November Entry
At the moment, we are still in our “condo” on the hill, (which some people refer to as the Trailer Park), with no Internet connection, so using the Internet in the classroom is rather difficult, to say the least.  We are hoping to be in my “new” classroom soon.  I have been trying to down load things at home, and bring them to the classroom.  This has met with limited success, but it is the best that I can do at the present.  To further complicate things, my computer in the classroom “crashed” and was down about a week and a half. 

We did use the scientific method lesson plan that we created in class, without the Internet support, but it would be much better with the accompanying Internet sites.  However, I am working on doing more PowerPoint presentations, which I can use at the school, even without the Internet.  And then, maybe, the kids will be satisfied until we get into the “real” classroom with “ a real Internet connection. 

December Entry
And the saga continues at Jefferson Middle School.  We still do not have Internet connections, but I think we are getting closer at our school.  And I was moved from my portable about 100 yards away from the school to a new classroom within the school on December 13, 1999, so when they do run the wire, I will be ready.  My new classroom is huge, but temporary.  The downside is that it has no electricity, except for lights, so now I cannot even run my computer with PowerPoint presentations for the students.  But I have been assured that by after Christmas break, I will be able to use my computer and other equipment in the classroom. 

I have been talking to my students about the Internet, and have given them the address for the county site and shown them how it links to my site.  We have also talked about things that can be found and I discussed all the different sites that are up there for them to see that involve science and different concepts that we discuss.  About half of my students have Internet access somewhere, either at home or with another relative. 

We have just started studying the planet earth, and its processes.  Our focus at this time is on the Oceans, and I have been looking for sites to use with them, that I could steer them towards.  I hope to do a lot of searching during our Christmas Break. 

January  Entry
Hello again!!  Well, since I last left you, I have changed classrooms again, further complicating matters as to were I have everything.   This is my third classroom this year, and I have yet to make it to my permanent classroom.  At least now I am in a Science Lab, with sinks and counters to make life a little easier to handle.  I also have a large storage closet, but it doesn’t have any shelves.  They are installing white boards today, and I told them where I wanted them, but there is no guarantee where they will be when I return.  Life is such fun!! 

I have worked more on my PowerPoint presentation on waves and currents, but can’t seem to find the disk, since I moved the day after we returned from Christmas Break.  And they have installed the server in our school, but it is only hooked up to the computers in the office, so they can interface with each other, but we can’t yet.  The wires were run during Christmas for the computers, but they have yet to hook them into anything.  It is very discouraging to see those blue wires hanging from the walls, with nothing connected to it.  But we will have the cafeteria soon, which means hot foods finally. 

The students viewed my PowerPoint presentation and said it was good, but it is not as complete as I want it to be.  I do not have PowerPoint at home, so I am using the laptop to work on it.  I really enjoy the laptop, even though it is rather heavy!! 

February Entry
Another month has gone by without Internet in my classroom.  It is amazing to me how much I had come to depend on it, when you consider that just 5 years ago, we didn’t have it!!  But there is hope around the corner.  We are supposed to have it up next month (March) and then I will be able to show all these sites that I have been researching in the Cyber Exchange class and at home on my own computer.   I have been finding things and bringing them to school, but that can be difficult at best.  I have learned of so many resources this year, and am very excited about using them with my students.  I do give a list of sites that my students who have internet access at home can go up and look at on their own time that goes along with each lesson.  About 40-50% of my students have an internet connection, so at least I am reaching some of my students, albeit in a roundabout way. 

The unit lesson that I have done for the TLG 2000 project I haven’t taught yet, because we are about a week behind where I thought I would be due to snow days from school.  I will be starting with it next week, so I am really looking forward to using the resources, and bringing them into the classroom as best I can.  My unit is on Mitosis/Meiosis, and we have just started into cells and cell parts and processes. 

As for PowerPoint presentations, I am working on doing as many as I can.  I have the Laptop at the house, because I do not have PowerPoint on my computer at home.  But it is a slow process, since I really won’t have a lot of free time until after Basketball Season is over – GO LADY PATRIOTS!!!  But the ones that I have done, I am very proud of them.  I did work during our recent work day on a couple of presentations, involving future lessons. 

I really appreciate everything that our Connie and Faye are doing for us.  We could really use more people helping with the Tech coordination in our county.  There are so many things to learn, to explore, and experience!! 

