11/24/2014 November 24, 2014It's time once again to make some money...via our very own stock market game. Starting on November 25, students will spend their $10,000 by investing in four public companies of their choosing. During the next 8 weeks or so we will watch our money grow or perhaps suffer financial losses depending upon the ups and downs of the market. In addition to learning about this aspect of the economy, we will be working with spreadsheet formulas and charts. Students who do not predetermine their stock choices will pick from a grab bag of stocks listed on the Dow. We have been spending some time to get our Genius Hour projects off the ground. By now students should have developed 3 rough proposals for possible projects to pursue and after consultation with me they will focus on one for the rest of the year. Our next step will be to develop an "essential question" as the focus of the project, which will culminate in a sharing starting at the end of April. Students will demonstrate their learning about a topic that is important to them, something they feel passionate about, and share that passion with their classmates. First phases of the Genius Hour project are described here.
11/4/2014 November 4, 2014During today's class I pointed out to students that the brainstorming chart which had been due last week was still incomplete for many of them. In this document they set up a table with 3 columns listing ten items in each column - Things I Love to Do/Learn About, Things I am Good At, Things I Wonder About. What should be a quick list has actually stumped some of them. This is the first push to get them to "think outside the box" and stop thinking that the only areas in which they can excel are sports or academics. Some may be great at taking care of younger brothers or sisters or cheering up a friend who is feeling down. They don't realize that those personal traits are as important, or more so, than what grades might appear on a report card. On the other hand, some think they have many talents but aren't really curious about much beyond their own little life circle. This is also a push to think about the big picture, where do we fit in the scheme of things, what about global issues, and more. From there they viewed 4 videos relating to the topic of Genius Hour (activities all listed at Genius Hour Planning). Students who did not have time to view the videos in school are to finish viewing on their own before next week as we are moving on and there will be no more in class video time on this topic. By the end of class next week they are to have developed three proposals of what the final project will be. What will they learn and how will they share their learning? There will be extensive communication back and forth between us in the Google Doc and also in person one on one discussion to flesh out the actual project. An interesting side note regarding our work on Creative Commons: One of our students was surprised to find that the owner of the photo she had chosen to feature and write about was actually aware of her use of the photo and left a comment for her on the student's blog post. How did she know? I explained the concept of trackbacks and pingbacks, by which people who post and share can get feedback whenever someone links to their work. Could be a wake up call for using the image exactly the way the owner intended when they chose the licensing for their work! 10/26/2014 October 21, 2104Today the eighth grade does not have technology class because of a visit to NDHS. I had hoped to share a list with them of who had completed the Creative Commons post and who had not submitted it, but that list will have to wait until next week. There was open lab last Thursday, October 16, but there were very few takers for that opportunity to get work submitted. Mind you, everything that needs to be completed is fully accessible outside of school. Students whose work was already scored prior to this date had the opportunity to make corrections and re-submit, provided they emailed me that they had made changes. Only three students actually did that.
By the end of the first quarter (October 31) students should have published the Creative Commons post and also shared the Brainstorming document to get ready to move onto Genius Hour. More about that next week. 9/30/2014 September 30, 2014We are in the process of completing the post to share learning about Creative Commons licensing and expanding knowledge through the use of a KWL Chart. I have been leaving comments for students on the two tables they completed in a Google Doc (based on the Digital Citizenship 1 assignment) to be sure they are on the right track before completing the sharing part of the assignment. They have also been using the Google Research tool to collect the citations for their sources of information. Today we had a slight detour to discuss the difference between a "pauperpoint" and a "powerpoint" as eighth grade is completing group presentations in both science and social studies. After a short student created video highlighting do's and don'ts of presentations, we discussed font, contrast, and the importance of images more than text on a slide. In fact, if everything you plan to say is already on the slide, we don't need you! We will read it ourselves! Students also had a chance to view the Discovery Social Studies Techbook, a resource we have available to us for a limited time, in order to search for images for their colonies project. The Digital Citizenship assignment should be completed by the end of class on October 7. 