November Journal Entry

     My class discussed several possible Internet projects and finally decided on the Kids to Kids International Picture Book project because it would be helping others.  We contacted Kids to Kids International via email and received a reply asking us to send in more information through the regular mail and to register at the School World site.  We are now in the process of doing that.  The class was so excited about making the books that they did not want to wait for instructions from Kids to Kids so we have made a practice book which may or may not be used for the project. 
We decided to include a word and a simple sentence with each picture.  Since fourth grade changes classes and I teach English, we will be producing several different books.  The classes voted to make books on colors, numbers and the English alphabet.  They have already produced rough drafts of the individual pages. 
     When we discussed a name for the class newspaper, the majority wanted Fourth Grade Facts & Fantasy.  I hope there are more facts than fantasy in it!  I have three English classes so each class brainstormed and selected one topic.  First period chose to write about a project the fourth grade did to raise money for a new track.  One of the students is an excellent typist and typed as the class dictated and I wrote on the chalkboard. 
 Third period class decided to write about the annual Halloween contest held at our school.  Two students did the typing as the class dictated and I wrote on the board.  They were both proficient enough to work without help.  We did spell and grammar checks on each article to correct errors. 
 Second period class chose an article from the Internet about Hurricane Mitch.  They read the selection, downloaded a picture and wrote a report in their own words.  Since no one in this class was proficient in typing, I asked a Cyber Ambassador to come in to help.  She supervised the typing.  All the students enjoyed making and reading the newspaper. 
TOP

December Journal Entry
 All three of my fourth grade English classes worked on a lesson plan called "Stories That Grow on Trees." located at CEC Lesson Plans.   This was precipitated by an interest in the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books.  Prior beginning this lesson, I encouraged the students to research authors of these books.  We used several search engines, but found nothing on the authors except titles of books, probably because many of the names are pseudonyms. 
 After reading one or more books and much discussion of characters and plot, each class was divided into groups of two to develop the characters, setting, plots, subplots, and solutions.  Each class decided on the theme for the book and two students typed it as dictated by class members. During the first writing session, students wrote the first draft of their section.  The next class period was spent revising, proofreading, and rewriting.  During the third session, we put each section up on a storyboard and discussed the questions we could use to tie each section together. Cyber Exchange student, Brett then helped several class members find appropriate clip art and import it.  We used the program, Printmaster Gold.  (This helped familiarize students with a program that they will be using later in the computer lab.)  I then made several copies of each class's book and bound them to share with others.  The students said this was a great activity and well worth doing again. 
 My class chose the Kids to Kids International as their Internet project because it was a project that would be helpful to others.  We made the picture books as described at the web site and students even brought in school materials to be sent along with the picture books.  Our problem, however, is that we still have not heard from the director of this project to give us specific directions about when and where to send the materials.  We decided to put our books in with the second grade who are also working on this project. 
TOP

January Entry 
 Cyber Ambassador, Suzanne, helped my class with the production of the classroom newspaper.  She instructed my students on how to write an article, do the spell check and select and insert clipart from another file.  We were unable to complete a news article taken from CNN on the Internet due to snow (we went home early).  When we returned the server was down. Students had already read the news article and saved a picture, so we did a short summary and used the picture.  The rest of the newspaper was composed in Word and concerned school happenings. 
 Our Kids to Kids International Internet project has been stalled because we have not heard from the project directors in spite of several e-mail contacts.  The classes decided to go ahead and finish the picture books on their own and send them along with the second grade books.  They are in the process of collecting school materials to send along with the books for the refugee children. 
 I have not used the laptop computer yet, but plan to do so in the coming month. 
TOP

