What Did You Learn?

Whenever I can find the time at the end of a day, unit, class, etc. I like to ask my students a few questions about the class. I do this for a number of reasons. First of all, I like to know what students enjoyed the most about the class. I also want to know what they enjoyed the least. This is not to say that I will get rid of what they enjoyed the least and keep what they enjoyed the most. It is just my way of getting student input and it helps me plan for the future. I also like to ask students what they learned from taking this class. If they can't tell me anything they learned, then what was the purpose of taking the class?

The last day of summer school, I only had the first hour class, which was my Fun with Technology class. We had a few minutes at the end of the class, so I asked them these questions about their experiences in the class. I was pleasantly surprised with the results.

The first question was what they enjoyed most about this class.
Here were some of the answers:

• Creating pictures for the Goldilocks project
• Having time to play different puzzle games online
• Using powerpoint for the first time
• Adding animations to their presentations
• Presenting their animations

The second question was what did they enjoy the least about the class. The majority answer for this was of course the typing practice. This was not surprising to me and I told my students that typing practice was one of my least favorite activities in computer class, too. However, it is important and helps you type faster and faster over time.

The final question: What did you learn?
Here are their answers:

• Homerow for typing
• How to animate on PowerPoint
• How to add pictures to a PowerPoint
• How to add additional slides in PowerPoint
• How to add and delete transitions on a PowerPoint
• How to export images in Pixie
• How to add stamps, pictures, and cool effects in Pixie

It is so exciting to hear about all the great things they learned in class. It makes teaching the class a success!

If I were to teach this class again, I would definitely keep the format of the class the same. I liked that the students had time to practice typing, play games, and work on a project every day of class. I feel like it was the right balance of work and play for the students.

I really liked the project, but would probably change it for next year so that the same students could take the class again if they liked. I would want to continue to include PowerPoint and Pixie in the project as these seemed to be big hits with the kids. Maybe even a project that really focused on all the cool things that PowerPoint can do. I think the kids would really like that.

That is all for now!
Thanks for reading,
~Brittany De Laruelle

Fun with Technology

Summer school at my school is split into three sections. Each section is 55 minutes with a 5 minute passing time. School runs from 8:30 am - 11:30 am. However, students normally arrive at about 8:15 am and start by eating breakfast. At the beginning of summer school they used to have students eating in the room they had their first class in. However, having 15 students from the ages of 6-9 eating in a computer lab is just a recipe for disaster. So, about the second week we switched it to students eating breakfast in the cafeteria. I am a bit anal and will not allow my students to eat in the cafeteria alone. So, I have ALL my students meet in the cafeteria and then walk down to the computer lab at 8:30 am.

Once students are in the computer lab they have specific directions to follow. First they must log into their computers. Then they go to my teaching website and fill out a form for attendance. I linked this to my email so that I can fill out my attendance later. After filling out the form it takes them to a different website. The websites I have used are typing websites so that students are practicing their typing. I have used a wide variety of them, but my own personal favorite is Dancing Mat Typing. This BBC website is very interactive and helps students learn the home row of keys. It is colorful and fun for kids and makes it fun to learn!


When students complete a level they are then allowed to spend 10-15 minutes playing a game of their choice.

Some favorites of my students are the following:
ABC Ya

This site has a WIDE variety of different games. As you can see from the picture it has a tree on the main site that links to games of different age levels. They also have a wide variety of games under each grade level. There are typing games, math games, science games, puzzles, fun games, etc. One game the students really liked was Sugar, Sugar (5th Grade - Just for Fun). I have to admit it was even fun for me to play! :)

Fun Brain

Fun Brain is a site with all sorts of academic games. Students were begging to go on this website to play the games and it is great that this site encourages learning.

Keyboard Climber

This website was one I linked for typing practice one day. However, students play this one even when they get a choice for all the other games. They absolutely love watching the monkey jump from branch to branch as they type the correct letters. However, keep in mind this is better for the kids going into 2nd or 3rd grade as it is a bit difficult for the younger ones.

After the gaming and typing practice they are half done with class. This half normally goes really fast and the kids are sad to have to turn off their games, but the second half normally goes just as fast and it is soon time to go. More about what we do in Fun with Technology coming soon!

Remember every day is a good day to practice typing! :)
Miss De Laruelle