9/2/2014 September 2, 2014Welcome back to another year of technology skills. There are many special projects ahead for grade 8 this year and I hope many strategies they will take with them to high school. The most important in my opinion, though, is the ability to learn how to learn. Students today are surrounded, in fact bombarded, by information. What is real? What sources can I trust? What can I use that belongs to someone else (and what can't I use) and how do I credit the owner? As I said in our first class, there will not always be a step by step plan provided to you to reach a goal. Sometimes you will need to layout your own path and construct your own knowledge. There will not always be someone to come over and help you when you raise a hand. Do you know how to help yourself? Our first class discussion centered around safety and security, time management, password protection, and of course thinking skills. During the course of the year we will be investigating the stock market while we develop skills in MS Excel and also working on a Genius Hour project. I hope to expand upon what last year's class did as the pilot class, and I will be sharing those ideas with students in the coming weeks. Please return Internet permission forms as soon as possible and also please complete the School Reach contact survey found on the front page of the Our Lady website. Google Apps forms are on file from the previous year and need not be submitted again. 5/12/2014 May 12, 2014We are coming down to the wire for our Genius Hour presentations. Some students have almost nothing completed for the presentation that is coming up. Some students have not paid any attention to comments and suggestions I have made on their project, and some have no comments because their slide presentation has never been shared with me. I have been entering the grades for the research document at the same time as I am entering the presentation score because I have allowed updates to the research document and been willing to re-score, provided the student emails me to say they have done updates. I have stressed to them that I will NOT go back and re-read anyone's research at this point unless they have emailed me that there is a reason to do so. No email, no re-score. I will be announcing in class on May 13 that re-scoring deadline is Friday, May 15. After that, WYSIWYG. There were many skills incorporated into this project such as: critical thinking organization of information evaluating websites writing/communication skills analyzing and synthesizing information time management presentation skills research skills comprehension of informational text Going back to the original premise of Genius Hour, students could choose ANYTHING they wanted to learn more about, and then share what they learned with their classmates using good presentation skills and slide skills (or create a video as another option) based on their research. Tony Wagner, in his 2008 best seller The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don't Teach the Skills Our Students Need and What We Can Do About It, (image from Amazon) sets out the Seven Survival Skills for College and Career Readiness. They are: CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING COLLABORATION ACROSS NETWORKS AND LEADING BY INFLUENCE AGILITY AND ADAPTABILITY INITIATIVE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP EFFECTIVE ORAL AND WRITTEN COMMUNICATION ACCESSING AND ANALYZING INFORMATION CURIOSITY AND IMAGINATION I hope that this project has helped our eighth graders to become more adept not only in digital skills but also in critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and time management as they head into high school. It is disappointing to see, although I have seen it before, some students pay little or no attention to deadlines because technology is a "minor subject", but in reality they should be growing in the above skills across every subject area. No learning opportunity is "minor" if it brings about some form of growth. 5/4/2014 May 4, 2014Presentations for Tuesday, May 6: Could You or a Family Member Get Celiac Disease? Down Syndrome - How Does It Affect Children? When Will the World's Oil Reserves Run Out and What Are We Doing to Conserve Oil? Why do athletes and celebrities get paid more than our real heroes in the military who risk their lives for their country? What Can You Do to Keep Your Joints from Developing Arthritis? How Has Security Changed Since the 9/11 Tragedy? What Really Happened to Amelia Earhart? How much pollution is there in the world and what are we doing to stop it? Physics of ballet- How do ballerinas execute the technique of ballet? Other than a walking stick what improvements have scientists made to make blind peoples lives easier and which one is most effective and are there ways to prevent blindness with age? Presentations for Tuesday, May 13 What are the basic techniques, skills, and helpful tips that I will need to know to become a better cook and serve healthier meals? How can kids achieve success in high school? Will One Direction still be a band in five years and if so how successful will they have become? How technologically advanced will the world be in fifty years? Why should the general populace know about different tone meanings, siren model differences, and recent early warning advances? What can people do to stop world hunger? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the Chromebook? How did Nike change the world of sports? How can the study of ballet benefit everyone? What are three of the most endangered animal species in Indonesia and what can the global community do to help? Presentations for Tuesday, May 20 How would it affect our environment if honey bees were extinct? Which are the healthiest states and why? How do today’s advancements of technology affect this generation’s schooling and education? Do violent video games affect behavior? Diamonds - Will they last forever? How can skate parks make a difference in safety and should people pay for them through taxes? What is plasma propulsion and what are the pros and cons? What do scientists believe might be evidence that there is other life in outer space? How did the Armed Forces of the United States come to what they are today? Are there creatures that still exist today that were thought to be extinct, and how are they different compared to their ancestors today? Presentations for Tuesday, May 27 Is there any way to prevent autism?