March Entry

This month my students worked with PowerPoint a little under the direction of Cyber Ambassador Caleigh.  They helped my with my presentation, "What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin"?  which I finished at home using the laptop.  I can't emphasize enough how invaluable the laptop has been to the teachers who use it.  Several students are becoming proficient in keyboarding, finding clipart and saving projects.  Many of those students whose only experiences with computers are at school are making great progress also.  They are requiring less and less help from others.  They will soon become their own Cyber Ambassadors. 
 Our class is involved with three Internet projects.  Kids to Kids International is moving slowly, due to lack of response from the project directors with whom we are dealing, but our children have finished their books and are bringing in school supplies to send to refugee children.  Many of the 56 fourth graders are working on the individual Internet project, The Millennium Bug, figuring out the coded message, researching the YK2 bug, and sending their responses by email.  Despite the January deadline that is on the web page, this project is ongoing.  The Poetry Post, a Uni-Verse-sal Experience has been the most fun for me because it ties in so well with my English classes.  Students are challenged to write poetry describing something about where they live.  Every student has participated in this project and we will soon have some of our poetry posted at this site.  We have also used the poetry in our classroom newspapers as well as the school newspaper.  The newspaper experiences have proven very helpful in both composition and reading skills.  The students have become more proficient in both reading and writing.  I can see much improvement in both areas.  I am looking forward to seeing their work on our class website during the next month. 
TOP

April Entry
April Journal 
 My fourth graders have become proficient enough through use of the Reading Launch Pad computer lab and mentoring by Cyber Ambassadors that they did not feel the need for the help of a Cyber Ambassador this month.  They are beginning to be independent computer users with a minimum of teacher monitoring. 
 I have the laptop computer to continue work begun at school.  It was used to edit newspaper reports and Powerpoint presentations. 
 The classroom web pages have fun both for my students and me.  We are continuing with the "All About Me" theme with students writing paragraphs about themselves, sharing things that have happened to them.  We have also developed linked pages of prose and poetry to share some of their compositions written for English class.  We will either add to or change these pages as we learn and practice new things in English.  Students have been very enthusiastic about adding to their stories.  There is always a waiting list of those who have something new to add. 
 Our classroom newspaper has also been a big hit with the students, who always seem to have something to say in print.  They use the Internet to find and paraphrase items for the newspaper.  In addition, they compose articles about school and home events of interest to the whole school.  This has had the added advantage of supplying many timely and interesting bits of news for our regularly published school newspaper.  All the fourth graders are becoming seasoned newspaper reporters. 
 We have had several ongoing Internet projects.  The Kids to Kids International project has been bogged down due to lack of response from the project directors.  We have finally gotten a response and will soon get our picture books in the mail for the refugee children.  The students have just finished the Poetry Post project in which they wrote poems about their homes.  We have just gotten all the permission forms back from parents to submit the poems and hopefully, will soon see their poems elsewhere on the Internet.  The Millenium Bug projects have been submitted and we are waiting to hear from that project.  Every child in the fourth grade was involved in one or more of these projects.  Enthusiasm has been high and they are planning more projects. 
 I don't know whether or not test results will document all the increases in my students' learning as a result of using technology in the classroom, but they have become increasingly proficient in computer use.  They also demonstrate increasing fluency in their composition, proofreading, and editing skills as a result of frequent writing assignments at the computer. 
 Just before spring break, our class completed a unit of study on rocks and minerals in science.  We integrated science, art, and English by making pet rocks, naming them and taking them home for the holiday.  When students came back to school they wrote about the adventures of their pet rocks.  They are now in the process of making a Powerpoint presentation of "Pet Rock Adventures." 
 Having computers available has been a big bonus to our class.  Students are finishing their regular assignments in record amounts of time in order to be ready for their turn at the computer.  (Sometimes they finish sooner than they should have and have to do it again!)  They have thoroughly enjoyed the year and have made many improvements in both achievement and attitude, even some of the "behavior Problems." 
 I have always been learning center oriented in my teaching, utilizing small group and enrichment activities for those who complete assignments.  Computers in the classroom program has been a wonderful addition and has made planning for those small group activities so much easier. 
TOP

May Entry
During the 1997-98 school year I used the Internet not more than 3 or 4 times.  This year, I have used it almost every day.  Since I teach English and science, that was our primary objective as we searched the Internet.  We found many interesting activities that enhanced the classroom program.  Some of the Internet projects in which we have participated are: Kids to Kids International in which students made picture books for refugee children and also collected school materials for them.  This project not only enriched the Language Arts program, but also contributed to giving students a global view of the world.  Poetry Post tied in very well with a poetry unit in English, but also encouraged students to look at their own area in Tennessee with new eyes, as they wrote and submitted poetry about where they live.  Don't Get Stung By the Millenium Bug was especially appealing because of the puzzle aspect.  Students researched Y2K, responded to a puzzle and questionnaire in order to win a bug-blaster badge.  In the process, they did quite a bit of reading and used upper level thinking skills extensively as they thought about ways to overcome computer problems connected with the year 2000. 

