Tritt Computer Lab

Welcome to the Tritt Computer Lab

The Tritt Tiger Foundation funds the computer lab manager position through its fundraising eefforts throughout the school year.  The computer lab manager is responsible for maintaining the two computer labs, supporting the technology instruction within the labs and assisting grade level teachers with lesson plans to enhance the classroom curriculum. 

Each teacher schedules time in the computer lab, usually on a recurring basis.  Often, they come in each week to work on keyboarding, writing projects, Internet research and sometimes just for some fun.  All students are monitored when using the Internet and are required to use child friendly search engines while at school.

April 2011 Update

My, oh my, how the time has flown.  We are in the final countdown for this school year and we have done so much with each and every class spending a considerable amount of time working in the computer labs or using the mobile laptop carts.  April was cut short by our Spring Break and the administration of the CRCT, but we still worked very hard to make the most of our time.

At Tritt, it is our goal to use technology to facilitate learning in any subject area.  With a student to instructional computer ratio of less than 3 students to every instructional computer, we are exceeding the 5 student to each instructional computer ratio recommended by experts in elementary education.  Another reason to be thankful that your child attends Tritt Elementary School!

Our Preschoolers were able to complete a spring drawing in Kid Pix.  These sweet, young students have come so far this school year, with many students not knowing how to use a standard mouse or what click and drag meant.  They are all now fully proficient in the routines of coming to the computer lab, waiting for instructions and then going to their workstations to complete their work.  Many have even asked for harder assignments.  It truly makes my heart smile when these children want to work hard and are so driven to please me or their teachers.

Tritt Kindergarteners have begun illustrating addition with Kid Pix and that was extended by practicing addition facts in Mega Math.  We also researched insects using Pebble Go on the Cobb Virtual Library.  We will probably have time for a lesson on creating a graph and that will be it for the year.  I have enjoyed seeing these students grow more confident using the technology here at Tritt.

First grade students have received a Skills Tutor introduction with most students working on Math Fact Fluency.  This will become more and more important with the study of multiplication at the end of second grade.  Most of the first graders have done a considerable amount of typing in Microsoft Word and have become experts at inserting pictures and re-sizing them.  I have been able to help out in the classrooms getting the students acclimated to iRespond - a student response system - used as an assessment tool for teachers.  Each student is given a remote and they log in to the system with their remote.  TV shows like Oprah and Are you Smarter Than a 5th Grader use a similar system.  The kids really like this system!  We have been working on measurement using Mega Math and Trackstar.  We have also explorer the Code Red Rover web site to learn about safety at home and outside.

Second graders have also been introduced to Skills Tutor and we've worked on our Math Fact Fluency with Addition, Subtraction and some basic Multiplication.  We've also worked on the iRespond system in the classroom.  Second graders have been doing a fair share of typing and formatting text.  This is a great skill to have for third grade.

Third grade students have also been using Skills Tutor for math, reading and grammar.  They seem to like the system which gives them immediate feedback and let's them know where they are having trouble.  We've worked on Multiplication and Division in Mega Math as well as Skills Tutor.  Some classes have worked on an American Patriot Timeline.  This is a work in progress and will be completed next week.

Fourth and Fifth Graders have been working on their Tiger Publishing stories.  They have learned how to use the template and how to add pages in a document.  This can take up to 5 or 6 lab sessions to complete the typing and the editing.  It is certainly worth the work, though.  These older students have been working on Skills Tutor, as well.  We particularly wanted the 5th grade students to be exposed to it so that when they move to Hightower, it will not be a new thing.  We have covered Math Fact Fluency, Reading, Grammar and Social Studies in Skills Tutor.  If we have access to Skills Tutor for the summer, some teachers have mentioned that they will make optional assignments for students to complete in their spare time over the break.

Once again, I appreciate all of the support from the Tritt Parents, Office Staff, D.U.D.E.S., and faculty.  Without all of these people, the technology literacy program at our school would not be nearly as successful.  Have a great summer!

