Teachers Go To School Too!

Hello scholars! Mr. Richards and I are at a training to learn more about our ActivBoards. We miss you and we'll see you tomorrow.

Copyrights and You!

Hello scholars!  Crediting your sources from the Internet is just as important as citing your sources for other information.  Click here and here to find learn about copyrights and fair use.  Use the information on this website to complete your worksheet.  Good luck and happy learning!

When you finish your worksheet, click here for an interactive review. 

Fordham University RETC Student Survey, Grades 6-8

Hello scholars!  Some of you may know that I am participating in professional development at Fordham University.  I need you to help me out and take this student survey.  Please be very honest. There are NO wrong answers.  It is OK if you don't know something! We will take another survey at the end of the year to see how much you have grown and learned.  Click here to take the survey.

Fordham University RETC Student Survey, Grades 3-5

Hello scholars!  Some of you may know that I am participating in professional development at Fordham University.  I need you to help me out and take this student survey.  Please be very honest. There are NO wrong answers.  It is OK if you don't know something! We will take another survey at the end of the year to see how much you have grown and learned.  Click here to take the survey.

Links to Online Dictionaries

Hello scholars!  Here are some of the websites I visit when I want to know the definition of a technology term: 
techterms.com
whatis.techtarget.com
techdictionary.com
webopedia.com

Please use one or all of these websites to fill in your "definitions" column on your table.  I like techdictionary.com the best.  When you finish the assignments, use the "Comments" to tell my which was your favorite and why.

Shine on!

7A Skills, Fall 2010

Hello scholars!  Today you will be getting your assignment from youtube.....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND0Oh0jELkI

8B Skills, Fall 2010

 Here are the results of the survey you took last week.  We will go over them as a group and then you will have time to look at the results independently.  Please write a paragraph about what your biggest learning goals are for this year.  Use the information in the charts to back up your goals. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoTp5IFUNzo

Help me out with some definitions.

Hello scholars!  As some of you may know, I'm teaching a computer class for the families of BLCS scholars. One thing we are learning is vocabulary.  I want to hear how you would explain the following to someone who is brand-new to technology and computers..... I know you will have some creative and unique ideas.  Respond in the comment section.

• desktop
• icon
• homepage

Learning Together: Useful Websites for Families

Click here for links to the websites we explored in class.

Technology Self-Assessment, 6A

Hello scholars!  I'm so happy to have you back in the computer lab! In order to maximize learning, I want to know your strengths and areas for growth. I created a survey that you will complete online. Please take your time and make sure you answer all the questions.  And remember, there are NO right or wrong answers.  We will discuss the results next week.

<a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5RMKDNW">Click here to take the survey.</a>

Technology Self-Assessment, 5A

Hello Scholars! Welcome back to the computer lab. In order for us to maximize our learning, I would like you to tell me more about what you already know. I created a survey for you to take online. We will review the results and establish our goals next week.
Click here to take the survey.

Technology Self-Assessment, 6B

Hi Scholars in 6B! I am so happy we are back in the computer lab! Please complete this survey about your strengths and challenges in technology. We will take this survey again in January and June to measure your growth. Remember there are NO right or wrong answers. The skills in this survey are skills that you will use now, in high school, in college, and in the workforce.


Click here to take survey

Take Jesus's survery

Jesus in 8B took the initiative to explore Survey Monkey on his own. He even created a survey for the BLCS community to take. He'll get back to you with the results! Click here to take survey

Technology Self-Assessment, 7B

Hi Scholars in 7B! Please complete this survey about your strengths and challenges in technology. We will take this survey again in January and June to measure your growth. Remember there are NO right or wrong answers.


Click here to take survey

Technology Self-Assessment, 7A

Hi Scholars in 7A! Please complete this survey about your strengths and challenges in technology. We will take this survey again in January and June to measure your growth. Remember there are NO right or wrong answers.

Click here to take survey

Technology Self-Assessment, 8B

Hi Scholars in 8B! Please complete this survey about your strengths and challenges in technology. We will take this survey again in January and June to measure your growth. Remember there are NO right or wrong answers. Thank you for sharing!

Click here to take survey

Technology Self-Assessment, 8A

Hi Scholars in 8A! Please complete this survey about your strengths and challenges in technology. We will take this survey again in January and June to measure your growth. Remember there are NO right or wrong answers.

