21st Century Classroom Research

When technology is integrated into the classroom, magic happens! Students are engaged for longer periods of time, they are self-directed and self-monitoring, and unbelievable amounts of knowledge are gained and shared! With a combination of campus netbooks, desktops, and several students who bring their own devices from home, this classroom is researching self-selected topics and in the process of targeting each and every Technology TEK along the way.

Poetry Publications

Second graders are studying poetry this time of year and writing some of their very own poems. Students in Ms. Tyler's class used MS PowerPoint to publish their poems and record themselves reciting the prose. Afterwards, they worked on the design element, adding color and images, which will ultimately come together in a multimedia movie production. Students in Ms. Chamberlain's class decided to see what Google Drive could do for them! They are publishing their poetry in a Google Doc as a way to become more familiar with the environment and look forward to sharing with classmates as part of the peer review process.

Digital Drop Box

Students and teachers continue to utilize Google Apps as part of the writing process. Students in Mrs. Young's fourth grade class frequently receive shared docs from her as part of their assignments. Students can work from templates or create their own products within their Google Drive accounts. No need for a printer, with a simple click of a button, students share their assignments back to the teacher where she can view and make suggestions for editing and revising.

The Students are Going Google

Word is spreading like wildfire! We have Google accounts?! They have Google accounts?! Yes! The newest batch of students to explore their Google accounts were third graders in Mrs. Kuntz's classroom and fourth graders in Mrs. Wilshusen's classroom. Students practice writing to a great extent, so after they learned how to log in, they began learning about their Google Drive and all of its functionalities. They were surprised at how easy it was to get started, that they no longer have to "save" their documents, and how easy it was to share their work with their teacher. We can't wait to see their writing pieces.

Fifth graders in Ms. Johnston's and Mrs. Berry's classrooms also dove in to their Google accounts. In addition to logging in and navigating the new workspace, students began using Google Spreadsheet to create bar graphs. They left for Thanksgiving break ready to collect data!