1/24/2016 January 24. 2016Since there is a snow day scheduled for tomorrow, January 25, 7th graders who have not yet submitted their blog post and checklist have time to work on that and submit. There are a number of assignments missing: 004-7 submitting snips/screenshots of Hour of Code progress 7B - 1 student not submitted; 3 returned for not following directions. These must be re-submitted. 7A - 6 students' images were returned because they did not follow the directions. These must be re-submitted. 005-7 submitting the checklist and the blog post about the Hour of Code 7B - 10 assignments overdue 7A - 10 assignments overdue Please use the day off to get caught up on all outstanding assignments. Anything not submitted by Jan. 26 will be graded "as is", finished or not. If you have any questions please EMAIL ME!
1/6/2016 January 6, 2016Happy New Year! After the first quarter ended seventh graders spent the month of November in consecutive health classes. When December came it was our turn in technology class and we participated in the international event called the Hour of Code. Students had several choices of activities in which to engage to hone their computational thinking and problem solving. Now it is time to share our learning with the world. Our second quarter graded activities have just started and will be as follows: 1. Submit 003-7 in Google Classroom. This is simply a screenshot/snip of either a block of code written by the student or the staging area for the running of the program to demonstrate some activity worked on. We discussed the difference between snips and full screenshots and also viewed a short video on doing both on a Chromebook. Students were able to submit in class on January 6, though the official assignment due date was January 7. 2. Submit 004-7 in Google Classroom. This assignment was another submission of a screenshot/snip to demonstrate how much progress was made while working through the sequences in Hour of Code. Students could submit as many images as necessary to demonstrate what they had accomplished and also could include any private comments as needed. Due date: January 16. 3. Submit 005-7 in Google Classroom as well as submit a blog post for publication. All of these assignments were explained in class on January 6. There is a checklist of items to be included in the post and students will highlight each item in the list as it is completed. The list will then be submitted to indicate each step has been followed. Due date: January 21. Students need to be referring to the Google Classroom Calendar for a list of due dates for assignments in any subject area. There is nothing that requires a student to physically be in school to work on these assignments, so even if absent students should be able to meet deadlines. We hope that when the posts are published and students have demonstrated their learning as well as their thoughts on coding in general, that you will visit their posts and leave comments. Comments are always greatly appreciated! 9/30/2015 September 30, 2015As the first month of the school year is behind us and we are adjusting to a new schedule and new system with tech class, I would like to recap what has been going on and what is on the horizon for grade 7. We began with a short assignment at the beginning of the year to create a personalized logo for the Chromebook. This activity not only brings an opportunity for creativity but also personalization of the devices students will be using almost daily. It also was an opportunity to become familiar with Google Drawing (tools very similar to MS Word/PPT drawing tools - think fifth grade smoking poster) and especially to become acclimated to using Google Classroom as a way to work on and submit assignments. The two components of the logo project were to actually create and submit the logo in PNG format via Google Classroom, and then share the logo with the world via a blog post telling about the design. Students also needed to credit image sources used in the design. Grading will be revamped for technology class this year with assignments receiving letter grades such as VG, G, S according to the established criteria for the project. For the logo, the following was used:
VG - assignment was completed according to directions and submitted on time G - assignment was completed according to directions but submitted late S - assignment was completed but some directions were not followed When grades are entered into PowerSchool, in order to display the letter grade it is necessary to enter a number on the grade scale assigned to minor subjects. So in order for a VG to appear as a grade, a number from 90 to 94 would be entered. Since there are 5 different grades points in each letter range, I will be using the number in the middle of each range. For example a 92 for VG, and 88 for G, an 82 for S. Mathematically this allows for a student who receives two grades in a quarter (and that is likely all we might accomplish) the average will convert to the higher. Here are some possible scenarios: Student with 2 scores in a quarter: G, VG - quarter average is VG Student with 3 scores in a quarter: G, G, VG - quarter average is G. For the logo itself, group 7B has a deadline of this week with the blog post due by the end of next week. Then 7A will have their opportunity to work on the same project while 7B is in health class. After students' explanations are posted on their blogs, they would very much welcome comments from readers. Feel free to post a comment. All comments and posts will be approved before going live. Caution: Parents should not include their last names as students are known strictly by first names on the blog site and we do not want to compromise their privacy. Directions for logo Directions for blog post 4/2/2015 April 2, 2015At the end of the third quarter, 7th graders have 3 graded assignments: the age distribution chart, the geography information, and the per capita income chart. After looking at the scoresheet for the per capita chart for their assigned African country, students should have re-checked the life expectancy or infant mortality chart to be sure the same mistakes were not made for that chart. We will finish up the infographic in the next 2 weeks and get it ready for public sharing. There will be several open labs for students who need to catch up on something in order to finish on time. We still have several other topics and activities for the 4th quarter. I will be checking the double column chart (life expectancy or infant mortality) over the weekend and our class on Wednesday, April 8, should be putting finishing touches on the final parts of the information. Students can be researching the organization they wish to feature in their infographic and have all their information ready to be inserted into the slide.