March Entry
1.TLG: My TLG project has been submitted through the Rubric, but has only been approved through the Online Unit.  It has not been reviewed for the tracks or the Rubric.  I have taught the unit, and the students did very well.  I will be finishing the TLG Information today, and submitting it for final review.  It is rather frustrating because I have no idea if the rubric has been approved.+ 
 

2.Internet Project: Well, we are not online at the school yet, but it is getting closer.  They actually put in the plugs that will connect the computers to the server last week.  So maybe by this time next month (knock on wood) I will be able to do more with the internet with my students.  As it is now, I come in and about once a week, usually on a Thursday or Friday, I will go over possible sources of exploration for my students.  Right now, they are very interested in current events, especially College March Madness.  I am also trying to encourage them to explore and present information they have learned on related subjects.  About ½ my students have Internet access at their home, or in a relative’s home. 

3.Internet Resources:  I have to admit that I have not been searching much on the Internet lately.   I do use the county resources that our wonderful Technology Trainer and Guru puts up on the web page.  Way to go Connie!! 

4.PowerPoint: I am still working on creating a PowerPoint presentation for each lesson, but it is slow going sometimes.  I know that I will get a lot done in the near future, since I will be slightly incapacitated for a few weeks when I have my ankle operated on in May. 

April Entry
Hello again!! 

Well, it is April and we are hoping that maybe by August, we will be connected at Jeff Middle!!  But that is how the year is going… two steps forward, one step back.  We have learned that we will have at least 2 computer labs once we have our building program finished.  It just seems like a long time from now. 

It has been very, very hard this year, with no Internet capability.  I had never realized how much I depended on it in my classroom.  I had used it for everything from looking up the weather to see what will be happening on the day of a field trip, to hunting down clues for science games.  You don’t know what a good thing you have until you lose it!! 

I have been approved for $500 from the TLG experience, and it was an experience.  Sometimes I think that people in the state department don’t even know what is going on in that mystical place called a “school”.  Some of the hoops and ropes they made us jump over and through were ridiculous, with the deadlines and rules changing weekly it seemed.  It would seem that a program that was all about computer literacy and using the internet would be made capable to handle the influx of questions, comments, and projects written by Tennessee Teachers.  Okay, now I can come down off my soapbox. 

As for using Technology in my classroom, we are still using the computers for just basic things, word processing, using the encyclopedia programs, etc.  I had a little problem with my S-cable hook-up to my TV set.  I have a new janitor and in her effort to get my room dust-free, (a noble effort, but an endless job in a construction zone), she moved the TV and broke part of the cable off in the TV.  I think we have it fixed, with removing part of the connection.  So far, so good. 

I have also gotten a microscope that hooks into the computer, which then can be seen on the TV using the S-Cable.  It is working very well and the students really enjoy it. 

As for new websites, I have been a bad girl and having done any exploring on my own this month, due to some illnesses and stuff.  But since I will be laid up for a while in May after a surgery, I will have lots of time!! 

Have a wonderful spring! 

May Entry
From most appearances, it would seem that my usage of the Internet is down to nothing this year in my classroom due to the building program.  We have not had Internet access at my school (Jefferson Middle) all year, and are keeping our fingers crossed as to getting it next year.  I have not been able to use the Internet with my students actively in the classroom in real-time activities, doing projects or Internet quests.  However, I have been able to adapt somewhat.  

At the beginning of the year, I found out through an “unscientific” survey that about half of my students had Internet access either at their home, or at the home of a relative.  This gave me a starting point.  I started posting “interesting sites” every week that I wanted them to explore, some which correlated with what we were studying, and some that were just fun to do.  I also pushed them to look at the homepage for the county (which was an interesting experience, since the address changed halfway through the year!!), and to explore the Kid’s section for hints and ideas for each month.  I have found that that is a wonderful area not only for them, but also for me!!  

I have taken the lesson plan that I have created, as well as ideas from other teachers’ lesson plans, and have used them in my classroom, as best as I could since we had no Internet connection.  Things that I could download and bring into the classroom and show using my computer and the large TV, I have used.  This required me learning how to do that skill, so all was not lost.

I have not been able to use email, ICQ or video conferencing in my classroom this year.  I have been able to use these during out once-a-month training sessions, and have been able to exchange ideas with teachers all over the country via email.

Wow.  If I have to say that any two programs have changed my instruction, it would be these two.  I had never used Word before, only Works, and was just a little bit prejudiced against Word, thinking it couldn’t be better than Works.  Boy, was I wrong!!!  Word is so much easier.  It helps me when my brain goes faster than my fingers and corrects those awful misspellings automatically that I always seem to make – I never spell “T-H-E” properly the first time!!  

