of my shy or lower ability students were the ones that have used this the most. Often I have been able to send them a list of web sites were they could get extra help and even have a little fun. So many to the teachers sites have links to math games that help keep a students attention.  I have even received request from parents for help in looking for sites to use with their child. This has opened a new door of communication for me with the community. 

One of the most beneficial projects I did through the Cyber Exchange was learning how to design PowerPoint presentations. I have used this to help my students learn how to design their own presentations. Many students now write and design Interactive PowerPoint lessons to use with students that need reteaching over certain objectives. These can be used by my students during their study hall. Students also sign these out to use at home as a study aids.  Next year, I plan to use this growing PowerPoint Library as a method for students to keep up with their assignments when they know ahead of time that they are going to be out of school for an extended period of time.  The most popular of these PowerPoint’s were the interactive Power Points. I am currently trying to add these to my math website. The students use word to create written reports and graphs and charts needed for special projects that we do throughout the year.

My students are utilizing our school classroom web site to find interactive links to math games and PowerPoint’s.  The students also use our school web site to keep up the current events of the school.
   
The benefits of these monthly training sessions are numerous. I have benefited by learning how to find web lesson plans more efficiently. It was wonderful to learn how to design and put in place a working web site that my students could find and use. I truly enjoyed the sessions on interactive PowerPoint’s and Word.  I have used this to help my students learn how to design their own presentations many students now write and design Interactive PowerPoint lesson objectives to use with students that need reteaching over certain objectives.

Many of my students have never had any keyboarding practice. This technology has helped improve these skills as well as the students’ ability to put the Internet to use with helping them increase their understanding of math.

I have been able to share with my peers how to find web sites that they could use to enhance their curriculum. I have also been able to ICQ with other teachers in my county whenever I had a problem. Many times the ability to have online communications with other teachers has helped save me time by being able to get feedback about problems I was having designing PowerPoint’s, websites, or online lessons.

I would enjoy having more training on how to write grants and how to create simple math lessons that include some type of math game to put on my web page for students and parents to use.