1/23/2015 January 23, 2015Grades for the second quarter include the Millennium Goal Fact Sheet, Survey of Infographics, and completion of the first chart for the population of the African country which will be the focus of the infographic each student is constructing. On January 21 I had hoped we would be able to complete the chart for the country's religions and also the relative size and location but due to an early dismissal, that will need to be completed on January 28. We will continue to add elements to the PowerPoint slides and then convert all of the graphics created into a full size infographic. Students who are absent on any of the class days will need to be sure to come to the lab to make up the work as each will have a new component explained for the project.
12/1/2014 December 1, 2014We have had a 2 week gap in our class time. Our last meeting was November 12. At that time I reminded students of the deadline of December 3 for finishing the write up of the infographic they had chosen to share. (Also mentioned in the previous post on Oct. 31.) I stressed at our last class and also left the reminder for them on Nov. 19 that they needed to print out the paper and not come into class saying that they needed to print. They must walk in and be ready to share. And yet there are eight students who have not even chosen an infographic as of today. There will be deductions for not being ready on time as I shared my sample presentation on Nov. 12 and the assignment was explained and started before that. See Infographics 1 on the webmix for assignment details. The Hour of Code activity is coming up during the week of Dec. 8 - 16. I hope we will be ready!
10/31/2014 October 31, 2014Halloween marks the end of the first quarter for this school year. During this past week I have been having students in the lab to catch up or correct assignments, and for seventh grade that was the post to summarize our work on Creative Commons. Last week I brought in a short article I had clipped from the Morning Call on a little sidebar called "Career Advice". I read this to the students in grades 6, 7, and 8 and asked someone to tell me why I had saved that article to share with them. Most immediately got the message that following directions was important. The article had explained that if the person doing the hiring was expecting a PDF, don't send a Word document; if the person was expecting information in the body rather than an email attachment, don't send an attachment, etc. The objective of this project on Creative Commons was the importance of respecting copyright and being able to find images (or other creative works) that are permissible to use and what restrictions apply to them. The concept of giving attribution for the work of others, and giving it in the appropriate format, was a key concept. The photo at the right is the example photo Creative Commons used (and the link to the page was provided in the directions) to explain what they consider the "ideal" format for attribution. I shared this photo and attribution with the class and went over each component. An ideal attribution includes the name of the work with a link to where the original work was found online, the owner of the work with a link to the owner's photostream or collection, and the licensing with a link to the actual license document. Three requirements with three hyperlinks. In addition to explaining this example I also completed my own attribution line using the same sample photo I had been working with all along. What the students needed to do was provide the same credit for their own chosen photos below a horizontal line at the end of the post. The attribution for the above photo will appear at the end of the post in the recommended attribution format. Both of these samples were available in the assignment directions in Dig-Cit 1 2014. After all that I would have to say at least half of the students paid no attention to the format of attribution or gave no attribution at all for their image or even their information sources. I re-explained and offered opportunities for corrections, and some still did not follow directions. When the grades were posted in PowerSchool I added a comment if the student's score was changed based on corrections being made. In some cases the "corrections" were still incorrect. One other thing I have noticed is that in the course of commenting to students on their work and either pointing out mistakes or making suggestions for improvements (done in writing in their Google Doc score sheets), some students will correct anything they can that will earn them points back, but ignore suggestions for which there was no point deduction, only strong recommendations for change. I pointed out to the class as a whole the reason you should not be including your initials in your post title. That reason is that we are maintaining student privacy by using only a first name as the blog title. If a student then adds initials to a title he or she is offering more personal information that is not needed for any reason. Students were told to remove the initials from the titles and yet, that direction was ignored by several. There are a few students that have some incomplete work that I will be calling in to get caught up during the week of November 3, but for the most part we have moved on to the social studies/technology project regarding African countries and the Millennium Development Goals. We have watched some introductory videos and students are now "reading for information" and gathering additional background facts by visiting four websites. Many students are well on their way to having that completed but those who spent much longer on the Creative Commons assignment will need to get caught up. I have also introduced the concept of infographics which will be the platform for sharing the research gathered on the African countries. Students should be choosing an infographic to share with the class according to the format in The Eyes Have It - Part 1. During the first class after Thanksgiving break students will present the infographic they have chosen to share. "Creative Commons 10th Birthday Celebration San Francisco" by tvol is licensed under CC BY 2.0
