October Journal Entry
Rush Strong School 

I used the lesson plan Charlotte's Web, The Real Story. We read chapter five and discussed the real scientific facts given by E.B. White. We went over the differences between facts and opinions. I let the children make statements. We then decided whether the statement was a fact or opinion.  Then we surfed the web finding facts about spiders. It was amazing how the children's feelings about spiders changed.  When they realized the important part they played in a food chain. 
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November Journal Entry
My class has e-mailed their keypals in Australia. They learned that  it is spring in Australia while we are experiencing fall.This help to explain why we have the different seasons of the year.They are also realizing kids are the same all over the world.

The newspaper has been a good teaching tool in English. We look for mistakes and correct them together.

I have used the Cyber Ambassadors to help my children to download pictures off the Internet.
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December  Journal Entry

I used three Cyber Ambassadors to create a PowerPoint presentation on proper and common nouns. We have enjoyed writing to our keypals in Australia.  My students have learned that kids are the same all over the world. They thought it was neat that the Australians were going on their summer vacation, while we are enjoying a very warm winter. We have taken pictures with a camera to put on a disk to send to them for Christmas. Smokey our class pet is making the rounds! He is enjoying a wide variety of activities. We also made our newspaper.
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January  Entry
   Wow! I learned to use my address book to pull our Australian  keypals addresses up quickly. My class found this much easier than the old way.  We also enjoyed e-mailing our pen pals in Middle Tennessee.
    The Cyber Ambassadors came in handy this month. I used Tyler,Hannah, Kaitlyn, and Colin Shea to do a PowerPoint presentation. We were also able to scan a picture of Mrs. Comb's new baby and give each child a copy.
   Our Australia keypals were going on summer break. Some of the children sent their home e-mail addresses.
   I received training from Mrs.Whitney on how to use the laptop computer and worked on a PowerPoint presentation at home.
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February Entry
My class ICQ the classes of Mrs. Whitney (Rush Strong) and Ms. Havely of Dandridge . We played a game using synonyms. The class really enjoyed being able to communicate with other classes.
     The Cyber Ambassadors were able to create several powerpoint presentation this month. We were able to teach Mrs. Schrader to use ICQ, so she could contact others on their grade level. They presented the powwerpoints presentations to the other fourth grade classes.
     The fifth grade has utilized the laptop this month.
     We have use the computers to improve our reading skills .The Accelerated Reading program has really boosted their interest in reading.
     The best thing we did was using the Tennessee Online Writng Lab. They enjoyed being able to see other student's writings and talking about their mistakes.  I really feel like having keypals in Australia has improved our writing skills. Also participating in the Class Pet Exchange Project will strengthen our writing skills.
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March Entry
This month the Cyber Ambassadors were able to do several PowerPoint presentations for my class. My pet exchange pal was unable to contact me because their system is down. My children learned about the rain forest using the Internet in reading. This really boosted their interest. We were unable to produce a newspaper this month because our computer was down.
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April Entry
The Cyber Ambassadors have been hard at work creating powerpoint presentations to share with other students.  They have also been teaching other students how to do presentations of their own.  They have also been involved in using the laptop in my class. My class used the Internet to research the rain forest. The Cyber Ambassadors helped with this project.

My keyboard has been out of commission, so the classroom web page project has not been started. 

My children are anxiously awaiting the return of our Australian key pals from their vacations.

My classroom scores on the TCAP writing test rose dramatically by using technology. I had three children that scored a six. This was a first for my class. So I was super pleased!

Children that have never been actively involved in reading have really become involved. I have one special education student that had no points last year that has twenty points. I have parents that told me their child had never enjoyed reading before! I think having the computer in the classroom has been my strongest motivator.  They love been able to take their test without waiting to go to the library.

 I give more time for individual reading .I have several students that have earned over 100 points this year!
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May Entry
I have incorporated technolgy in many ways this year.  My children had key pals in Australia and loved it! They found out they had a lot in common with them and that children are much the same all over the world. They developed their communication skills along with learning about the people on another continent.  I feel like this has improved our writing skills greatly. We also participated in theClass Pet Exchange Project with a class in Canada. The children took turns taking the class pet home with them and wrote about their experiences. 

I developed a lesson plan, Charlotte's Web, The Real Story.  Mrs. Combs and I worked together on this project. Through this activity we were able to integrate many subject areas.  We had the children distinguish between facts and opinions. The children learned that a fact can be proven, and an opinion can't be proven. We worked on true facts about the spider. We use our facts to prove that there is a balancing act in nature. We used this to show how a food web and food chain worked together. We also came to the conclusion that spider's have been taking a bad rap. Some of my children changed their minds about how they felt about spiders after their research on the spider. 

My class participated with two other classes in using ICQ to teach a lesson and play a game using what we had learned. This was learning experience that the children really enjoyed. They begged to do more (which is a rare thing).

The Cyber Ambassadors in our school created several PowerPoint presentations and taught the children in my class to do a simple PowerPoint presentation. They also found this to be a fun way of learning.  My children really enjoyed seeing what the Ambassadors had created and was able to share. It was interesting to see their approach to teaching their peers.

We used our web site to let the children tell all about themselves. The classroom newspaper became a form of communication between parents and myself. 

Through this staff development project I was able to take back to the classroom fresh new ideas to share with my class. I was able to enhance my teaching by having new teaching techniques, like utilizing ICQ.  The use of the laptop wes limited because one teacher really enjoyed using the laptop with her students. Therefore …we need more!

One program we use extensively is Accleerated Reader.  I think this has been the single most important tool in getting children to read. Even special education students feel good about themselves. They are reading on their individual levels. My test results have improved because of this.

Thourgh participation in the Cyber Exchange project I am able to keep abreast of what is going on in the world of technology and how to use it in the classroom.  I have benefited greatly from this experienceand was able to share with other teachers. My students were able to show the kindergarten teacher how to use e-mail and ICQ. I feel this is a building block for them. I have had parents tell me their children have enjoyed learning from a variety of techniques that have been utilized this year.  Some of the children asked and received computers for Christmas.  The experience they have gained through our use of technology will prove to be a lifelong learning skill.

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