October Entry
Personal Narrative

     I began the lesson by having the students brainstorm a list of personal achievements.  Then they had to choose the one they thought they could write the most about.  Most of the students came up with very interesting and meaningful achievements.  Some of them had trouble narrowing down an achievement.  A few didn't write about an achievement at all but wrote a story.  After the students decided on their topic, I had them begin their rough drafts.  Several students failed to give enough details.  In small groups I went over the drafts with them and helped them find and correct their mistakes.  I let the Cyber Ambassadors type the personal narratives on the computer.  I hope the more we write the more they will become accustomed to the steps in the writing process.  The students don't like the prewriting, revising, and editing stages of the writing process.  Many do not understand the concept of a final copy. 

November Entry

     Every Friday we send home a newsletter.  I ask students in each class what they have learned during the week and what events have occurred.  Ms. Burchfield has a box in her room for the students to put suggestions in.  I use to write it out, but in October I began doing it on the computer.  The students' reactions were incredible.  They said things like, "Wow!  This looks really cool," and "We like this better than the one you write out."  Other teachers also said how professional they thought it looked.  I included some pictures taken with the digital camera.  I took a picture of the first person to reach 100 points in accelerated reader and the students with the sheriff during National Red Ribbon Week.  I also don't see as many newspapers lying on the floor after the students leave the room. 
     I have e-mailed one of my Class Pet Exchange partners.  I needed two more teachers to exchange with.  My partner found someone at her school who wanted to participate too.  We are getting ready to send our Smokey dogs to them.  I still need to find one more class to trade with. 
     Last week was Children's Book Week.  I had a story writing contest the English classes.  I am having the Cyber Ambassadors, Colin Shea, Hannah, and Tyler, type them in on our school web page.  The ambassadors have been working with the lower grades.  They are helping them with keyboarding.  I allow them to miss a few minutes of my class each day. 

December Entry
     I used Adjective?  What's An Adjective? which I found at http://yn.la.ca.us/cec/ceclang/ceclang.86.txt.  Adjectives are one of my favorite parts of speech to teach because you can more fun activities with them.  In this lesson, students had to work in a group at a piece of chart paper with a picture glued to the top.  I chose a wide variety of pictures.  They had five minutes at each picture to write down as many describing words as they could.  The students did a good job of taking turns writing on the chart paper and moving orderly to the next station.  The first groups in each class had a little difficulty.  They wanted to write down naming words (nouns) rather than describing words.  When I called their attention to what they were dong, they were able to correct their mistakes.  When all the groups had been to every picture, we talked about each chart.  We marked off words that had been used twice and words that weren't adjectives.  We also corrected any spelling errors.  We tallied each group's adjectives.  That worked fine with two classes, but not with my more competitive group.  We had to stop tallying in that class.  After the discussion, I told the students to pick a chart and use at least twenty adjectives from that chart in a story.  I told them they could make up their own stories or write one about the picture.  Their stories were wonderful!  They were much more creative than ones I have had them write in the past.  They also wrote about topics they normally wouldn't have chosen.  No one said, "I don't know what to write about." 
     The cyber ambassadors have been working in other classrooms a few minutes out of reading and English class times.  I plan to help Mrs. Whitney some in the afternoon when she meets with the cyber ambassadors weekly.  They may update the county website. 
     The weekly newspaper is still a success.  The students enjoy providing the information.  We haven't searched the Internet for news since ours focuses more on school happenings.  I did use some information from the Standard-Banner last week.   Because of time constraints I haven't turned the students loose to write the newspaper themselves.  Maybe that could be a cyber ambassador's project. 

January Entry 

     After last month's session, I went back to school and put all of my Class Pet Exchange e-mails in one folder.  This year my class pet partners keep in touch through e-mail better than last year.  I let my Cyber Ambassador, Hannah, e-mail one of the classes in New York.  I plan to let the other ambassadors practice sending e-mail.  Hopefully we'll be at school a little more before the next session so we can have more time. 
     Our Class Pet Exchange is going well.  I am really enjoying communicating with other teachers.  It's interesting to see what the weather is like and how the do things at their schools.  I hope the students find it as interesting.  They are excited when we get e-mails from our CPE partners. 
     I used the laptop in my classroom last week.  I put Grammar Rock on it and let the fifth grade play the noun games in small groups.  I worked with another small group looking up information on the Internet (on my other computer) for their science fair projects.  It was very helpful have the extra computer in the room. 