March 2011 Update

Ahhh, the long month of March is now over.  March was a very full month.  Each and every student spent some time in one or both of the computer labs typing, researching or practicing their math.  

Tritt Preschoolers have become very proficient with their mouse skills.  It has been a pleasure to work so closely with these wonderful children.  They have become very verbal in letting me know if what I have planned is not challenging enough.  They have practiced counting in Mega Math, Kid Pix and on the Internet using Trackstar (see right sidebar).  We have practiced up to 10, but most of the students can count way beyond that.  We will be working on identifying colors and color words in Kid Pix in April.

Kindergarteners were introduced to Pebble Go in March and loved every minute of this wonderful interactive web subscription.  This can be accessed at home through the Cobb Virtual Library.  Please ask your teacher if you do not know the CVL password.  Students were asked to select a mammal and draw a picture and then find two facts about that mammal.  Each child was completely absorbed into their research.  We then worked on illustrating addition using Kid Pix.  I was so pleased to see that these Kindergarteners have mastered the idea of addition.  We will continue working on addition throughout the month of April and will introduce some subtraction activities in May.  We will have at least one more keyboarding lesson before the end of the school year.  We will even squeeze in one more research lesson about insects.

First graders are rapidly becoming more and more independent in the computer lab.  They have a great understanding of what the expectations are and will come in ready to work (the credit goes to their classroom teachers!).  We have practice place value through the hundreds place, worked on inserting clip art into a Word document and labeled a picture of a plant and typed all of the things that plants need to survive.  Their typing skills have come a long way this school year.  We are beginning to work on safety using the site CodeRedRover.Org.  The games are a lot of fun.  We will continue with safety and will move on to publishing more of their written work.  We will also be working on practicing 2 digit addition in the coming weeks.  First graders will do one more reading assessment before the end of the year.  They will also be introduced to the SRI (Scholastic Reading Inventory).  It is a reading assessment that provides them with a Lexile score rather than a grade equivalent.

Second graders have been working on their keyboarding and research skills.  They have used Destiny and Cobb Virtual Library to find information about their topics.  They continue to learn how to search for information and how key words play into their search.  We have found that sometimes we are too specific in our key word search and we have to broaden our topic to find good information.  They have also been working on the identification of shapes and angles, as well as parts of speech.  Second graders will also have one more reading assessment before the end of the school year.  This will be provided in your childs final report card.  We will continue our work on keyboarding, but we'll be working on math and language arts practice for the remainder of the year.

Third graders have taken a lot of time practicing multiplication and division facts.  We have worked on perimeter and area, too.  We took some time and re-introduced Microsoft Word so that these students would have the skills fresh in their minds when they start typing their written work.  Most third graders spent some time in the computer lab practicing for the CRCT using the Department of Education website.  After the CRCT is over, we'll be working on keyboarding and typing their written work.  We will continue to work on math skills by extending their knowledge of multiplication and division.

Fourth graders have tackled decimals over the last month.  We have practiced in many different ways, using a number of tools.  We will be jumping into multiplication and division of decimals over the next month or so.  We've practiced grammars skills, particularly parts of speech, keyboarding and we introduced Fact Monster, a research site that has just about anything you could imagine.  We researched the year we were born noting all of the things that happened that year.  It reminded us all that the world did not stop the moment we were born.  Some classes prepared newspapers as part of their Revolutionary War unit and we've worked on CRCT review, as well.  We will pick up after the test and work on creating surveys and graphs as well as honing our keyboarding skills.

Fifth graders have been working on their keyboarding skills by publishing their written work as well as reviewing for the CRCT.  We will continue working on the keyboarding as well as some of the math concepts surrounding percentages and data analysis.  Fifth graders will be very busy over the next 6 weeks and sometimes their activities do not allow them to spend as much time in the computer lab as they have been, but teachers are very mindful of the importance of integrating technology in their lessons, so students may be using the laptops in their classrooms rather than coming to the lab.  Either way, they are enjoying the benefits of having many forms of technology available to them.

