Robotics Has Begun!

7/8th Advanced Tech Ed has begun with my Robotics Class.  What a great group of kids.  We are going to have so much fun.  We just finished our first project which was a spinning top.  This easy project allowed students to get their hands on all the parts, create a simple program, download to their NXT brick and have a little competition.  Audrey and Josh's top spun the longest.  It was fun to see them all spin.  The best part was to see the thinking and brainstorming that had to occur.  Thinking and working together are two of the most important outcomes from participating in a robotics class.  Good job teams!!!

Advanced Tech Ed Students are Blogging!

Students in both 5/6th and 7/8th Advanced Tech Ed classes created, formatted their own blogs this week.  7/8th graders will be using their blogs as their technical journals for their Robotics class.  5/6th will be using theirs to keep a digital journal of their Advanced Tech Ed Class.

Stop by their blogs and learn more about them.

5/6th blogs . . .

7/8th blogs . . .

Tech Town Ended Course with Bloopers!!!

Students in 3rd Quarter Tech Town ended the course with their commercial project.  They filmed videos to put in their commercials.  I enjoyed their bloopers so much that I created a little film to share with my students on their last day of class. 

BYOD - Bring Your Own Device.

Students in 7th/8th Tech Town brought their own devices and used the school iPad for several projects this week.  After learning about binary, barcodes and QR codes, students learned how to create their own codes and complete some projects using these codes.  This was so much fun and interactive, that I plan to use this with other classes. 

Fix the Keyboard!

Teams of students competed to "Fix the Keyboard" as quickly and without any errors.   It was great fun to hear them recall our secret sentences to remember the mixed up QWERTY keyboard.



Always Ask!

Oklahoma Catholic Women's Conference held an art contest for Middle School Students.  Contest theme was:  Our Lady in the Year of Faith.  I challenged my 5th and 6th graders to participate using our Corefx art/design program.  I decided to call the committee and ask if 5th graders could be included.  They said yes.  If I had not asked, I would not have entered my 5th graders' designs.  Cori's design won first place in the computer generated category.  She won $50, a framed copy of her art, invitation to the luncheon and her design will besold on notecards.

CONGRATULATIONS TO CORI

on her wonderful design.

Fun Animations in Tech Ed.

Students in Tech Ed had a fun class period creating their Blinkie Projects.  Using Powerpoint, they created their neon-type blinking sign.

Little Fingers!

Keyboarding already in Kindergarten and First Grade???  It is hard to imagine, but these little fingers need to be introduced to proper keyboarding at this early age.  The great part is that they have a huge desire to learn this skill. I think it makes them feel grown up.

Typewriter Fun in the New Year!!!

Students in first grade wait in line to experience the wonders of the ancient electric typerwriter, which dates me terribly as I learned to type on a vintage Royal, non-electric beast.