Febraury Entry
     This month we had an ICQ chat with Mrs. Britt's class at White Pine.  It took us a while to come up with a time we would both be available for a chat.  My kids really enjoyed talking with them especially when they started talking about the DARE graduation.  My class couldn't believe they were talking to other kids they might actually meet at the graduation.  Only one person said he thought it was boring.  We have planned to talk with Mrs. Britt's class again. 
     I haven't really been able to use the Cyber Ambassadors much this month because they have been working on power point presentations with third and fourth grade classes.  They have been going to those classes during my class time with them. 
     I have found lately that I run out of time to make my newspaper at school.  Last week I took the laptop home and worked on it there.  I think I have only made one newspaper this month, but I plan to make one this week.  I don't really have them look at news stories on the Internet.  Our stories are about student achievement (spelling bee winners, 200 AR points), what students have been studying through the week, and upcoming school events. 
     We are still working on the Class Pet Exchange project.  Our exchange partners don't e-mail us as much as they did at first.  We didn't hear from one class in NY for about three weeks.  We found out they had lost Smokey, but luckily they found him!  For some reason it has taken them longer to send our pets home with all of their students.  Some of my students have taken their class pet home twice. 
     My students have been working on research papers for a month now.  I checked encyclopedias and science books out of the library for them to use.  I also let students search the Internet to find some information.  Even though I had all of those books for them to use, they still told me they couldn't find any information and would need to use the computer.  Some of them have been typing their reports at home, and they look very professional.  I've also been able to show them how to double space and format their reports to use on their computers at home. 

March Entry
     I was unable to download PowerPoint presentations to use since last time.  I plan to use the one that I created last month when we begin our study of reference materials.  I hope to look for some other ones soon.  I am going to let one of my fifth grade gifted students create a Power Point presentation on adjectives. 
     Our Cyber Ambassadors participated in a telephone interview last Wednesday.  I have not had a chance to ask them about this experience.  They are still very eager to keep the fifth and sixth grade teachers' computers clean. 
     I have been taking the laptop home to work on the classroom newspaper.  I run out of time trying to work on it at school.  When I take it home and work on it, I can get the format set-up and clip-art inserted.  Then all I have to do at school is add in information I get from the students. 
     We haven't heard from our Class Pet Exchange classes very much lately.  One class from New York sent a message last week telling us they would be sending our pet, Smokey, back soon.  We will be having a going away party for their pet, Lucky, tomorrow.  We are also going to be pen pals with this class. 
     I have noticed students are more willing to find research information if the get to use the computer.  It's kind of like they don't think they are reading when they get information from the computer rather than the encyclopedia.  They are more eager to look up information on the computer. 
     I have been getting the class newspaper out late for the past two weeks.  It is almost impossible to get to the copier at the end of the day on Friday.  Hopefully, by taking the laptop home through the week I can have the paper ready by Friday mornings. 
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April Entry
I have used the Cyber Ambassadors to help me with some typing of writing assignments.  Some of the students take too long to type their own, so I let the Cyber Ambassadors type them since they can type faster and know their way around Word very well.  I didn't use the laptop much in my classroom last month.  Ms. Burchfield made a PowerPoint presentation for the SACS visiting team.  They mentioned that no school had ever done that before.  My classroom web page has not been updated yet.  I plan to let the students type their, "All About Me" stories, next week and possibly add more to the site.  I have gotten VERY behind on my classroom newspapers.  I will be making one for next week because we have lots of information to share with the parents.  Our fifth grade internet project is wrapping up.  We have received two of our pets (from New York).  The one from West Virginia has not come back yet.  I will be sending the ones to New York this weekend, but Leo from W.V. has been lost by one of my students.  I will be searching toy stores this weekend for a new Leo.  I put the journals in a notebook so the kids can look at them and some pictures that the other classes sent. 
     My students used the Internet to find information for their science fair reports.  Students are more willing to do research if they can use the computer, even if it's just using an encyclopedia CD-ROM, rather than using a traditional encyclopedia.   I also used it to ask the "Grammar Lady" questions about a works cited page.  I have also let some of the students email the classes we are participating with in the class pet exchange.  I have used computer games to go along with parts of speech or other skills we have been studying.  My students enjoying chatting with some of the seventh graders in the afternoons through ICQ.  I had the laptop in a work station one week so all students would have an experience working with it. 
     My teaching has changed because I try to incorporate technology in some way each week. 
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May Entry
All three of my fifth grade classes participated in the Class Pet Exchange Internet Project.  I let the Cyber Ambassadors send e-mails to the classes with which we were participating.  The students seemed to enjoy taking the pets home and writing about their experiences with the pet.  Some took a creative writing approach while others wrote narratives.  We have discussed these different writing styles.  When our pet was sent back, I put the journals in a binder so the students could take turns reading about the adventures of the pets we sent to others classes.  This year my students also learned some facts about New York.  That class sent an information packet with facts and figures on the state.  The fifth grade also participated in a drug free project.  They used a map to find a city in every state to send a drug free message.  Then we went to the USPS website to locate the zip codes.  I have just recently had my classroom website uploaded.  I let the students type in their All About Me stories.  Another fifth grade class wrote stories about "What Happened to Leo" after they lost the pet from the Class Pet Exchange.  I typed the stories while they read them to me to save time.  Last year I did not let the students use the Internet at all.  This year we have used it for research, emails, ICQ, and viewing websites of interest.  At Christmas and St. Patrick's Day we went to several websites that had games and histories of the holidays. 

