Getting I.T. Right

Deerpark Middle School’s robotics club engineers have video conference with UPS pilot and former F-16 fighter pilot, Jim Crowley, about their airplane engine cover design.  The engine cover was designed to prevent birds from dying when they encounter a plane engine during flight.  Mr. Crowley praised their design for being aerodynamic and environmentally conscious.  He asked them to think about the benefits vs costs of saving the birds compared to the weight and amount of fuel that extra weight would require.

Tags: Engineering, Robotics, video conferencing

As a service-learning project, Scott Ganske’s fifth grade students at Anderson Mill Elementary combined their classroom learning with a meaningful service to the community. Students used technology to raise awareness about children’s needs around the world and the importance of getting involved and making a difference by developing an inspirational video, a wiki, a blog, a newsletter and a book.

Visit the link below to learn more about the Math Jeopardy via webcam challenge between students at Fern Bluff Elementary and Cactus Ranch Elementary.

http://fernbluffit.edublogs.org/2009/10/22/math-jeopardy-via-webcam/

Mr. Osman with wireless slate

David Osman, AP Government teacher at Round Rock High School, was chosen the 2009 Teacher of the Year.  Mr. Osman, shown here annotating a website with his wireless slate, extends his classroom by posting all his class notes, powerpoints, and study guides on his impressive website.  His busy senior students appreciate the  ability to access Mr. Osman’s course materials at any time.

Tags: interactive classroom, web2.0

What began as a friendly competition between some classrooms at Union Hill Elementary has resulted in unexpected global interest. Participating teachers at Union Hill created a “Sign My Guest Book” page on their classroom web pages where visitors could record name, city, and state to serve as a means of measuring extent and success. Ms. Allen, a fourth grade teacher at Union Hill, is now getting posts from all over the world. Her students are assigned to do a bit of quick research on the unfamiliar places, find an interesting fact or two to share with the class, and mark the location of the posts on a big map. Checking the blog has become a much-anticipated part of their day. Now their little project is the subject of a blogger in Amsterdam and has been Tweeted and re-Tweeted around the world.

Students in Grades 1&2 spent the afternoon in Mo Willems’ studio via a live simulcast in the library. Mo Willems has written the Pigeon books and the Elephant and Piggie series. Purple Sage was one of just 200 schools across the whole country to have this privilege. We were the only school in Austin and Round Rock, Texas to participate.

Charla Newlon of Teravista uses a blog to present math challenges, share resources about Martin Luther King, Jr., and to gather reader responses. Check it out at:

http://teacherweb.com/Blog/TX/TeravistaElementarySchool/CharlaNewlon/1/default.aspx

Blackland Prairie first grade teacher shares the use of technology in her classroom with her parents via her blog. Ms. W and Ms. G’s class blog

Tags: blogs

Learn what’s going on at Deepwood Elementary by perusing the first edition of their online newspaper, Dino Tracks. The students have written breaking news stories and entertainment articles along with identifying links for students, staff, and parents. Don’t miss the opportunity to leave comments on the blog section.

Tags: online newspaper

We have now completed offering our second online blog class. Check out the blogs of some of our staff members who completed one of these online classes and has integrated this into his/her professional life.

Janet Rice from McNeil  http://mrsrice-mcneil.blogspot.com/
Will Waghorn from Hopewell http://eslmathlab.edublogs.org/
Christina Zapata from Instructional Support Services  http://awsupport.edublogs.org/

Tags: blogs, professional development, web2.0