Eighth Grade Technology 4-15

The film festival has begun! The eighth graders have begun showing their short films this week, and I must say that I am quite impressed. The silent films have been quite humorous, and a great first showing of some talented young filmmakers! We will finish up our viewing this week and begin our second film, dealing with some influential times in American history.

Sixth Grade Technology 4-15

Since returning from break, the sixth graders have begun a project in which they choose their “dream job” and describe what types of technology it uses on a daily basis. Then, after explaining the technology used, the students will then research what computer system would best fit their needs, i.e. a PC or a Macintosh. This will be used to show the similarities and differences between different kinds of computers and how they are used in the workforce.

Eighth Grade Technology

The eighth graders have begun filming their first film in technology! The premise of the film is an old-time silent film. The students have developed a storyboard and a script for their movies, and are now filming footage for their movie short. This week we will begin reviewing iMovie, the Mac film production software. The movies will then be burned to a CD to view later. The films look to be very entertaining thus far!

Sixth Grade Technology

The new semester has kicked off and the students are hard at work on their first project! The students have begun a fairy tale in which the lead characters roles have been switched. Not following? Well, the hero, or protagonist role, and the villain, or antagonist roles have been reversed! Students have the option to either create a poster for their story, or create a fairy tale book to showcase their creative works. Keep your eyes peeled on the best-sellers list!

Seventh Grade Technology 11-24

Seventh grade technology students have currently been working on a small group project in which they develop and distribute a "future product" that has not yet been invented. Students have been researching and developing these products and are now in the phase of putting together their presentations, visual aids, and a short, 30 second commercial to help sell/explain their new inventions. The students have had some very creative ideas thus far and I look forward to seeing how they market the products to their fellow classmates. With the shortened week ahead due to the holiday, the projects will be due the week that we return from break. I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving!

Sixth Grade- New Term

I know it has been some time since I posted a blog, but with the end of term and a very entertaining three-day field trip, I have been a bit behind. So, first and foremost, this sixth grade term has begun quite well. I first asked students two questions in order to gauge their current and potential knowledge on the subject of technology. I asked "What do you know or think you know about technology" and "What would you like to know about technology"? This is my way of getting feedback from students in regards to where we can begin our lessons, and more importantly, where they would like the lessons to lead them. Our first project consists of groups of two working together to develop their own fairy tale story. The only stipulations that I placed on the assignment were that: 1) If original be at least one page in length and appropriate fairy tale material, and 2) If it were an existing fairy tale, the hero and villain would switch roles. Some interesting stories have been written to say the least! With the short week ahead, I will be working with students who have finished their work on acclimating themselves to the typing lesson program that we will be using this semester. I also encourage all students to practice homerow typing skills at home to help improve their speed and accuracy. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving break!

Seventh Grade Technology 10-20

The seventh graders are finished/finishing their Excel workbooks, which were quite labor intensive. The students should now have a working gradebook that can be used to calculate their own work in class. Our next work will be a shorter Excel workbook in which we use the data collected from our catapult project to design a graph of distance as well as a chart to make data easily understandable. Powerpoint presentations will follow our work in Microsoft Excel, most likely starting Monday of next week.