PowerPoint has been a wonderful addition to my instruction.  It is amazing to me that a small slide show of five minutes could have such an impact on my students.  I often use a PowerPoint presentation to start a new unit, or a daily lesson.  These are not long, drawn out things, just little “feet-wetters” that hopefully tantalize my students into looking forward to what we will be studying.  I also have small presentations that I use for a review right before they take the test at the end of each chapter.  

Learning more about PowerPoint and Word has greatly impacted my teaching skills.  I now have all my tests on Word, where I can quickly print off a copy, change questions, edit answers, edit the order of questions and make a new test.  This was time consuming to begin with, but will pay off in the long run with greater flexibility in my instruction.

I have not really used the classroom website as much as I would like to do so.  I had planned on using it a lot more, as an enrichment and a review area with my students, but it just hasn’t been feasible.  At the beginning of the year, they told us we would be connected in November, which then changed to January, and then to March.  As of the middle of May, we are not connected, and won’t be until the beginning of next year (keep your fingers crossed!)

As for the county website, they seem to be using it quite often.  After each Cyber Exchange meeting, I go over the different sites that I have visited, pointing out things that would be of interest to my adventurous sixth graders.

The staff development has been the best part of this program.  Being able to leave my classroom once a month and learn new skills and explore new areas on the web has been wonderful.  I was one of the first generation of “21st Century” teachers in my county.  At that time, we were given a couple of days of instruction, and sent on our way.  Very little follow up activities were planned, and I felt just a little lost.  Since then, the program has been changed and there is more follow up and more experience given with various elements of computing and Internet usage.  More and more technology courses are scheduled in our county for after school.  These are nice, but I have found that sometimes I can’t get into the class I want, or it is not convenient with my schedule.  Having the monthly training sessions have been a godsend to me, allowing me internet access on a (usually) fast connection (as opposed to my connection at home), giving me new insight on what other teachers are doing not only in my county, but across the nation.  

I feel much more comfortable using the tools that are in my classroom, and using the web as a whole with my students.  Technology and capabilities have changed so much in the past five years, that having training provided in a day long setting must be included for more teachers.  In this way, they are not tired from having taught a full day, then coming to a conference that lasts from 2 to 4 hours in the evening.

I have used the laptop the most from my school, I am afraid.  I kept offering it to the other two teachers, but one was afraid it would get stolen from their house, and the other had PowerPoint at home on their computer, so I was the lucky one.  I used it to build PowerPoint presentations at home, since I do not have PowerPoint on my home computer at the moment.  This allowed me freedom to work from home, on my own time, as opposed to staying that the school for hours on end composing new presentations.

My whole focus this year was to try to increase inquiry skills through any method possible, while still learning the core curriculum that I thought would be need to be covered before the Terra Nova Tests.  Using technology gave me a boost in that direction.  I worked with programs and situations, such as Roller Coaster Tycoon, to develop thinking skills and planning.  A lot of “What If…” question techniques were used with this to see how situations would pan out.  Students were put into teams to develop solutions to problems from this program, as well as situations that were found on the web and presented to them.  

There are many different beneficial aspects to this project that I can see.  First, there was the learning of new skills, and the knowledge of how to take those skills and use them in the classroom.  Second, there was the exploration time that was provided for us, as well as directions that we might like to take while exploring certain topics.  But I think the most important benefit of this was that it was all relevant and real to what I do in the classroom.  The skills that were learned, the sites explored, the knowledge obtained all can, will, and have been useful in my classroom.  I really and genuinely feel that I have learned something that will make an impact on my teaching and classroom in a most positive way.

I have completed the TLG 2000 project (and was awarded the $615) without a great deal of difficulty (as opposed to others horror stories).  I have learned a tremendous amount from the other people in our group.  The part of the instruction time were we share our experiences and ideas have been great, showing me things and areas that I didn’t know about, as well as what pitfalls to avoid.  I have learned so much, and have really whetted my appetite towards learning more and using the Internet and technology more in my classroom.

This project definitely needs to be continued.  The program is a fantastic piece of work, incorporating basic skills in connectivity and expanding on them.  More teachers need to be trained next year.  Those who have already gone through the program need to be met with occasionally, to get refresher courses on software updates, and to work on new projects.  (I would think the possibility of once every two months or so would not be out of the questions.)