April is going to fly by and before we know it, May will be upon us with the end of the school year just around the corner.  Once again, it has been a priviledge to work with the students and staff at Tritt.  I have learned so much each year that I have been here and look forward to next year!

 

February 2011 Update

It seems like spring is on its way and that is certainly fine by me.  Having the January break (snow days) and the February break, March is going to seem like a long month.  But there is a lot to look forward to in March for the Tritt students in the computer labs.

In February, the preschoolers worked on counting and recognizing numbers to 10 and sorting things by one attribute (color, type, size).  We continue working on mouse skills, clicking and dragging.  We work on this all the way through Kindergarten, too.  In March, our preschool students will do more drawing using their expert mouse skills.  These students love to print out what they draw and love to do it for them.  They are so proud of their work, as they should be.

Last month, the Kindergarten students finished up our keyboarding lesson.  We will probably have another keyboarding lesson before the end of the school year.  Some classes even had an opportunity to make a valentine for a special person.  Coming up, we will be creating pictures and adding some text to practice informational writing.  We have begun to use the internet to collect information on Pebble Go.  We have chosen to research mammals, with each student choosing their mammal to learn about.

First graders spent the last month inserting pictures and text into a document.  The typing is a challenge, but it does get easier as they practice.  We also spent some time counting coins, identifying fractions, practicing telling time on both digital and analog clocks and doing some animal research using Pebble Go.  Over the next few weeks, we will be working on place value up to 100, although most students can identify and understand place value well over 100.  We will also work on editing written work on a computer.  They do it in class all of the time, so we will introduce editing on a computer.  This way we can practice capitalization, punctuation and correct spacing on typewritten work.

In February, the second graders began keyboarding using Type to Learn.  We will continue to work on keyboarding for the remainder of the school year.  We also had an interactive Microsoft Word lesson on how to change fonts, font sizes, font colors, center text, format text with bold and underline and inserting a picture.  All of the students did very well with this task.  It required each student to stay quiet and listen for the instructions for each step.  In the end, they were responsible for printing to the appropriate printer.  We also practiced logging in using individual student IDs, saving work, retrieving work and logging off.  This is very important as they begin to produce electronic documents.  Second graders also stayed very busy doing research.  Coming up, the research skills will pay off as most of the students will type (yes, type) a report about their research topic.  This allows the students to put to use their keyboarding skills along with all of their other writing skills.

Third graders spend the last few weeks working on their research topics, which included Georgia Animals and Famous American Patriots.  We also provided each third grader with a login sheet for the Georgia Department of Education CRCT Practice Site.  Teachers will send those home as they see fit.  Most classes have had a lesson on how to access, login and use the site.  If you have any problems using the site, please contact me.  March brings us to studying perimeter and area, multiplication and division, more CRCT practice and possibly some graphing if time allows.

Just like the third graders, fourth graders have been using their computer time to research various topics relating to the Revolutionary War.  Each fourth grade student was provided with a login sheet for the CRCT Practice Site.  Most classes have had a lesson on how to access, login and use the site.  If you have any problems using the site, please contact me.  We will continue to work on keyboarding and some classes will be publishing newspapers set in the Revolutionary War.

Fifth grade had a number of different projects in February.  One class did a World War II Map, one class worked on an electricity activity and others worked on other typewritten or research projects.  We will continue to practice our keyboarding skills throughout the school year.  Each fifth grade student was provided with a login sheet for the CRCT Practice Site.  Most classes have had a lesson on how to access, login and use the site.  If you have any problems using the site, please contact me.  We will find ways to work on fractions, decimals, percentages and graphing over the next few weeks as well as provide each student time to use the CRCT practice site in the computer lab.

Tritt has been selected as a pilot site for Skills Tutor.  It is an online instructional tool for grades K through Adult.  If you are a middle school parent, you may already know about Skills Tutor.  We will be working with it the last nine weeks of this school year to see if it benefits our students.  Stay tuned for more information from your teacher.  Most  likely, students will be using Skills Tutor at school only.

Happy Spring!

