October Journal Entry

I have been using Super Sentence Builders as a journal activity in my classroom.  I do not have my computer all set up yet, so I have been using the chalkboard to do the brainstorming and listing parts of the lesson. 

At first, it takes a while to get the students to think of words to fit under the correct grammar categories, but with prompting and examples they do fine.  The students then spent about 10 minutes coming up with their own Super Sentences.  The subject last week was "fall."  I love it when I give all students the same activity, but they each come up with very different results.  This lesson really shows their creative abilities as well as their vocabulary skills.  They finished their journal entries by illustrating the sentences that they wrote.  The result is a lot of very detailed sentences. 

I am looking forward to trying more lessons in the next month and using Cyber Ambassadors in my classroom. 
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November Journal Entry
In Oct. we were able to use the computer more.  Our theme for the month was pumpkins, so we visited several web sites for world record pumpkin growers.  We presented what we learned in a play called "A World Record Pumpkin" to grades K-3 and to PTO on Nov. 9th.  We began using the Accelerated Reader Program.
 We received 2 postcards from our internet project coordinator.  We are participating in The Traveling World Roadrunner Project.  We are to choose an historical landmark from our community and send any information, pictures, and location to our partners in New Mexico.  All landmarks will be compiled onto one web site.  It should be a great way to study the geography and history of the U.S.
 My class made 2 newspapers this month.  On the first one, we included articles of current events that we got from the Internet.  The second  issue was more about the highlights  from our class activities.
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December Journal Entry
Our class has had a variety of experiences this month with the computer.  We have been visiting several web sites for the holidays.  We are mainly working on how to navigate sites. 
I used a vocabulary building activity that I got from a web site last month.  It was a lesson plan for 1st -3rd  grades.  I modified it slightly to fit with our Reading story, " How My Parents Learned to Eat."   We did webbing and diagramming to compare and contrast the two main characters of the story.  The students had to come up with more descriptive words to describe the characters.  I got the lesson idea from:  http://ofcn.org/cyber.serv/academy/ace/lang/ceclang/ceclang013.html
Our newspaper, Classroom Comments, this month focuses on our school activities and our reading goals and theme for the month.  We are using Accelerated Reader books in our theme of "Reading Stars."  I did have some difficulty in getting it to print and save so that I could read it from another computer. 
My class really responded well to keyboarding.  I introduced "Mavis-Beacon" typing to them.  They have already learned the home row keys and the proper fingers to use in typing.  This is really going to speed up our use of the computer.  I am looking forward to using a cyber ambassador to help students with these new programs that I have introduced now that our class has become a little for familiar with using the computer.
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January Entry
This month I was able create an email file for our Internet project.  This is very useful in keeping up with new web sites and any information from our contact person for our project.  I am planning to use the digital camera to get some pictures of our community to send in for our project.
I was also able to make a bookmark of the Weather Channel web site and use it to integrate a Math and Social Studies lesson.  We typed in capital cities as the students found them on their maps and got the current temperatures in the cities.  We then charted and graphed the information from the web site. 

