Blackland Prairie Elementary

Mrs. Scott’s Class Used Turning Points to Review for TAKS!

roundrocktechguy — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:36:37 +0000

Mrs. Scott created some TEKS based reading questions in order to review her classes on various reading concepts and TAKS strategies. She collaborated with Mrs. Beasley using the Turning Point (student response) system for this activity. The kids enjoyed choosing their answers on the remotes as well as seeing how well the entire class did on each question.

Both teachers enjoyed seeing the kids excited about showing what they’ve learned!

Mrs. Stork’s Students are Using a Blog

roundrocktechguy — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:03:59 +0000

Mrs. Stork has created a blog for her class. The class is doing a book study and she uses the blog to pose questions to the students. The students leave comments on the blog in response to the question. The students are interacting with each other and the teacher.

This blog takes learning beyond the classroom! The students are able to respond in class, at home, from their cell phones, or wherever they have an internet connection. This encourages students to participate and it gives them an individual platform to have their ideas heard.

This is AWESOME Mrs. Stork! Check out the blog at http://5thgradetag.blogspot.com/

Mrs. James’ Kinder Students and Their Venn Diagrams

roundrocktechguy — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 19:26:56 +0000

I had the awesome pleasure of working with Mrs. James and her students this morning in the computer lab. In class they wrote out the information and brought that to the computer lab with them. They pulled up a Venn Diagram template and started placing their info into the right sections. As her students worked on their science curriculum they learned very important technology skills. They learned how to insert text boxes, make them bigger and even move them around.

What I liked best was that they were recalling the information from their minds and labeling it in the right spots. They were all actively engaged and on task! Something tells me that they liked this project. Way to Hook’em Mrs. James! (Hook’em – is short for “getting them ready for college!”)

Mrs. Young’s 2nd Grade Students are Making Movies and Using Digital Cameras!

roundrocktechguy — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:38:29 +0000

Mrs. Young’s class has been working on creating biographies. In their studies they have been researching historical figures and creating timelines. They even wrote poems that with it. At the end they publish a book. She is having the students use the digital camera to take pictures and turn them into a video to support their learning. Mrs. Young has plans for all students to create a photostory. Yes, this is 2nd Grade! How Awesome is that!?
Take a look at this fist completed video.

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Mrs. Glaspie’s First Grade Students are Conducting Research in the Computer Lab!

roundrocktechguy — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:19:05 +0000

Mrs. Glaspie and her students have been down in the computer lab making use of the online Encyclopedia Britannica and Kid’s Infobits to do research. Each student is researching their own animals with the goal of sharing it in class. They have opened up the presentations to Power Points, and other forms of digital media.
From this the students are learning about their animal’s class, habitat, food sources, protection and defenses, as well as learning how to use technology. This sure sounds like an awesome project! I hope to see the results soon, so please do share. Before and during this process the students have mastered several Technology TEKS including logging in.
WAY TO GO FIRST GRADE! Second grade is going to love you!

Mrs. Sellers and Mrs. Gustafson Produce a Charlotte’s Web Video!

roundrocktechguy — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:15:23 +0000

Last week Mrs. Sellers and Mrs. Gustafson conducted a Charlotte’s Web Play with their classes. Not only did they conduct the play they also recorded it. After recording it they compiled and edited the video into a nice production for parents to see. If you have access to view their wiki pages stop by and take a look! That is an awesome way to use technology! Keep up that good editing and you could have a nice carrier ahead of you. No wait scratch that, we want you staying here with us!

Mrs. Orr’s Class Uses Technology to Communicate With a Classmate!

roundrocktechguy — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:18:17 +0000

Mrs. Orr’s class took the time last week to use their technology skills to communicate with a classmate that has been out sick. They used the Dell Children’s Hospital web page to send letters and digital eCards. So, not only were they being socially active they were working on their writing and tech skills! Way to go Mrs. Orr’s Class! I know your kindness will pay off and I’m certain that your letter writing will as well. Thanks for putting those tech skills to a good purpose!