We have used several online lesson plans as well as developing some of our own.  During the year, as we worked on a unit of study, the students and I would write it up, adding Internet components to be saved for the next year.  Some of these we sent to be used on the Internet and others we saved for use only at New Market.  As we would go into a new unit of study, I would scan the Internet, looking for plans that tied in to the lessons.  I found many that really enriched my teaching.  Many of these plans integrated the curriculum so children were exposed to incidental learning in other subject areas as well as the stated objectives in the subject area. 

ICQ has been a tremendous help for me personally during the many small crises in the classroom in which I needed immediate feedback from another teacher.  The students have used it also in contacting other classes.  They have participated in educational games with other classes through ICQ.  They always listen for the "uh oh" that says an ICQ message is waiting, and never fail to tell me if I don't hear it.  I have also had contact with educators that I would otherwise never have known through email and ICQ.  This is invaluable in the exchange of ideas and information. 

Students and I use MS Word daily as we compose stories, messages, reports and newspaper articles.  I use PowerPoint to make presentations when introducing a new unit of study.  Students use it as they finish projects to show what they have done.  For instance, at the end of a lesson on earth science, my students designed, decorated and named pet rocks.  They took their "pets" home for spring break.  When they returned to school, they wrote about the adventures their pet rocks had over the holiday.  Several decided to present their stories to the class through PowerPoint.  They wrote and illustrated The Pet Rock Adventures. 

The classroom web site has been used as a means of creative writing.  Students were encouraged to write a paragraph or two about themselves.  They have also written letters of sympathy to students in a school where a shooting occurred.  In the coming year, I have plans to use this web page as a means of letting parents know about assignments and current issues at school.  The online newspaper was used this year mostly to get students to use the Internet news service, read an article and respond to it through the newspaper.  We plan to expand this to include timely school news items of interest to parents and students. 

It is hard to tell just how valuable the staff training has been to me.  It has been a joy to sit and learn in an environment where I can learn and then take that learning back and use it to benefit my students.  I have done projects and taught my students to do things that I would have been unable to do without this training.   The training we have received through this program has had and will continue multiply as I use my knowledge to teach children in years to come.  Publisher, Word and PowerPoint have been invaluable resources both to my students and to me.   Becoming proficient in several computer programs has been very helpful.  I have really enjoyed being exposed to so much new technology and then having the opportunity to use it in the classroom.  Sharing this technology with my students is probably the most beneficial part of this project.  I have shared lesson plans, information gathered on the Internet, and helped as other teachers have come to me with problems concerning their computers. 

I have used the laptop provided through the program to continue lesson plans, presentations, etc. that were begun at school.  It has saved many hours sitting at school working.  Instead I bring the laptop home and finish at my convenience.  I used the Cyber Ambassadors more extensively at the beginning of the year than I do now.  At first they came and helped the students write simple reports, edit, and find clipart while I was teaching something else.  They have done their jobs so well that most of my students are able to do this independently or help each other. 

Students have had much practice in reading as they searched the Internet.  They readily read the stories and reports written by themselves and others.  I feel their reading skills have improved a great deal by all the reading they done through computer use. 

I am interested in learning more about desktop publishing, editing photos, and working with the school newspaper.  I think, with more training, teachers and students could produce excellent school newspapers.  I would also like to see a continuation of training in the use of the programs we have now (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) in advanced classes so we could further hone our skills.  As we share this expertise with our students, they will have a head start on their future careers. 

TOP