Math Word of the Week through Email

Here is an example of this week's Math Word of the Week Email by Ms. Ray and the problem Mrs. Barnard presented to the students.  The students will reply to both teachers during their independent time.

Math Word-of-the-Week

		x
Kristin Ray		5:56 PM (3 hours ago)

Hi Students- 

Thank you so much for participating in the online version of the weekly math 

vocabulary scavenger hunt! The winners will be announced on the K-OWL

news on Friday! Make sure to listen for your name!

This week's word is PERPENDICULAR LINES. You can find the definition 

on the Caraway website AND I found it on iXL too! I hope to hear from even 

more of you this week!

Thanks Mathematicians!

Bunny Barnard

Caraway Students, 

I had such a good response from my first math question.  That gave me

 the incentive to add another question for this vocabulary word.

Just for your information, I made my drawing in Google Drive with Drawing.

Google Mail is our Educational Answer!

Since the beginning of the year, Ms. Ray, our interventionist, developed a weekly scavenger hunt of math vocabulary words and definitions.  Ms. Kolodzinski, our TAG teacher, has her students create Screen-O-Matic.com videos of examples of the definition in action.  Ms. Letendre, our librarian, has students introduce it on broadcast each morning.  Ms. Barnard, our ITS, adds the word, definition, examples, and video weekly on the front page of our school website.  All this participation by the teachers was getting less and less participation by our students until our students received their Google Email!
Ms. Ray thought what would happen if we emailed the math vocabulary word to the students and let them watch all the places for the definition and send her back the definition to be entered into a drawing.  The first vocabulary word we tried was Prime Numbers.  Ms. Barnard added to the conversation thread by proposing a problem using the vocabulary word.  Her problem was, "Is 51 a prime number?" All this got great response by the students!  Not only can they email their classroom teacher, but now they were emailing the ITS and the Interventionist. They were giving definitions and answering the math problem and one student even used the Sieve of Eratosthenes to explain the answer. When the students weren't quite right, Ms. Barnard was able to give them hints.
The students love their independence with email and are "owning" their learning.  Ms. Ray writes, "I received SO many responses yesterday from students! Much more than the rest of the year combined. It has been really fun. When they have submitted a definition, I have asked for examples, and the students have again quickly responded. Awesome! It makes me really excited!"
Our principal, Ms. Hohmann, writes, "That's awesome!  I'm loving this student g-mail system, too."  She said, " I was able to praise students for their hard work." 
Ms. Letendre includes, "I saw reporters/ anchors who weren't on the air during our broadcast checking their email and responding in the newsroom.  Kudos for using brand new technology to get everyone learning math vocabulary!"

Students Receive GMail Accounts

This year RRISD has introduced Google Apps for Education, GAFE, for elementary students in grades 2-5. These accounts give students access to an email account and Gooogle Apps that include Google Drive, Google Calendar, Google Sites, and the Chrome Store. 

Student activity is monitored using a tool called Gaggle which will let teachers and administrators know if problems arise. Student accounts are for educational purposes only.
 
Students may use their Google Drive accounts to work on some of their assignments at home and to work collaboratively with their peers. Teachers can communicate easily with students and give them specific and timely feedback.
 
Here are some of the capabilities:

• Gmail: Students may email their teachers. Currently, student to student email is disabled, and students cannot be emailed by anyone outside RRISD.

• Google Drive: Students can create, edit, and collaborate on documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and drawings with their teachers and peers. Google Drive is available anywhere the student has access to the internet.

• Google Calendar: Students may create and use electronic calendars.

• Google Sites: Students may create web sites that are managed by RRISD.

• Chrome Store: District approved apps and extensions are available in the Chrome Store. These educational apps may be added to enhance productivity and student achievement.

The fun part of all this is to see the students' total involvement when we introduce it to them. Mrs. Gros sent a letter to all her students.  Read her email to her students below and the precious reply she received.

Hello My Sweet Second Graders,

I am excited to tell you that you have your very own school e-mail account to use for learning at school.  I think this is going to be a fun way to learn at home and school. Please respond to me and send me a note! 

Love,
Mrs. Gros

Student's actual reply:  

dear Mrs.Gros,

Thank you Ms.Gros for letting me have my first Gmail acount! I love you!

School and Technology begins at Caraway for 2012-2013

Kathy Caraway Elementary is off to a new school year.  We had a smooth beginning. Lots of happy faces came through our doors.
Before school ever started, Bunny Barnard, our instructional technology specialist, provided professional development for all the teachers and staff to introduce our new Google Email, Calendar, and Drive. Many people were surprised with all they could do with their gmail!
Then on Tuesday, we began our first ever "Tech Get-Together," hosted by our 4th grade teacher, Gareth Cook. We had a full computer lab of teachers and staff.  Gareth wants it to be informal, strictly voluntary, a come and go time to introduce new sites, troubleshoot problems, and share ideas.  Our first Tuesday focused on Google Mail, Calendars, and Contacts.  We revisited our recent training and cleared out any fog that might still be lingering.
We also addressed our newly created lunch schedule, created by Casey Henegar, for teachers to be able to send their lunch count to the cafeteria via a Google Spreadsheet.  Then our cafeteria manager, Steve Ho, can have the entire school count on one form already calculated for him to take to the next step in his daily procedure.  We made an instant icon on the teachers' desktop for easy access.
Next week, we plan to focus on Google Drive.