Mrs. Reyes’ Class Created Vocabulary Enriched PowerPoints!

roundrocktechguy — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:00:48 +0000

This past week Mrs. Reyes had her 2nd grade class on Power Point creating some slide shows. In their slide shows they used pictures of their tree planting experience to work on their vocabulary. Their goal was to use organization and transitional words like: first, then, next, and after. During this process they are learning the importance of sequencing. This is going to be very helpful as they preparing for writing! Reyes also used this opportunity to differentiate in her classroom. This allowed each student to work on his/her skill level and use their own voice to describe the activates taking place in the picture.

That’s a great way to use Power Point Mrs. Reyes! Keep up the great work and I look forward to seeing more from your students! Take a look at this power point by one of her students!
the-planting-of-a-tree

Ms. Cox’s Students are Learning Their Tech Skills!

roundrocktechguy — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:28:45 +0000

WOW!

Ms. Cox has her Kinder students logging into the computers all on their own. They have created Word documents, saved files, navigated web pages and this week they visited our Library Resources page to use BookFlix.

Ms. Cox, good job preparing those kindergartener students for first grade! I look forward to your next project!

Teacher’s PhotoStory Workshop!

roundrocktechguy — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:26:15 +0000

Last week we had several teachers participate in a workshop for PhotoStory 3. Our teachers learned how to take pictures from our digital cameras and turn them into a video production with voiceovers and music. We all shared ideas of how our teachers can use this program in the classroom and ideas for how they can have their students use it. Ideas like: Angle Hunts, Timelines, Noun Hunts, Talking Books, How to Vidoes, Photo Tours, About the Teacher/Student Videos, Visual Poems, Idiom Videos, Visual Dictionaries, and lots more! I hope to see some good projects coming from this soon! Check out the pictures below of our teachers taking pictures for their videos.

Mrs. Wilhelmi’s Blog and New Technology

roundrocktechguy — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:13:11 +0000

WOW, Mrs. Wilhelmi started a blog to inform her parents about what was going on in her class. Your blog is looking AWESOME! I know your parents will enjoy reading about what is going on. I also like the fact that you highlighted how you are using your new technology! I hope this will inspire others to take up blogging. Thanks for helping to lead us forward!
To take a look at Mrs. Wilhelmi’s blog follow this linkhttp://bpewilhelmi.blogspot.com/ .

Mrs. Roach Uses Jeopardy PowerPoint to Review Science!

roundrocktechguy — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:07:08 +0000

I walked into a classroom this week to check on something for a teacher and I saw something great! Mrs. Roach was using the SmartBoard and a PowerPoint Jeopardy game that she created. It wasn’t just a game, but it was a learning experience. They were reviewing Science materials for a test. Mrs. Roach, I was not only impressed with the Jeopardy game you created, but also how quickly and accurately your students could respond to such tough questions. They’ve been educated well! Keep up the good work! You all should ask her for her template and get a little Jeopardy going on in your classroom. The Smartboard isn’t required but it is a nice touch. (Get it, “touch” “Smartboard” you touch the Smartboard.) OK, bad joke!

You can also find lots of PowerPoint Templates and premade PowerPoint Activities in my Educational PowerPoint Resources Galore!!! blog post at http://www.techedknow.com .

Let me know what is going on in your class so you can be highlighted in our BPE Tech Blog!

Kudos to Mrs. Johnson’s 2nd grade class!

roundrocktechguy — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 20:58:10 +0000

Mrs. Johnson’s class has been studying the Native Americans along with their cultures while focusing on Landforms and Natural Resources. Their purpose was to learn about the natural resources the Native Americans used and how physical characteristics and regions affected peoples activities and settlement patterns.

Mrs. Johnson incorporated technology by allowing her students to use the digital camera to take pictures of the project creating a story. After putting the slides in order of topic they used the computer and microphone to record a narration expressing what they’ve learned.