February Entry
My class had the opportunity to communicate with two classes from Rush Strong using ICQ.  We worked with Mrs. Greenlee's and Mrs. Whitney's classes on synonyms.  We played a game where one class would enter a word and the other two would type in the synonym.  The class that got the word first would then enter the next word.  My class really enjoyed the challenge.
This month I did not use a Cyber Ambassador, however I have planned for one of them to come and do a PowerPoint presentation with them this month.
Our Internet project is supposed to be finished by the end of March.  I am planning to use the digital camera to send pictures of our historical landmark to go on a web site.  We will also use another web site to locate the latitude and longitude of our site. 
Our class has improved their graph reading skills by continuing to use the Internet to graph weather information.
Our newspaper this month has been like a newsletter to report on class projects and upcoming units of study.  It also includes digital pictures of our class spelling bee winners.
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March Entry
This month I was not able to download any PowerPoint presentations.  I think I just missed a step somewhere.  I will try again next week. 
Our Cyber Ambassadors were able to come and help our class in the editing and typing of our class newspaper this month.  Students chose a section of the newspaper to report.  Then they worked with their group to come up with the story and write it.  Then the Cyber Ambassador met with them at the computer to put their article on the newspaper.  All the students enjoyed getting to write about a particular section of the newspaper.  We had feature stories, sports, and movie reviews, etc.    I think we will try this again next month. 
We are almost finished with our Internet project.  I used the digital camera to take pictures of historical sites in Dandridge.  These will be sent along with important historical facts about Dandridge to our Internet project partner in New Mexico.  She will then put the information on an Historical Landmarks Web page from all over the country. 
I believe that student achievement in Reading has increased because the interest level has increased.  The students are more interested in doing research on the Internet on topics that come up in our class on skills or related topics.  For example, we researched different types of cloth when we were reading a paragraph for main idea and details.  They were amazed to learn the silk is produced from silkworms. 
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April Entry
This month we have not had any Cyber Ambassadors in our classroom because we are preparing for our Terra Nova. 
We are really excited about our class web page.  I have a parent who has volunteered to come and help the students with getting their stories put on the page.  We are working on the stories in class and should have them on our web page soon. 
My class really enjoyed being the reporters for our last newspaper.  They work with partners or "news teams" to write their stories to submit to the paper. 
Our Internet project is complete.  I ended up working with another teacher to get more information about our Historical Landmarks to send to the project coordinator.  All of the information is now on one web site for Historical Landmarks around the U.S.
Overall this project has changed the way I teach and has affected the children.  In fact, the students are usually the ones who suggest times and ways that we can use the computer.  I am changing the way that I schedule class time for teaching skills and using the computer.
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May Entry
Compared to the 1997-98 school year, I have increased the use of technology tremendously this year.  Because of participating in this project, my class has had access to more computers and software than last year.  I have integrated the Internet and web sites into almost all subject areas, especially Reading and Math. I like the instant information that I am able to provide for my class when relating to the curriculum.  I have changed the way I teach Math and Reading.  For Math, we visit the weather channel site every day to get our city's current temperature and weather.   For Reading, I now do centers almost every week.  The students rotate each day so that they all have a chance to use the computer.  During that time they can explore web sites, work with specific software, or work on keyboarding skills.  We have also use the network "Accelerated Reader" program to help encourage students to read more.

I have used online lesson plans mostly to help with writing skills.  Our class uses the computer to write correct sentences and stories. If I had to pick the things I have enjoyed the most, it would be email and ICQ.  I used email most while working on our Internet World Roadrunner Project.  I have used ICQ almost daily since learning how to use it.  My class is now communicating with "key pals" using ICQ with a 4th grade class in another school in our county.  We also were able to chat with a geological engineer when we were studying rocks and minerals.  My students were able to ask him questions about his career and recent work in the field.  This helped to spawn more interest in different types of careers.  We have used Word to create a few class newspapers and to write stories.  I have one parent who has volunteered to come and help upload our class stories to our web site when they are ready.  For one newspaper, the students worked as the reporters.  They wrote small articles for the paper with a partner.  For the rest of our newspapers, I would type them as the students would suggest what to write. I also had the Cyber Ambassadors assist with our newspaper.  

The monthly training sessions were a big help to actually put into use the technology that we have.  It saved a lot of time by learning how to use the software than having to try to figure it out on your own.  I also always went back to my class feeling a little more comfortable and confident in using the computer.  I did not really have a need to use the laptop.  I always stay after school when I need to use the computer in my classroom.  The knowledge that I have gained as an educator and the access to technology given to more students has been the most beneficial aspect of this project.  I have been able to answer questions or troubleshoot some problems that other teachers in my grade level have had.  I have been able to share information for our Internet project with another teacher.  

Technology has increased my student's interest levels in participating in Reading centers.  You have to read to use the computer.  Therefore, I feel that students are increasing their reading levels without even realizing they are working.  

I would like to continue the monthly training sessions.  I would like to add training in integrating technology in all subject areas of the curriculum.  
*I would like to learn how to do a better job of producing our class newspapers.

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