January 2011 Update

Our new year began with the talk of snow and then the reality of snow.  I'll admit that I was probably as excited as the students to see snow again this year, but after the second day off from school, I was ready to return to the normal routine.  With the unexpected January break, we had to skip some review lessons and go right into some new lessons.  Tritt students never miss a beat when it comes to learning.  I am constantly amazed of their technical knowledge and willingness to try something new.

Our preschoolers only had one lesson during January, but we made the most of it by using Mega Math.  We reviewed sorting by color and shape, then introduced measurement.  We compared items and decided which was the longest.  Each and every student had the concept of size down perfectly.  We can now work on counting, recognizing color words and maybe even number words by the end of the school year.

Kindergarteners have created their senses puzzle pieces.  We assigned each student a sense, then they had to find pictures of things that they could either smell, hear, touch or taste.  The children really showed so much creativity when selecting their pictures.  We have begun our keyboarding lessons and will continue our introduction over the next week or so.  We will then go back to drawing, then revisit keyboarding and math at the end of this nine weeks. 

First Graders started off the month by reviewing math facts, the food pyramid, and compound words.  We created a track in Trackstar (see right side bar) for the students to practice telling time to the half hour, counting coins and reviewing addition and subtraction facts to 12.  Most students have a pretty good handle on coins, but time and computation take a lot of practice.  We will be publishing a writing piece in Microsoft Word this nine weeks.  Students will be expected to type their written work, then find a picture using the clip art gallery in MS Word.  This is usually pretty fun for the students.  Most teachers exhibit this hard work in the hallway.  We will be working on labeling a map with the oceans and continents, then coloring it, all on a computer.

Second Graders reviewed their math facts as well, then we did some grammar review (see Trackstar page in right side bar).  Most second grade classees are using Pebble Go (on the Cobb Virtual Library) for research.  They are taking notes so that they can create a report on a subject.  We have now begun lessons with typing in MS Word, changing font, size, color and appearance of the letters.  We will be working on using student IDs to log into the network, saving and printing, then logging off the network.  This leads up to a typewritten piece that the students will create by themselves.  They will have several lab sessions to work on it.  I could have never imagined when I was in second grade (before computers) typing a report.

Third Graders have also practiced their math facts, inferencing skills and have begun to research using the Cobb Virtual Library.  We've covered fractions using Mega Math, which is the next best thing to using manipulatives to visualize fractions.  We'll continue to conduct research on Georgia Habitats and important Georgia people.

Fourth Graders have been reviewing their math facts, practicing fractions and most have completed a Revolutionary War Webquest.  Students were able to select a person, event and battle from the Revolutionary War and learn more about each of them.  We will continue to publish written work using Microsoft Word and some classes will be doing a group project using Microsoft Publisher.

Fifth Graders have also reviewed their math facts and practiced fractions.  We've created a map in Kid Pix depicting WW II Europe.  Students label the map and then color it.  They can use the Social Studies textbook as a reference.  We will be doing an activity that allows students to learn more about electricity over the next few weeks.

Third through Fifth graders will be taking the CRCT in April.  Each teacher has been provided with materials to help students review content for the CRCT online.  It is at the teacher's discretion when they decide to distribute the materials.  As of right now, students have not learned all of the material covered by the CRCT, so practicing what they don't know yet can lead to a lot of frustration.  Teachers will let students and parents know when they can start preparing.  Students will be given time in the computer labs to use the online system.

December 2010 Update

First of all, I hope that each Tritt family has a wonderful holiday break!  December has flown by with only 3 weeks of school since Thanksgiving.  I hope that this holiday season brings happiness to your home, joy to your family and laughter to your life.  We've been busy this December working on holiday gifts and greeting cards.  For those of you who remembered me so kindly with a gift, many thanks!

Our Preschoolers are getting more and more proficient with drawing in Kid Pix.  They'll be ready in January to create a class puzzle.  It's a fun activity with a really neat result.  We will continue working on counting as well as creating and extending patterns.

Kindergarteners will also be creating a puzzle in January using the skills that they've learned this month.  We will be talking about Martin Luther King, Jr and how we can strive to be more like him.  It's a fun project that allows the students to produce something that provokes a lot of thought.  We will also begin some keyboarding lessons.  This will not focus on correct finger placement, but on finding the letters on a keyboard.

First Graders have finished up any loose ends pertaining to the technology literacy standards.  We've created shape puzzles with many classes, taken reading assessments and worked on fair trades with coins.  In January, we are going to begin typing.  We start out with very short typing assignments and will move on to longer, more complex assignments using images as well as text.

Second Graders have been working really hard on their addition and subtraction skills.  We've have them work on making change using a website called Cash Out.  It's great practice with multiple levels of skill practice.   We will continue to practice correct finger placement while typing to help with keyboarding proficiency. 

Third Graders wrote division word problems and then drew pictures to show how the division was done.  This was a good exercise in how to visualize division and relate it back to multiplication.  We will continue to work on our multiplication and division facts, as everything else that we do from now on will hinge on that knowledge.

Fourth Graders completed a Jamestown Online Adventure.  They were able to make decision that affected their colony.  The goal was to have ratings of at least good, but excellent was better.  This allowed them to see how hard it was to set up a colony and make decisions that were best for all colonists using the resources they found in the settlement.  Some fourth graders were able to investigate how sound is made and how to combine sounds to create music.  A number of fourth graders created a geometry puzzle which had them define a geometry term and create a drawing of that term.  Geometry has a lot of vocabulary, so this was especially helpful.  Many of the puzzles are displayed in the hallways outside of the 4th grade classrooms.  We'll continue to work on publishing written work as well as research skills.

Fifth Graders are mostly independent when it comes to working on a computer.  They are able to create, save and print their own work.  They work mostly under the direction of their classroom teacher with technical assistance from me.  I act mostly as a "guide on the side" as they are preparing for the independence expected in middle school.

When we come back from the break, we will be reviewing math facts in every grade, as proficiency is sometimes lost during an extended break from school.  Toward the end of January, students in grades 3 through 5 will receive their logins for the online CRCT practice site.  We will be showing each student how this site works and allow them time to practice in school.  Students will be encouraged to use this site at home, however each teacher will have different requirements for the use of the site.  Please see your child's teacher if you have questions about how it's going to be used.  If you have questions about logins or difficulty in using the site, please let me know.

Happy New Year!

November 2010 Update

November was a busy month even with a week break near the end.  We tried to make sure that we had met the technology literacy goals for each grade level before the Thanksgiving break so that we could have some fun holiday computer activities after the break.  Once we return from the December break, it'll be full steam ahead!

Our Preschool students continued their practice of using the mouse to click and drag using Mega Math and Kid Pix.  These kids will be well prepared for Kindergarten as I use the same lessons for Preschool, sometimes just shortened a bit.  They practiced sorting shapes, colors and numbers in Mega Math and then learned how to draw and stamp in Kid Pix.  In the coming weeks, we will continue to practice drawing as well as counting using Kid Pix.  Kid Pix is a student favorite for all grades.

The Kindergarteners worked on counting to 20, sorting shapes, using a calendar and practiced letters and letter sounds.  Coming up, we will be working on a holiday puzzle using Kid Pix.  I look forward to seeing this creation!

The First Graders have been hard at work graphing coins and weather, practicing both subtration and addition facts and sorting pictures by vowel sound.  Coming up, we'll work on the Food Pyramid and making good food choices.

The Second Graders have been creating story maps, two digit subtraction, drawing in Kid Pix, sorting shapes, graphing and making change. These students have also been working on their keyboarding skills, which will serve them well as they move along in school.  Coming up, we'll continue to master our math facts and making change.

Third Grade has been working on publishing their writing, researching using keywords and most students did a soil webquest to conclude the soil unit in Science.  Third graders are encouraged to keep working on their keyboarding skills.  Coming up, we'll be creating division stories in Kid Pix to drive home how division works.  I'm a big fan of drawing pictures to help explain math.