Why has there been a lot of mystery about Anastasia Nikolaevna? How have guns affected the death rate? Does having strong fan attendance at home games affect a NFL’s team’s record? What can I do to enter Juilliard or NYU in the US? 4/29/2014 April 29We have been working on our Genius Hour projects off and on during the course of this year. Now it is time for students to share what they have learned with their classmates. They were offered the opportunity to present their project via slides or video. The majority have chosen slides, and we have been reviewing what was already discussed at the beginning of the year regarding PowerPoint best practices. The research document that was a work in progress all year has received a score based on the requirements listed here. As usual some students skipped whole sections such as writing up a conclusion or even telling which presentation format they had chosen. Scores for that will be entered in PowerSchool this week but the scores are on a curve. I explained that I did expect them to follow directions, however being able to research a topic using current and reliable sources and put the research in a coherent presentation is really a skill that needs developing and lots of practice over time. I hope they are a little further along that learning path as a result of this activity. Presentations begin on Tuesday, May 6, and will continue throughout May. Students have everything they need to polish the presentation from home, but they are welcome to come to the lab for extra help at recess. I offered the opportunity for students to volunteer to go first with a bonus added, and several students took that offer. The other first day students were drawn at random. All first day presenters will receive a 20 percent bonus, generous but appropriate considering the concept of Genius Hour is based on Google's 20 Percent Time. At the beginning of the year when this was proposed and explained, I had even suggested students think about tangible results such as baking, building, designing. But I think our students are not used to having such a wide open assignment, and also, technology class is a "minor subject" and often doesn't get much attention from them in their academic outlook.So we ended up with mainly slide presentations, and that will be okay, especially since quite a few are still not getting the concept that you do not fill a slide with text and then read the text to your audience. Could we at least graduate from 8th grade with that basic understanding? I certainly hope so! Presentation rubrics are found on the yellow tile on the webmix and should be reviewed before the date of presentation. The time has come to show what has been learned in the 20 percent of each quarter that has been devoted to their topic of choice. 4/4/2014 April 4, 2014Information regarding 3rd quarter grading: We had 3 assignments this past quarter. The first was the stock portfolio spreadsheet (Tech-onomics 2) using formulas and a variety of formatting techniques to keep track of stocks for 8 weeks. In Tech-onomics 3 students charted one of their stocks in Excel using a line graph and then did an analysis paragraph. The third graded assignment was a summary post on the experience of participating in the national Hour of Code activity to develop an awareness of computer programming and careers in the field. Overall most students did a great job with these projects, although they basically fall into 2 camps: those who pay attention to the directions and those who do not. We are now heading into the final stretch of the Genius Hour project. Last week students needed to get their Google Doc in order by entering headings for each section, and then they could begin working on their presentation slides. I will be looking for: 1-The Essential Question 2-A Motivation Statement 3-Research with a minimum of ten solid ideas relevant to the chosen topic 4-Statistics to back up or support your idea 5-Conclusion statement 6-Citations Some students have gone on to build their presentation without all of the components in place first. This is putting the cart before the horse. You cannot construct a house without a blueprint, and you cannot construct a cohesive and sensible presentation without your information plan in place. By this Tuesday, April 8, I will need to know if students are choosing the slide option with live presentation or the video option for the final presentation. 3/2/2014 March 2, 2014There is a little extra information here in the event that there is no school Monday and some students may want to get a jump start on some upcoming assignments. (Although I know they admit to me that they really don't read what I post, I will write something anyway!) Hour of Code: The coding activity finally took place last week and you will be writing up the event following the directions posted on the CODE tile. This should be an independent assignment that can be easily handled as inserting images and hyperlinks are not new skills. The important activity here is summarizing a unique experience and making a personal statement about the coding experience. Due date: March 11. Once the line graph assignment is completed, that will also be posted to the blog, but that will involve just using the text box written below the graph as the body of the post, the image inserted being a snip of the graph, and the image a link to a full size view of your document which will be saved as a PDF, uploaded to Google Drive, and then share to anyone with the link. The other summary post will go back to the first word processing assignment of the year, the table project, with a similar situation of an embedded image and a link to the full size PDF. These postings will serve as additional graded assignments as we get ready for the 4th quarter presentation of Genius Hour projects. I will be explaining presentation requirements in the next 2 weeks, so punch up your research document when you have some free time. Some of you are in need of more "meat" to satisfy your Essential Question.
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