Westside school is moving to a new web platform later today. As part of the transition, this technology blog is moving from WordPress to the new Drupal platform.
What this means for you, dear reader, is that you may see a hiccup during the transition, which will cause news stories to be marked as “new” even though you’ve already read them.
Sorry for any surprises this may cause. You should continue to receive timely updates from our classroom starting Tuesday!
May is “bike to school” month, and Westside students are celebrating Spring and healthy lifestyles by riding to school.
Who knew that a few simple machines could turn a commute into such an enjoyable part of the day? Thanks, technology!
Josh’s 3rd grade class has been learning about Native American culture. They’ve relied heavily on the Internet for information and have been honing their search skills in the process.
In the video below, a student explains the presence of paid ads within her search results:
Every once and a while the keyboards on our iPads seems to switch to a different language. Veronica, the Spanish teacher, has created a video tutorial on how to intentionally switch between keyboards, but here is a video explaining how to undo any keyboard issues.
Britannica Online is an interactive, digitized version of the world famous Britannica Encyclopedia! It also includes the Compton’s Encyclopedia and is designed for elementary and middle school student users. This database is an ideal resource for accessing up to date and concise information for a wide range of topics.
This resource is brought to you, FREE of charge, through both the King County Library system and the Seattle Public Library system!
How can I access Britannica Online for Kids?
Britannica Online is one of the many databases to which the Seattle Public Library (SPL) and King County Public Library (KCLS) subscribes. You can access Britannica Online with a valid SPL or KCLS library card and PIN number. Here’s how:
Seattle Public Library:
v Simply follow this link
v Scroll down to locate Britannica Online
v Click on the Britannica Online heading
v Log in with your SPL library card number and PIN number
v Start exploring!
King County Public Library:
v Simply follow this link
v Scroll down to locate Britannica Online
v Click on the Britannica Online heading
v Log in with your KCLS library card number and PIN number
v Start exploring!
How do I use Britannica Online for Kids?
Britannica Online is simple to use. Once you log into Britannica Online, you can search for a topic in the search box, browse by topic, or explore the numerous features on the homepage such as Animal of the Day, Headlines, and Discover America. Once you reach a desired topic, Britannica Online will provide a host of resources on that topic from encyclopedia entries and articles in journals and magazines, to websites and media clips.
From the Home page, students can also take advantage of the Student Center, which is a compilation of “How to” tips such as How to Write a Book Review and How to Prepare an Oral Presentation. It also provides links to other useful resources like Timelines, Biographies, World Atlas, and more!
What can I do with Britannica Online for Kids?
I have crafted this Newsletter in an effort to spread the word about the extremely handy AND free databases available through our local public libraries. I believe that the databases featured in this Newsletter are fantastic tools that can be used in the classroom, in the library, at home, and beyond!
….stay tuned for more issues of D’BOM, otherwise known as Database of the Month, brought to you by your School Media Specialist!
Last night’s “Growing up digital” conversation was a huge success – thanks to the dedicated families and the work of Valerie & the WPO.
Our parent community gathered to discuss trends and value systems around digital engagement. We shared personal experience and the behaviors that we model for our children. We shared opportunities to engage technology to enhance learning and awareness of the world and the unintended consequences of use.
Resources for further learning (pdf)
Net Cetera: Chatting with Kids About Being Online does a thorough and even job of explaining the kinds of activity that people engage in online, along with conversation starters for parents.
Meeting of Minds: Cross-Generational Dialogue on the Ethics of Digital Life is a wonderful overview of conversational topics and the disconnect between adult and child perceptions.
A Parent’s Guide to 21st Century Learning is a publication from Edutopia that explains what optimal learning might look like in a educational system that is shifting towards instruction in critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity.
Zero to Eight: Children’s Media Use in America presents survey results from Common Sense Media and gives a clear picture of how adults and children use digital devices.
Technology and Interactive Media as Tools in Early Childhood Programs is a position statement from the Fred Rogers Center that discusses the reality of our culture and technology’s place within it.
Tuesday night at Westside, it’s parent education night! Come share your experiences of raising a digital native with others from the community. We’ll talk about what works and what hasn’t.
Sarah & Ilde’s kindergarten class has been studying the work of Eric Carle and also learning about the world of insects. This week students played with a variety of media to demonstrate learning: everyone had a chance to make create their own 3-D insect, write a story about their bug, and digitally reproduce their work using an iPad.
The results are amazing…be sure to check out the first floor hallway for the entire art exhibit.
Dear middle school students,
Hope you are having a great weekend. As you know, we rarely have tech homework, but your assignment for tomorrow is an important one – please read the rest of this email all of the way through before starting the assignment.
After 6 months of experimenting with iPads, the teachers have decided that iPads would be more useful in 2nd and 3rd grades. You guys have done a great job of testing the devices and we appreciate the hard work.
Your assignment: please bring your iPad, charger, and any other accessories to school Monday morning. We will check in the devices and I’ll spend the week when you are out of town erasing everything and getting the iPads ready for the younger kids.
When you get back from the Olympic Coast trip, each of you will get a mini-chalk board that is useful for doing math problems and writing notes to yourself. You can also draw pictures of your friends on the chalk board and you will receive 3 different colors of chalk!
In tech class, we will cancel the media festival project and start working on writing in cursive.
Thanks for your help.
P.S. happy April fools!
It’s time to put all of our creative skills into practice and share our talents with the world! The Middle School Media Festival is accepting submissions until April 10th.
There aren’t too many rules – please make sure your video is appropriate for any person ages 10-100. Also, videos containing explicit violence won’t likely be submitted.
There are a number of categories to choose from: film, music, screenwriting, presentations, etc.We’ll be using tech class from now until then to record, photograph and design entries for the festival. This won’t likely be enough time to create a masterpiece – advisors are opening up Monday afternoons for project work and you are always welcome to use evenings if that fits in with your family’s schedule.
One of the most popular questions so far from students is “How do I create my own music for the film I’m creating?” Apple just added the ability to get songs from Garageband into iMovie – we’ll be able to do this after the next class sync. Here is a video that explains how: