Math Students Collaborate

Students in Ms. Berner's Math classes collaborated on their assignments today with the help of a virtual whiteboard on http://www.dabbleboard.com/.  As Ms. Berner loaded a new question the students were able to write on the screen using their mouse to try to help solve the problem.   This was a great way to engage students to learn from each other and to talk about their math.

BYO Comes to Science

In Mrs. Gibson's 7th Grade Science classes the students were needing to use timers to complete the lab assignment.   In order to supply enough stop watches for the classroom, Mrs Gibson allowed students to use the clocks and apps on their cell phones with great results.  The students enjoyed being able to use their devices for academic purposes, and those who did not have a device had access to the classroom stopwatches.

Stop Action Animation

The week before Spring Break a group of 6th, 7th and 8th grade students gathered in the morning to learn how to create stop action animation movies.  The used netbooks, webcam for cameras, and MovieMaker to put together a short film of their choosing.

Virtual Microscopes in 6th Grade Science

Mr. Hardesty is introducing microscope skills to his sixth grade science students with the help of a virtual microscope.  As part of their exploration of cell theory,;differences between Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes students need to learn how to work a microscope to examine the specimens.  Using this website, students learn to use the different adjustments of the microscope in order to get the best picture possible.    Images are then recorded by drawing them on to their assignment paper.  This is in preparation for bringing out the microscopes in class on Friday so students will have some understanding on how to work the microscope to be able to master the unit objectives.

BrainPop helps with Clauses

Mrs. Porter is using the netbooks and Brainpop as a station in her room to help students understand what clauses are and how to use them properly.  Students take a quiz at the end of the video and email the results to the teacher.  This activity is in part of their writing unit in preparation for the STAAR Writing exam coming up in a few weeks.  Brainpop is a subscription service paid for by the RMS PTA this year.

Netbooks Make a Splash in Dance

Students in Mrs. Garcia's dance class, under the direction of Mrs. McLain, are working in groups and using the netbooks to learn new dances.  Students are watching instructional videos on how to do a dance then learning that dance as a team.  The technology allows students to watch the video over and over again as well as to rewind to certain parts and  to slow it down to get the subtle parts of the movement.  The dances they learn will then be demonstrated to the rest of the class.

Teachers Use Moodle to Prepare Math Students for EOC Exams

Students in Algebra and Geometry are preparing for the online End of Course Exams by taking their class tests online through moodle.  Students are learning to read the questions on a screen, use scratch paper for computations and how to enter, review and submit answers so they will scored, all valuable practice for the End of Course in May.

Here is a sample screen of a test question: