Is it really November?

OMG I can't believe it is only two week to Thanksgiving.  I have been so focused on my new 6th grade class that I didn't realize the time.  With tennis season over and my two online graduate classes I teach finished there is actually time to breathe.

My new 6th grade educational technology (edtech) class is both exhilarating and frustrating at the same time.  I spent the summer working on bringing some cool tools to the classroom only to find, upon my return that I only had 30 minutes a week to work with the students.  THIRTY MINUTES - you can't do tech projects in 30 minutes.  Just taking out the computers takes up 5.  Another 3-5 to settle the kids down, 5 minutes to log off and return the laptops to the cart.  That's half the class time.

So the teacher and I who share the one hour block have shifted to every other week for each of us to have the hour.  My plan was to have the week I don't meet with the students in class to do their assignments online via Edmodo.

Who knew the 6th graders would be so resistant to doing the assignments.  Is it because the class is not graded?  Is it because this particular class of 6th graders is so young and immature that they don't get the homework piece?  Apparently they are not doing their homework for the other teachers either.  They are however chatting away on Edmodo about everything except homework.

Of course there are those students who are embracing the technology and are using it well and doing all of the assignments.

No matter what carrot I hold out to encourage their participation it just isn't working.

We have been working on a digital storytelling unit since the second week in October.  I have been trying to engage them in conversation on how to put together a digital story. Ideas, storyboard, appropriate images and video, text, fonts, colors and video editing.  A lot to accomplish before winter break in December meeting only every other week.  Not to mention one of my three groups I only get to see once in November because of days off and other school related activities.  They have a documentary project coming up in Jan/Feb that I am afraid they will not be ready for.

I am FRUSTRATED.  For the group I am only seeing once this month I created a video podcast of the lesson and sent it off to them.  Let's hope they come back to class ready to move on with videotapping.

It seems when I am at  my most frustrated point in school I am at my most focused with my knitting.  The summer is when I am free to knit to my hearts content and spend all of my free time with my knitting friends.  But once back at school my knitting comes to a grinding halt until tennis season is over.

With 5 projects on needle I have been working a bit of each at one time.  Finally I have settled on one project to focus my frustration upon.  After making my first lace scarflette this summer I was certain I was ready for a more challenging yarn over project.  It may be that I bit off more than I can chew with Knit One Crochet Two's Athena Tank but I am determined to complete it and give it to my daughter by the December holidays. 

How many times have I ripped out the lace panel until I got it right?  I needed a lifeline to salvage at least some of the work.  My thought process kept telling me there was an error in the lace pattern but did I look online to see if there were any corrections?  Of course not.  Not until at the end of last weekend I had an epiphany and checked.  Okay so the error was one I guessed at but did I lose a stitch along the way?  I was certain the panel needed 28 stitches not 27.  So when no one was looking I kf&b on a stitch and the panel finally got completed.

Along the way I found JKnitHD and KnitEvenly apps to make my life a bit easier.  I just love my iPad.  With JKnit you input the pattern into the app and then the app spits it back to you one line at a time.  Charts are supposed to make life easier but this one was driving me crazy.  The extra time I spent inputting the pattern was worth it.  The KnitEvenly app was a gimme I found while on Jknit's website.  Trying to figure out how to evenly space increases on either a flat or round piece made my head spin.  The app does the work for you and then line by line feeds you the info.  Maybe I will rip out the sleeve I did for Jessie's sweater and redo it using this app as my guide.

The front of this piece is going to be just as challening as the back.  Not only do you have to do 20 rows of the lace pattern but you have to decrease for the arm hole and neck edge at the same time.  I had to write that one on paper and then input it into JKnit.

With all of my frustrations being focused on this project I returned to school today much calmer about my 6th grade class.  I just need to make corrections to my lessons, just like I made corrections to the pattern, to get the results I need.

Comment writing time

While the kids went to lunch three of my colleagues went to their favorite coffee shop to write their mid trimester comments.

Williamsburg day 2

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Weather is still humid but it seems to be clearing. The sun actually showed itself around 11 am.

Today we divided into 4 groups and had a guided tour of the town. In and out of various buildings including the capitol, the print shop and the builder. The docents are great with the kids and really bring the flavor of the 18th century to life.

I especially liked it when the kids took turns bringing up a bucket of water from the well. It took 3 students and the guide to pull up one bucket. During colonial times it tool one person numerous times a day to bring up the water.

Lunchtime then it's on to Jamestown.

Williamsburg day 1

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It was a long ride on the bus in the rain. Fortunately the were tired, having had to get up before dawn to come to school to catch the bus. Watched a couple of movies on the way

We finally arrived around 12:30 at the hotel. For some of these kids it's their first time in a hotel without their parents. After unpacking and eating the brown bag lunches they brought we were off to the colonial city. It was still raining.

