November Entry
 After reading through the science experiments from the high school class there was really not one that this particular group of students could realistically attempt.  Possibly, by Spring they will be ready to attempt one! 
 Although my students’ Science teacher is not teaching Classification at this time we tried the lesson plan on Classification as preparation for a writing lesson on nature and observing our environment.  Most were able to follow along and successfully make the distinctions between living and nonliving things. Several children had difficulty with mold as living, and unfortunately one child had trouble separating T.V. as nonliving and the actors/actresses as living. Their observations in their writing assignment showed more of an awareness of organisms than previous years’ students showed.  I think the lesson plan helped them open their minds to more things. 
 The students were very excited about using the computer as part of their lessons and as I am able to make lessons/activities more appropriate to their level it will be great! 
This particular group of children can be difficult to motivate and focus and technology does get their attention! 

December Entry
My class has begun their project: Books Without Boundaries. This organization provides under developed countries with educational materials in several different ways.  One way and the option we have chosen is for students to write books for students.  The books are then sent to a country that is registered with Books Without Boundaries.  Since my students are doing other projects with students in Brazil we decided to write our books for Brazilian children. Brazil was not registered with the organization so we are going through the process of doing this.  The students are collecting their data on weather around the world.  They will then write a book about weather from their selected country.  We will publish our books with a Spanish translation since the books will be going to Brazil.  Once the English versions of the books have been written, we will select software that will allow us to do a facing page translation.  The children are very excited about this project. One of the goals TES has for their School Improvement Plan is to encourage global awareness, cultural diversity, and increase cross grade –level interaction, therefore the entire school has decided to take part in this project in order to work towards this goal. 

January  Entry
Pwr. Pt. Success/failure  project  laptop 
 I feel like I used to in Math classes-I begin to catch on to the Math class I took 1-2 semesters earlier, 1-2 Math classes later.  Consequently, I feel way behind all the time.  This month I have been able to use 4 different PowerPoint presentations in class, to the students’ delight and encouragement!  Two of the presentations I did as whole class activities relating to our Social Studies chapters, one was an English/research presentation, and the final one was a computer center activity the children did themselves, also on Social Studies. 
The Social Studies presentations were both introductions to a new chapter and the children seemed to enjoy the “previews.”  The animations and sounds allowed a humorous tone the children like.  I also felt it helped underscore the work we are doing on good study habits-preview, question, analyze headings and vocabulary, etc.  And it was relatively painless!  Both presentations included a worksheet to go with the presentation that required stopping and doing something every 2-3 slides.  The children enjoyed the presentation they did independently and they seem quite involved in their learning. 
 I have not done any work on my project this month.  It involves schools in Brazil and they are just returning from break. 
 I use my laptop as my teacher station, so all my PowerPoints, worksheets, and lesson plans are done on it.  The children do not use this laptop. 
 

February Entry
 This month has been productive as far as incorporating technology into my classroom!  One class, working in pairs, has been able to make some wonderful PowerPoint presentations to enliven their Social Studies. The children have also appreciated  PowerPoint presentations I have been able to include that accompany worksheets they have to complete for Reading and Social Studies utilizing pre-reading and predicting activities. 
 Several times this month an opportunity came up where several students were able to go to the computer, get on the Internet and clarify something for us. The children are still talking about one of the incidents—we had read about something in our Social Studies textbook and were later reading about the same topic in a newspaper; the two accounts were quite different!  Three students were able to research it, ended up finding/going to original sources (diary entries) for several historical individuals.  The whole class really enjoyed the whole mystery/debate and would probably not have ever been willing to read an original document if we had not been able to use the Internet. 
 It has been frustrating working on the grant unit!  I received a response right away, however, there were several problems for the reviewer.  The unit required the use of the Acrobat Reader which she felt was a deterrent, the unit from the University of Kansas was loaded for whatever reasons from front to back and she did not scroll far enough to find my unit, and finally when I attempted to attach the link for downloading the free Acrobat Reader program I was unable to get into to my application and edit it.  These frustrations on top of a very temperamental server and a snow week have made progress on the grant very slow. 
March Entry

I have submitted everything I can up to the Reflection on my TLG.  The lesson has been taught, so I am in a holding pattern. 

We have worked on our books in class for our Internet Project, but again I am waiting to hear from our contact in Brazil and John Halse with Books-Without-Boundaries.  Hopefully, our contact is getting all set up with the program and the  whole school will be able to get going. I was able to talk with our Brazilian contact and out of this project we are probably going to be able to continue with other projects next year!  The students have been very excited about writing these books and have gotten very curious about the children who will receive them. 
We have also added a new morning routine in our class.  The students go on the Internet and find a children’s news site , select an article to read and answer the 5 W’s.  They then write a quick paragraph summing up the article and present it to the class after lunch. 

Power Point presentations have become part of life in our class.  They have allowed us to showcase knowledge effectively and in a fun format.  Students have come up with very creative ways to involve their audience in the Power Point presentations.  For whatever reason, if I want to really emphasize a topic or skill, all I have to do is put it in a Power Point, animate it, and the kids eat it up! 