I think their video turned out fantastic, Mrs. Johnson. Take a look at the video and see what her students created with random materials.

Thanks for using technology! I’m sure your students loved it!

Mrs. Johnson\’s Class Video

Mr. Hazlewood Uses the Smart Board in Music!

roundrocktechguy — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:02:54 +0000

Last week I had the privilege of joining Mr. Hazlewood in his music class. He had his students using and interacting with the Smart Board learning rhythm. It helped to remind me how important our specials teachers are to our core curriculum. The counting, rhythm and pacing that I saw taking place with his students will certainly be useful in their Math, Reading and Language Arts classes. Not only were they learning pacing techniques they were learning skills that will transcend into writing awesome 4th grade TAKS papers. Thanks for taking your music class up a notch by using technology and the Smart Board, Mr. Hazlewood! Here are some pictures from that day.

Cox’s Kinder Project

roundrocktechguy — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:27:40 +0000

A few weeks ago our Kinder students were studying “Patriotism”. Ms. Cox took her students on a “Patriotism Hunt” where her students used a digital camera to take pictures of everything they could find that showed patriotism. Yes, that’s right! She let her kinder students use the camera! How awesome is that!!! She put together a Power Point to show what her students found around school. Take a look!

Patriotism

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: kinder camera)

Way to integrate technology, Ms. Cox!!!

Repurposing of this Blog

roundrocktechguy — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:25:56 +0000

This week I’m revitalizing my Round Rock Tech Guy blog. I will continue to add Tech Tips to the http://www.techedknow.com blog, but this site will refocus on what my teachers at Blackland Prairie Elementary are doing with technology.

I think it’s important to focus on what our teachers are doing with technology in education. It helps to inspire others by recognizing the good that is going on around us. Don’t you wish our TV News channels would do that?

I’m excited about the repurposing of my original blog. Come back often to see what’s going on here at Blackland Prairie Elementary!

My Blog!

roundrocktechguy — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:31:33 +0000

You can find my current blog at http://www.techedknow.com

You will find all types of things for instructional technology and tools for your classroom.

New Space!

roundrocktechguy — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:52:25 +0000

A few nights ago I told my wife, “I need some space.” While she was jumping with glee and ready to send me packing, I felt compelled to make it clear that I was talking about “Web Space.” She was only slightly disappointed, but she mustered up the strength to support my blog anyway. So, I’ve stayed up late the last few nights getting it ready just for you! If you were a subscriber to my blog you should know, I’ve moved it to its very own spot on the web at www.techedknow.com.

This blog was created to support teachers in their endeavors to incorporate Technology + Education + a little Know-How.

Share this link with other teachers as I’m sure they will find great resources and tools to use in their classrooms and everyday life. On my blog you will also find links to other RRISD employee blogs that you will also find helpful in your classroom.

If you would like to learn how to subscribe to Blogs (RSS Feeds) or would like to start a blog of your own please let me know.

Blog has moved

roundrocktechguy — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:35:47 +0000

I have decided to move my blog to it’s very own space. You can find it at www.techedknow.com Please come join me.

Where we give Teachers the Technology Know-How to move their students forward!

Google’s History Video Archives

roundrocktechguy — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 18:52:13 +0000

This weeks Tech Tip is for the Social Studies Teacher. You will find that Google has partnered with the NARA to digitize 104 films of history. You will find them on the Google page http://video.google.com/nara.html .

I took a look at one of the news reels from D-Day and it was amazing looking at this time in history as it happened.Teachers can use this public domain data by allowing students to view the content as it was in history. How powerful could this be?!

You will find clips from NASA, War News Reels, and the Department of Interior. The Department of Interior video about the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1936 was awesome! I loved seeing the old machinery working as I gained a new appreciation for the advancement of Technology today.

I think you will find this a great tool for teaching history and giving students an opportunity to view history through the eyes of the people that lived it.