Animal Studies with Prezi

Ms. Smith's First Grade students were given the assignment to study an animal that peaked their interest.  They were able to use our Next Generation Digital Classroom iPads for their research and final product.

They used the iPads to collect information and images of their animal from Pebble Go.  For their final product, they used Prezi to present all their facts.

They wrapped up their animal unit with a parent and school-wide Prezi Viewing party.  As you can see, the students are very happy to show off their hard work!

Going Google

Here is the 8th issue of Going Google for the 2014-15 school year. Learn how to add shared Google Calendars, add a folder from "Shared with me" to "My Drive", and invite a co-teacher to your Google Classroom.





Click HERE for the latest "Going Google" newsletter.

First Graders Create iPad Presentations

First graders in Mrs. Caballero's class used the iPads to create presentations about their learning on chicks and chickens.  The students independently created presentations using Prezi, Smore and My Story.  The students were able to add pictures and text to their projects.  Check out a few of their projects!

Third Graders Explore our World

 Third graders researched countries from around our world. They presented their knowledge in various forms, including a digital brochure and a Tour Guide Video.  Featured are students from Mrs. Leyva's class who discovered their country in Google Earth, put it in a presentation, added an edited picture of themselves and recorded interesting facts for potential visitors to their country. Pictured above are Rebecca and Will. 

Here are Kyra and McKenna telling you about their country. 

Hour of Code @Caraway Elementary!

Pint size coders now, 

future game-changers.

Kindergartners code with the app 

"The Foos."

Third graders can't be distracted, 

coding with Scratch...

Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day

Where are the women engineers? Women make up only 13 percent of engineering professionals in the United States, and less than 20 percent of college engineering students were women. What’s keeping the numbers so low? And what can we do?

Girls disappear from STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) courses early. By the end of high school, girls who have previously shown ability in science and math are opting out of STEM courses. It’s not because they lack the skills. Boys and girls show the same aptitude in math and science on tests. It’s because of stereotypes that girls just aren’t good at math and science or that fields like engineering are “unfeminine.” And because engineering usually isn’t taught until college, girls have to reject these stereotypes and seek out engineering opportunities all on their own. Having women role models can show girls that engineering can be a viable career choice for them. 

I came across this event and wanted to share.  It's right in our backyard at The University of Texas!

Original post from The Cockrell School of Engineering found here. 

Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (Girl Day) is an international event celebrated during Engineers Week each year.

Students and their parents or educators are invited to UT for an afternoon of engineering fun. UT’s national award winning Girl Day, presented by the Women in Engineering Program (WEP), gives over 2,000 first through eighth grade students a chance to:

• have fun doing grade-specific, hands-on engineering activities,
• meet students, professors and engineers from industry, and
• see what it's like to be an engineer.

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Date and Time

Saturday, February 28, 2015
2 - 5 p.m.

A special thanks to all WEP Girl Day Partners including local community organizations and not-for-profits, engineering student organizations, companies, and area colleges and universities. For more information on how to join WEP in this effort, contact Tricia Berry at tsberry@mail.utexas.edu or 512-471-5650.

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Registration is Open!

Registration is now OPEN for Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day 2015! You can register participants on our website. You will need to create a free account to register which will allow you to add, remove, or edit your participants.

Kahoot!

This week I was excited about seeing Kahoot used in the classroom. Ms. Kolodzinski used Kahoot as a math review for her fourth grade students.  Kahoot delivers an online interactive quiz to students. She projected a question in the front of the classroom. The students see the corresponding icon and color on their screen. They have 30 seconds to answer on their computer and get points for every question they answer right. The quicker they answer the more points they receive. After each question the top 5 students are shown on the board with their scores. This is where it gets exciting. The students love this immediate feedback and want to get to the top position. I have never seen students so focused on answering the questions correctly. You can see in the photos that the students loved every minute of their math review!

Teachers can create their own Kahoots or use Kahoots other teachers have created. Check out the Kahoot User's Guide for step by step directions or view the videos below.