As one would suspect of young teens raincoats and umbrellas were an afterthought.

But inspire of it all the students walked the colonial city and presenting the information they researched for a particular building.

PreK graduates

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I'm a proud grandparent. And now the kindergarten grads

Physics 500

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Cardboard race cars here is one of the heats

Physics 500

Cardboard race cars here is one of the heats

Summer Vacation...

is almost here. I can't wait to head down to the house in Florida and settle in for some daily workouts, swimming and uninterrupted knitting. Throw in some golf and a few parties and summer vacation is perfect.

However this year we are taking a short detour before heading south and going east to central Europe. We will start with 4 days in Prague then head to Nuremburg and A riverboat cruise down the Danube ending in Budapest. To help with keeping track of our travels I have created a Google map I have included some information on each of the pin markers so you can learn a bit about each city we are visiting. Along the way I will do daily blogs with pictures to keep you updated on our travels.

We leave on the 21st of June. Need to call the airline to see if I can take my knitting on the plane. Quantas had a fit when they saw them on our trip to Austrailia.

The end is near....

one more day of classes and we are essentially finished for the 2010-2011 school year. It has been a whirlwind experience and so much fun with Charlie as our interim head. But alas his heart is in the classroom and not in the administrative side of school life. Jay arrives July 1 to take over. I know the faculty is welcoming but after our last experience we are understandably gun shy of someone new.

I spent a lot of time working with my colleagues in PLP and expanding my social networking knowledge. After many, many years I am being given a chance to have my own tech class. What an incredible opportunity to start a fresh class. There are so many topics I want to cover with the 6 graders. But are they up for the challenge? Of course we need to cover all of the Google apps, move them along with searching strategies using tools like Google Wheel, Quizlet comes to mind when thinking about study aids. Prezi is a must - they have got to be tired of powerpoint. DIgital Citizenship is a biggy. I will use Edmodo to work on their social networking skills. No Facebook in school. Of course there is the big documentary project the have so iMovie will take up a chunk of time. I have many more things on my list but I may try to bite off more than I can chew if I am not careful.

The summer will be spent sorting out all of the materials I gathered and sit down and write some concrete lesson plans. They will at least be a guide to follow once the students are in their seats. After that I punt.

It has been sometime that I can honestly say I will miss being in school.

Thank you Ms Jang

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As a thank you to Ms Jang the 6th grade sang a song they learned in their mandarin class.

Author skype

6th grade just read Red Scarf Girl and are skyping with the author Ji Li Jang

DJF day of service

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City Year getting the kids ready to go out for their day of service.

Cathedral of St John The Baptist

The cathedral is the oldest Roman Catholic church in Ga. It is a beautiful victorian cathedral built in the 1870's. It has exquisite stained glass windows and beautiful sculptures throughout. The picture does not do the interior justice

Andrewl Low house

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Built 1849 Low was a wearily cotton factor (broker). Gen Robert E Lee slept at the Low house. He was godfather to one of Low's daughters. His son William married Juliet Gordon. Juliet Gordon Low founded the Girl scouts in 1912. She worked out if this house The house us furnished with either original family furnishing or period furniture. The front gardens are as they were described by an author who also stayed at the house.

Old Savannah Tours

Janet Barry and I just hoped on the trolley just as the rain is starting to make an appearance. We will get an overview of the city now and then hop off and on over the next couple of days.

Arrived savannah

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Three of us driving and 6 hours later we have arrived. The staff at our B&B are charming and very helpful. Already they have arranged for a tour bus to come pick us up.
There are flowers blooming everywhere, the sun is shining and it's 80 degrees.

Creative Spirit in Overdrive

I had a wonderful time with the 7th graders exploring downtown Philadelphia. Having lived in the heart of the city for more than 10 years I am looking forward to returning from the 'burbs to the city in a few years.

My knitting group keeps expanding. Five 6th graders who are now having lunch in my office 4-5 days a week to knit. They all are beginners but are flying through their projects like pros. Projects completed are a washcloth with a heart motif, a felted shoulder bag with braided I-cord strap, a teddy bear with multiple color changes, an I-cord braided/felted bracelet and a scarf. One of the girls is making a felted netbook bag for our assistant head of the middle school. She picked out the yarn and is learning how to knit in the round. I will teach her how to pick-up stitches so she can add a flap. She already knows how to make I-cord so the removable shoulder strap should be a breeze. I will make the pocket so the project gets finished before June.

With all of this activity going on in my office my creative juices are flowing. I also made the washcloth and felted shoulder bag. To add to the mix I ripped out once again, and began anew, a cocoon sweater I began a year ago. It uses 8 colors and changes color frequently. It also adds stitches every other row. The patterns were just not coming out right. I finally decided, this is the 3rd try, to not include the added stitch in the pattern count. It seems to be working because the patterns are looking correct.