Fourth Graders stayed very busy in November studying explorers, learning about simple machines, working on multiplication and division in Mega Math, and practicing measuring angles on the Internet.  With the next Social Studies unit, students will learn about colonization with an online adventure to Jamestown.  They will make a number of choices as the leader of a colony to make sure that their colonists are fed, healthy, wealthy and happy.  This is not as easy at it sounds, as you might know from being a parent.  Many fourth grade classes will be creating a puzzle using geometry terms while others will be continuing their study of angles and geometry.

Fifth Graders have spent a good portion of their time in the computer lab publishing their work.  They will continue to do so throughout the year.  Most fifth grade classes have been working on math practice using Mega Math, keyboarding practice using Trackstar (see right sidebar), graphing using Graph Club and some have been creating monster drawings using Kid Pix.  We will continue to work on more advanced features of Microsoft Office, specifically Work and PowerPoint.  Some classes will be creating movies using Movie Maker which proves to be challenging, but very rewarding in the end.

My best wishes go out to all of our Tritt families this holiday season and I hope that the new year brings much happiness and laughter to your home.

October 2010 Update

October got away from all of us I think having conference week in the middle of the month.  However, we managed to get a lot of work done in the Tritt computer labs.  As the school year progresses, we are doing more involved projects, sometimes lasting several lab sessions.

Our Preschoolers have be mastering using the mouse using various seasonal websites.  We even introduced drawing on the computer using Kid Pix.  They really liked all of the great things we can do with Kid Pix, especially blowing up a picture using the Dynamite tool.  We have given Mega Math a try and the kids really liked using their math skills to identify shapes and count cows.

Kindergarten has continued to work on counting, shapes, and patterns.  We have introduced drawing using Kid Pix and will continue to do that throughout the year.

First Grade has had their Accelerated Reader lesson in the computer lab with each student taking the same test together.  This showed the students how to log in, how to find the book they read and how to interpret the results.  We have also worked on addition and subtraction using Mega Math.  Some first graders have been introduced to creating graphs using Graph Club.  We will work more on graphing this nine weeks.  We had some language arts practice using Trackstar (see right sidebar).

Second graders have been mastering their keyboarding skills using the track we created in Trackstar (see right sidebar) as well practicing subtraction.  We've created a story web using Kidspiration with a book we read together in the lab.  The students were to identify the setting, problem and solution of the book.

Third grade has been mostly concentrating on keyboarding, graphing and math practice.  Some third grade classes have been working on publishing their writing using Microsoft Word.  As the students begin their Georgia habitat study, they will using the labs more for research.

Fourth grade has published a number of written projects using Word and PowerPoint.  Some classes have covered simple machines with an online resource called EdHeads.org.  Great resource for lots of interesting animated procedures.  As the students begin their explorer unit, they will be using the lab for research.

Fifth grade is working on their monster project for descriptive writing.  Mega Math is becoming less about playing the games and more about working through a math problem.  Most of the fifth graders have published their writing using Microsoft Word and some have even tackled creating graphs, and then identifying mean, mode, median and range.

As the holidays approach, we will have more drawing projects for the younger grades, usually seasonal activities.  We are anticipating a major network upgrade over the next few months so hopefully it will not impact our planned activities.

September 2010 Update

Ok, where did September go?  I looked at my calendar this week realizing that October was staring me in the face.  We've been very busy in our computer labs with making sure we are meeting and exceeding the county technology standards as well as providing lessons with the tools necessary to extend student work at home.  Please check the Trackstar page on the right side of my blog with the link to Trackstar and track numbers.  We have used these tracks at school and the students seem to like them.  All 3rd grade through 5th grade students have been provided with a "cheat sheet" with textbook logins.  This is a wonderful resource if a child forgets a textbook or they are just too heavy to haul home.  Please check out the extension activities available in the math textbook for extra practice.

In September, our kindergarteners kept practicing their mouse skills.  We placed a sticker on the mouse button that we wanted them to use.  This was helpful for children who do not use a conventional PC mouse at home.  We were then able to move on to Mega Math, an appllication provided with our math textbook, to work on recognizing numbers 1-10, extending patterns and understanding position words.  We will continue to use Mega Math throughout the school year for more math practice.  We will be ramping up on our use of Kid Pix to draw pictures.  The first few pictures that will come home may look like scribbling, but we will be teaching the students how to use the drawing tools to make a picture.

