Math Loves Technology!

Sixth grade students started off the new year by diving into Think Through Math.  "Think Through Math is a Web-based solution that provides adaptive math instruction for students in grades 3 through Algebra 1. Developed by teachers and technologists to help students prepare for rigorous Common Core and TEKSstandards and assessments, " (http://www.thinkthroughmath.com/)


Seventh grade math spent much time in the fall semester using technology to review and practice math concepts with  various websites for math practice for students including Think Through Math, SumDog, and math-play.com. The students also used online quizzing software like Socrative for formative and sumative assessments.   Mr. Ritchie says "My students love using technology! I think it is the future of education. My students use an online educational software called Think Through Math. It is a self paced software that only lets you move on as fast as your knowledge will let you. There are also incentives for the students to be successful. That is an added bonus. "

Eighth Grade student have also spent time on Think Through Math to reinforce skills, especially in the Algebra and Geometry classes.  These students are taking the STAAR 8th Grad Math exam as well as the Algebra and Geometry End of Course Exams, so this program allows students to review math concepts that were covered in previous years.

8th Grade Science Gets Moving

Students in 8th grade are getting hands on time with motion detectors and vernier probes this week to create motion graphs by mapping the motion of other students moving at various speeds and paths.  This is part of their study of Force and Motion as they learn to differentiate between speed velocity and acceleration.

Fine Arts and Technology

Choir students led by Ms. Williams and Mr. Goad are participating in FUNdamental Fridays which incorporates technology into their classroom with activities such as PowerPoint games where kids answer questions and compete against each other. 

They also use technology to analyze student's sight reading skills with the use of a microphone and a program called SmartMusic.  

Band also uses SmartMusic to help students learn their music faster.  Mr. Mullen states: With our advanced band kids, we use it to help them learn their region band music.  The software allows them to hear the music, and also to play along.  The software follows the player and can provide feedback as to whether or not the rhythms were correct.  It can also adjust the tempo to help students who need to practice things a little slower or challenge the successful students with quicker speeds.

Our beginners use this software as well.  Seeing the music on the screen and watching as the cursor follows along really helps them feel the pulse.  It frees us up as teachers to walk around and monitor students on a more individual basis.

Theater Arts recently completed a webquest on Greek Theater and used the netbooks to research pieces of Greek Theater as students created masks and presentations from their findings.  

French Class

This past December, in French, students took a quiz online in the lab, listening to a recording of the teacher on the website podomatic.  This allowed students to review at their own pace before taking the quiz, versus in the classroom where they must take the listening section as a class.  This also allowed the teacher an opportunity for differentiation, instructing challenged students to pause and re-play as necessary.

M. Parrack's podomatic recording

What if You Designed the Next Hunger Games?

8th grade students were asked to write a persuasive letter based on their class novel study of the Hunger Games.  They used Google Docs to write the letter, which allowed the teachers to check on their progress and leave comments on how to improve their writing as they were working on the project.  They also created a muttation, a suggested combination of two animals to be added to the next installment of the Hunger Games for the Capital.   Students used PowerPoint to combine photos of animals into a new creature and then created an online multimedia presentation about their mutation using Smore.


Here are a few student samples of their muttations:

• Sharkodile
• Skishes
• Wooian
• Kangrilla

Road to Revolution

Seventh grade students in Texas History learned to use PowerPoint in a new way this week as they made info graphics.   Armed with information about the events leading to the Texas Revolution, students set out to show that information in a graphic way.   Here are a few student samples from Ms. Dyer's classroom:

Biographies Come Alive

Students in 6th grade English Language Arts are working on creating movies about the biography book they have just completed.  Students are summarizing the life of a famous person into a first person narrative that includes giving factual information and using proper citation with the help of EasyBib.com

Here are a few samples from this project:

• Pierre Omidyar - founder of eBay
• Alexander the Great
• Roger Williams