"Another Rainbow Eye?" by Think-Analyze-BeYou is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. 10/2/2014 October 1, 2014For the past couple of weeks we have been working on learning about Creative Commons licensing and what it means for us as users of content belonging to others. We started with exploring Flickr/Creative Commons and students chose a photo to use for their project. And here is where the trouble began. Some students were so indecisive about choosing a photo and getting started, or not following directions and spending time on a copyrighted image and having to start over, that they fell behind in their work. The assignment (Digital Citizenship 1) had 3 parts: A- creating a table for the photo information, B- creating a KWL chart about the photo, and C- sharing the information gathered in a blog post. I am going to borrow from one of last year's posts to sum up a problem that a number of students seem to have, and that is basically no concept of time management. One very big problem that many of our students face is time management, which is definitely a learned skill. There is not much time to spare for walks to the bathroom and getting a drink, or dawdling with getting something just right when that something is not even one of the required elements for the project. We barely have 40 minutes in the lab after transitioning from one location to another. Another source of lost time is not paying attention to directions, which are posted in a step by step format online and also reviewed orally on the Smart board. Yet some students think they can barrel on without paying attention to directions and just guessing or trying to figure out what comes next, only to find out they have wasted time doing the wrong thing. So spending time on silly things such as finding just the right cute puppy to use in the photo project or just the right pen color to write your name on the chart on the Smart Board will use up valuable working time that will have to be made up somewhere. And that somewhere will be time spent outside of class on the project. Students who completed parts A and B before the October 1 class received their feedback and were able to proceed with Part C. Those who only finished A and B at the end of class on October 1 will now have to wait for their feedback and finish Part C on their own. The due date for blog posts to be submitted for review is October 7, since on October 8 we will begin a new project. Everything that needs to be completed can be finished at home. The directions, the Google Doc, the blog, are all available from any location. Late work will be accepted, but there will be a penalty. If anyone runs into any difficulty or has any questions regarding the assignment, I will be happy to offer assistance via email. Time Passing by FRITS AHLEFELDT is licensed under CC BY ND 2.0 9/3/2014 September 3, 2014Getting back in the groove for another year of technology skills. Welcome back! During our first class students tested their log ins to the school network, Google Apps, wikispaces, EDUGlogster, Discovery Student Center, Pearson Successnet, and Type to Learn. I had a few key images to trigger discussion about safety and security and the learning process. The toothbrush was our symbol for password security. I did tell the students that, should they ever feel their passwords have been compromised, to let me know and they can be readily changed. It turns out, we have a little password snafu, and they were inadvertently compromised in another class. So I am in the process of giving everyone a new password that will work for all their accounts. It will take some time for all the changes to be done because it is several accounts for each student. But I do always want to impress upon them the importance of safeguarding your password. Please return all Internet permission forms as soon as possible. Google Apps forms are on file from the previous year so only students new to our school this year need to turn in that form. We will be working on quite a variety of skills and projects this year: research, copyright and fair use, MS Office presentations and spreadsheets, and more. Student Chromebooks are in the 7th grade classroom but we are still in the process of working on our wireless network upgrades so patience will be needed for a while. I hope that this new tool readily available will allow for more spontaneous use in the classroom and allow for more flexibility in planning for student and teacher. 5/18/2014 May 18, 2014Projects for the fourth quarter include the evaluating websites activity (which has been posted on PowerSchool for some time now), the write up of the infographic project as a blog post with the infographic embedded and linked, and a final presentation activity called Pecha Kucha. There are a number of students who have not submitted their post on the infographic and that should have been done by now. Pecha Kucha is a 20 x 20 format, which means that each presenter gets 20 slides which automatically advance after 20 seconds. Because of our time frame we do a mini version of the Pecha Kucha, with 5 slides at 20 seconds each, for a total of 100 seconds of presentation time. The rubric for the Pecha Kucha activity is found on the class webmix with some technical steps for the set up in Google Presentation. Students chose numbers at random and then I emailed them a PDF copy of their assigned news article. Since their recent topic in social studies was Asian countries such as India, China, Japan, and others, the news articles all are in some way concerned with those countries in the areas of science, politics, culture, art, etc. May 22 will be the day to put the slides together and practice, with May 28 being the presentation date. Common Core State Standards call for increased reading of informational text, and this activity will allow students to read, analyze, and summarize and article via words and images. My sample Pecha Kucha presentation was actually on another area that has been in the news recently with the topic being the kidnapping of the girls in Nigeria by the Boko Haram group. #BringBackOurGirls. |