Click here to take survey

Learning Together

Hello Parents! I am so happy you have decided to attend this class on computer skills. In order for me to get to know you and your needs better, please click on the following link to take a short survey. There are no right or wrong answers! Please be honest so I can meet your needs. Thanks again for being here!

Hola padres! Yo estoy bien agradecida de que puedan asistir esta clase de computacion. Para yo poder asistirles mejor nesecito saber que tanto sabe de computacion. Por favor, oprima aqui para poder tomar la enquesta. No hay respuestas malas ni correctas. Gracias otra vez por estar aqui.

Click here to take survey

The Awesome Life of My Big Toe

Hello Scholars! This podcast is part of a unit for the Lower Academy. I thought you might like it, so enjoy. I made the podcast today in about 30 minutes. I'm so excited to show you how easy and fun podcasting is. This is a very basic podcast and gives you an idea of where we will begin our Web 2.0 journey.

Careful About Those Comments!

Hello scholars! Today we talked about how to make great online comments. You can comment on YouTube, Facebook, blogs, and other websites. The Grammar Girl, one of my favorite podcasters, has this blog post about comment grammar. Click here to read the post OR listen to the audio podcast. My favorite rule is #5: Know what you are talking about. I get frustrated when I read comments that are uninformed or unrelated to the post. Which rule do you think it most important? Why?


After you tell me about the rule that means the most to you, take a break and re-watch this hysterical video about online comments.

Computers in 1984

Hello scholars! We have been talking about how technology has changed so much in very little time. Here is a video of a computer from 25 years ago. In 1984, this computer was considered to be cutting edge technology. What are your thoughts on the computer? Or your thoughts on the graphics? Did the cookies look very realistic to you?

Why Should Students Blog?

Hi Scholars! Since blogging became popular in the last several years, there has been debate in the academic community as to its benefits for students. I think blogging is a powerful that will increase your knowledge, presentation skills, and your critical thinking. A fellow educator, Rachel Boyd, created a podcast to express her opinions on why students should blog. Let's watch it now. Afterward, we will talk about your feelings and questions about blogging.



Thanks to Rachel Boyd @ nz_edublabberings for sharing her thoughts and expertise.

Video Letter to the President

Upper Academy scholars are watching this video right now. We are comparing and contrasting our own experiences at BLCS (and other schools) to the experiences of these students in this video. So many of us wonder where they are now.

6B Will Be Successful!

Hello Scholars! As a reminder for what we need to do to maximize our learning time, I created a word cloud using your letters. Click here to view it. Let's use this word cloud to help us focus on the positive!

6A Will Succeed!

Hello Scholars! Thank you for completing your assignment on how you will succeed in technology class. I analyzed your answers and created a word cloud of the most popular answers. I will make everyone a copy in case you need reminders. SHINE on!! The world cloud is here!

8B's plans for the weekend!

Hello Scholars! The entire class collaborated to create a Wordle about our weekend plans. Here it is...

8B Goals for 2010-20111

Hello Scholars! I used the results from your survey to see what you, as a class, want to accomplish this year. The responses ranged from "ummm" to "everything". There was no wrong answer. Thank you for sharing your hopes and dreams with me. Click here for the Wordle that illustrates what you wrote.

Now tell me...what is important to 8B this year?

Happy to See 8A Again!

I have not seen 8A in two weeks. It was great to meet with them today, discuss our rules of engagement, and talk about what will do next week. 8A will be taking the Survey Monkey survey about their interests next week.

Leopard Wordle Redux

Hi Scholars! I loved your reaction to the wordle of your computer usage. Here is a link for the one we did in class on Friday. Today we will finish our discussion of the uses of a word cloud and why certain words appear the way they do. I also want to walk you through the steps of creating a wordle. Thank you in advance for your participation!

Wordle Word Cloud Survey Results, 8B

Welcome back scholars! You already took a survey using a Web 2.0 tool called Survey Monkey. Thank you all so much for participating in the survey and sharing your interests and uses of the computer with me. I created a word cloud using another Web 2.0 tool called Wordle. Click here to see what the word cloud looks like. We are going to discuss your observations on the word cloud as a group. I am interested in knowing why you think the words are different sizes and how you might use this to share information.

Welcome Scholars!

I'm so happy to have you in my class. I would like you to take this short survey so I can learn more about you and your interests. We'll talk about the results when everyone has taken it. Click here to take the survey.