But while the cocoon sweater is cotton and can be worn in Florida in the winter or at school up North in the Fall and Spring, I decided I needed some sleeveless knitwear to take on my summer vacation to Europe.

I found some dark blue dk cotton I purchased a few years ago but never made the project I bought it for. Found a tank top with a keyhole in the back in the latest issue of Interweave knits. I had enough yarn and a few days later the back is half way completed.

But of course 2 projects is never enough. I found this beautiful ballet neck top that I just had to make. The light purple Sublime yarn made of bamboo and pearls arrived the last day before spring break. It bodes a lace neckline and stockinette for the bodice. The back neckline I started yesterday and should have it ready to take in the car, along with the other tank top, tomorrow for our car trip. Six hours to and from Savannah should net me a lot of knitting time.

Do I stop there? Of course not. I found 3 or was it 4 more patterns I wanted to make. Already have yarn for one of them. One of these days I am going to have to sort my patterns that I keep at home, at school and at my Florida house and get them organized. Some people hog yarn, I hog patterns.

Guess the pattern organizing will have to wait for summer vacation. My granddaughter starts kindergarten in the Fall so the felted backpack I have planned for her will have to be made over the summer.

I could retire now and just spend my days listening to books on my iPhone and knitting to my hearts content.

We found

The chapter of Leviticus that the inscription on the liberty bell came from, markers of 3 former dept stores kit brothers strawbridge & clothier and gunnels, a Bollywood movie at the independence library , several cornerstones and now lunch at reading terminal market.

Liberty bell center

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Made it to the Delaware river

Too Many clods for a good group shot but here's bubba9 with the Delaware behind him

Riding the market frankfort line

Bubba 9 loves riding the subway

30th street station

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Winged angel and terra cotta sculpture of transportation by Karl bitter. Snack break then off to subway and penns landing

City hall compass and murals

Found layout map of Philadelphia in center of compass rose

The amazing race

The amazing race

With 9 students in tow we are on a scavenger hunt of Philadelphia. First problem: septa gave us the wrong transpass. So after walking to the train station we had to head back up the hill to wait for the bus.
Our first stop will be the Comcast center at 18th and market
Here we are waiting for the bus with our mascot Bubba 9

Creating a 21st Century Tech Class From Scratch

If you had the opportunity to create a 21st Century technology class for middle school what would it look like?  Would it be paperless?  Would it be application/computer based?  Or would you harness the cloud and the Internet?  This is exactly what I have been challenged to do.  After many years working with teachers to integrate technology into their curriculum and then teach the application to the students, I am being given my own time slot to work with students.  My head is spinning with trying to create a year long tech class for the incoming 6th graders. 

Fact:  The majority of the students moving from 5th to 6th grade have already been introduced to Google Apps in the form of email and wordprocessing documents.  There will be 16 new students added to the class population in the Fall.  I have started to create an outline of cloud based computing tools to use.  Working out from Google Apps, there are digital imaging programs, social networking sites, study tools, and online file storage to name only a few.

Presently:  I am teaching an online HTML class using Coursesites.  I am wondering if I should be using Coursesites or our Moodle program to deliver the course content along with the classroom instruction?  I know I want to explore the use of handheld devices such as smartphones and itouches. 

Future:  My ultimate goal is to focus the program on ISTE NETS and have my students facile in many aspects of technology use.  The students now fumble with attaching a document to email but they know where the games are online.  They may be digital natives but they have yet to tap into the resources available to them. 

There is much for me to think about and only months to put it all together.  It is both scary and exciting.

 

Will he or won't he?

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That's the question 7th grade science students want to know. It's been 2 days and the class snake just doesn't seem interested in his dinner. Oh well may be tomorrow.

Math counts students v teachers

It was a close one but the students succeeded by one point over the teachers.

Bungee barbie

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It's bungee barbie time in 8th grade physics. Dropping barbie 2 stories without hitting her head on the floor below is always fun

Collaboration

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6th graders honing their iMovie skills in preparation for their ancient civilization documentary project

Outside classroom

What do you do when most of the kids have gone home because of the snow and your still in class? Take your class outside and make a snowman

More snow

Snow still coming down since early this am. Public schools closing. We stay until 3pm. Pretty but dangerous to drive in. Should have stayed home today.

Flex

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In my quest to try out this app I snapped some shots of my middle school kids hanging out in the hallway and locker pod during flex. Normally flex is a short study hall in advisory and then recess and snack after that. However on Friday's it's 15 min of free time.

Snow day

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Kids are arriving all morning. Only 3" of snow on the ground and everyone thinks they should have a snow day. Thought I would try this new app by taking pictures around the building.

Kids coming in late, students milling around the locker pod, LS students returning to their bldg after music.