April Entry
 The TLG experience was a nightmare I’d just as soon forget and will never repeat.  Initially, my evaluator liked everything, but would then change her mind.  I was sent revisions to make on a grant that was on multiplication, my grant was related to Social Studies.  More than once, submissions were lost and had to be resent, including as a Web page.  My final submission was not received after I submitted it countless times, therefore I did not get approved.  Where it went, I have no idea.  The frustration dealing with just getting in and out to work on it for someone who is NOT comfortable or confident with computers was bad enough.  There was too much time and effort put in on this to lose out because the evaluator is incompetent.  Many of the hours spent at the monthly Cyber Teachers course were spent on this grant, therefore I feel it was a double loss…the time at Cyber Teachers could have been spent on other skills I want to use in my classroom. 
 We have been able to integrate technology into our classroom in several areas.  We now use a couple kids’ news sights (from students’ corner/Jefferson County home page) for current events on a regular basis, as well as go weekly to an environmental issues and animal site.  We use the Time for Kids site for environmental issues and Kind News for animal around the world news. 
 The children have been excited and a great help in learning to use ICQ!  They have enjoyed the review lessons that have been put up as Power Points.  Overall, this year has been great for getting over the hurdle of feeling sheer terror when it comes to computers, it’s now more extreme nervousness!  Technology is part of our classroom that is very positive.  Through the project, I have met a teacher who will be doing more activities with us next year! 

May Entry
This year my class has used the Internet on a routine basis to do research on all major topics, to follow a couple of online currents events/projects, and to communicate with other students.  I am very pleased with the students’ responses to using the Internet to further their knowledge on any given subject.  We have followed 2 science/weather projects for half of the year and I have been able to incorporate all the subjects I teach into these news/science stories.  The children have had the opportunity to experience scientific exploration in a way that would never have happened through traditional book learning.
I have personally become aware of available resources on the Internet that I had no idea was out there, much less how to get to it.  While I have grown in confidence and enthusiasm for integrating the Internet in my classroom, I still feel frustrated and frequently spend hours searching for something specific and get nowhere. However, the opportunity to participate in this project has changed the way I approach planning for a unit of study.  It is no longer enough for myself or my students to explore books beyond our texts…a unit of study is not complete without researching on the Internet and exchanging, discussing, and comparing this information with others. 
Last year I used the Internet on occasion as a special treat…this year it is not a treat, it is an essential tool.

As part of TLG 2000 grant, we used online lesson plans to teach a unit on Immigration.  The children loved it.  I was somewhat apprehensive at first because using someone else’s lesson plans felt like cheating.  However, it was very successful and I hope to utilize this resource more next year.  Just knowing that these things exist and I can get to and explore them has been exciting to me.   There is no doubt that incorporating the creativity of other teachers is beneficial to the children and a timesaver to a teacher. 

The use of email has become a fact of life for me this year as a result of participation in this project.  I have become very excited about the use of video conferencing and plan to incorporate this into my curriculum next year.  Hopefully, I will be able to become proficient enough to use video conferencing and ICQ to exchange ideas and student work with at least one or two classrooms globally next year. 
We have been able to take part in one international video conference this year already and have plans to do so again. Video conferencing, ICQ, and email has opened the students’ eyes, hearts, and minds by allowing them to not only be exposed to the whole world, but to actually interact and communicate with the whole world.  Their world view and understanding of their role as a global citizens has been positively impacted for life.

We use Word frequently to produce research reports.   The class has written some poetry as well as a study skills book, which we are in the process of putting into Word documents. Students also summarize current events and maintain journal entries related to the Scholastic News projects we are following.  
The students and I both use Power Point Presentations.  The students have put the highlights of several Social Studies chapters into PPT presentations.  They also enjoy putting their research efforts into PPT presentations.  I have used PPT presentations to introduce material as well as a way for catching up students who have been absent.  I have made several PPT presentations that the students have used on their own time to review for upcoming tests in Social Studies and Spelling.

Next year, I would like to be able to have the children maintain a classroom website that would showcase their work as well as allow their parents to see what they are doing in school.

I have is no doubt that participation in this project has been of tremendous value to me as a teacher.  It has shown me a whole other world to share with my students and given me the skills to do it. I had not used the computer for anything more than a glorified typewriter ; through these training sessions technology has become a necessary learning tool for my students and I.

Use of a laptop has really spoiled me!  It’s hard to imagine life without it now.  I use it at home to create my PPT presentations, write lesson plans, and keep notes on everything from teachers’ meetings to student behavior.

Technology has really helped make many of my students more independent learners.  They have become very competent in their use of computers and this has helped them be more inquisitive.  They are willing to do review and skill activities on the computer they did not do willingly before.  I think that incorporating technology has strengthened my curriculum.  Much of the time that I had to spend on review or skill drill is now taken care of by the use of computers.   

One of the greatest benefits of the Cyber Exchange Project has certainly been the exposure to all the resources that are available through the Internet and the unlimited ways to use technology with students.  Hearing what other teachers have been able to do has been helpful.  However, the most beneficial aspect has been having my eyes opened to how much more of their world my students can have access to through the use of technology.  Technology is most definitely a powerful educational tool.  It is not just fun and games anymore, it can be the tool which makes the entire world a child’s classroom.  As a result of this project, our school has taken part in an international book writing project that is ongoing.  The teachers at my school are far more knowledgeable about computers and the use of  technology than I am.  I have been fortunate to have their support and assistance through this learning process.     

I think this project is a wonderful opportunity for teachers.  It is most definitely needed.  
 However, there is such a wide variety of experience and expertise in the use of technology within the class that I think it would have been helpful and more productive to group teachers according to their current level of ability.  I know that for a beginner like me it was initially a challenge just getting into and out of different places without becoming hopelessly lost. 
I also feel that the amount of time spent on the TLG 2000 was time that would have been better spent on basic computer skills.  I realize that all teachers and school systems are always in need of funds, however because I am still a beginner with computers, there are a lot of resources already available and installed on my classroom computers that I am still nowhere near fully utilizing.  I would have much preferred spending the time learning to use what is already available.  The grants are wonderful opportunities that I hope to take advantage of in the future, but the whole process was overwhelming to me at this point.