First graders have been illustrating their writing with details, working on sorting pictures with long and short vowel sounds, drawing their favorite weather in Kid Pix and practicing our math skills in Mega Math.  We've begun to use Kid Pix to draw addition sentences with pictures and we will do this with subtraction later on in the school year.  A number of first grade classes have ventured into having the students type a sentence and illustrate it.  While typing is part of everyday life for most of us, first graders have small hands and the keyboard doesn't make much sense to them.  They will use the "hunt and peck" method until 2nd grade, when they are  introduced to the home row of keys and correct finger placement on a keyboard.

Second graders have been writing about their bedrooms and some have chosen to draw a picture of their bedroom using Kid Pix.  We have used Mega Math to work on addition, money and reading graphs. We will be working with second grade with keyboarding, home row keys, and correct finger placement.  Second graders will be expected to type a research report by the end of the school year.  We have also used Trackstar to practice math and language arts.  Those tracks are listed on my Trackstar page on the right sidebar of my blog.  We will be working more on publishing writing projects and how to create a graph using Graph Club.

Third graders have created webs about the branches of government, written friendly letters using an online letter generator and practiced their inferencing skills.  Some third graders have been creating PowerPoint presentations.  It is amazing how quickly they embrace the tools and effects that make a presentation great!  We will be reinforcing correct keyboarding positions for the remainder of the school year.  Students will be performing research in the coming weeks using Cobb Virtual Library.  This is done in both the Media Center and the computer labs.

Fourth grade was able to complete a weather webquest on the Internet, practice math and language arts using Trackstar (see my Trackstar page) and how to access the online textbooks.  Fourth grade students regularly use their student IDs to login to the school network.  We have been encouraging students to memorize this number.  This expedites the process of logging in and they will use this number for as long as they are enrolled in the Cobb County School District.  Fourth graders will be creating presentations to share with their classmates, publishing their writing using Word and working on their keyboarding skills.

Fifth grade has been practicing their math skills using both the Internet and Mega Math.  Mega Math seems much less like a game and more like work by the time students get to 5th grade.  Keyboarding practice is ongoing in 5th grade.  The next big project in the computer lab for fifth graders will be drawing a picture, writing a detailed description of their picture and then giving the description to another student for them to draw.  We will compare the two pictures to see if the description was enough for the reader to picture what the author intended.  All fifth graders are working on descriptive writing.  This is just to reinforce the importance of accurate descriptions.

It is a priviledge to be with Tritt students each day.  I continue to learn so much about technology from the kids.  I hope that I have been able to return the favor.  Happy Autumn!

August 2010 Update

It's been a very busy start to the school year.  Our regular lessons have started and the children have brought so much excitement into our computer labs.  With more defined technology literacy standards, our lessons have become more specific.  We've had to be a little more flexible than usual as to a computer re-image project that occurred over the summer break.  

By now all of our first through fifth graders have done the STAR reading assessment and if your teacher hasn't shared those results with you, they will very soon.  Our Kindergarteners were given a warm welcome to our computer lab and began working on their mouse skills using several internet sites.  First grade has been using webbing software to create and organize a web as a pre-writing activity using pictures to describe their details. Second grade has taken this activity a little further by typing their details in a web.  Third graders have created a web using describing their senses when they visit a particular place.  In addition, some third grade classes were treated to an internet activity to review their math skills.  They seemed to like this as it felt more like playing games than working on their math facts.  Fourth and fifth graders have been shown how to login to our school network using their student IDs and how to access the online textbooks from the school website.  They have also been given a personal tour of our new school website.  We also have shown them how to access the Tritt calendar and their grade level links.  

If you are interested in using some of the links that we use in class, click on the Trackstar page on the right and go through the directions for using Trackstar.

I look forward to working with your children this year.  They being so much joy and energy to our computer labs.