I have used the lesson plans that I developed and ones that I have found while searching the Internet.  The Internet is a great resource for finding fresh ideas.  I communicate with other teachers at my school through ICQ.  I can get questions answered from the office and other teachers without leaving my classroom.  We are planning an ICQ chat with the fourth grade to answer their questions about fifth grade.  We have had chats with other fifth grade classes in the county.  We use e-mail to communicate with our partners in the Class Pet Exchange Project.  We have not had a chance to videoconference yet. 

I use MS Word to type our classroom newspaper.  The students have used Word to type poems and stories.  I have used Power Point to introduce new lessons.  One of my gifted students has made several Power Point presentations to share with the class.   Our Cyber Ambassadors have done Power Point presentations with the lower grades.  I am still adding things to our classroom website.  I plan to keep adding stories and other features in the future.  I use the class newspaper to let parents know what the students have been studying the past week.  I also showcase personal achievements of the students.  I include upcoming events as well.  Students look forward to seeing if their name is in the newspaper. 

I have learned so much about computers this year.  I started out knowing only how to type in Word and surf the Internet.  Now I know how to find information I am looking for on the Internet, do PowerPoint presentations, and create a web page.  My class newspapers use to be handwritten.  The ones on the computer look much more professional.  I can also solve simple computer problems.  I have incorporated technology more since I am more comfortable with the computer myself. 

I have used the laptop to work on classroom newspapers at home.  In the past, I have spent Friday afternoon frantically trying to get the newspaper complete.  If I take the laptop home, I can get it finished and simply print it out at school.  I have also used the laptop in my classroom to add another student computer station. 

The Cyber Ambassadors have helped me with typing.  I have also paired them with other students who want to type, but who are not very familiar with a computer.  They have occasionally helped me solve some of my computer problems and answered some of my questions.  They have also kept my mouse and keyboard clean. 

I found that some students are more willing to read from the computer than a book.  When we did research for the science fair reports, I checked out from the library a set of encyclopedias and several sets of science encyclopedias.  I also had the computer available for those students who couldn't find anything in the encyclopedias.  The students would tell me they couldn't find anything on their topics-even topics like electricity I knew was in the encyclopedia-just so they could use the computer.  When they got the computer print out they went to work on their research for their report.  I let a lot of the students search the Internet for more information.  They have definitely learned different sources for finding information.  They have also had to read more in my class this year by playing computer games that focus on English skills. 

I believe the skills learned in this program has been most beneficial to me.  I can take back what I  have learned to incorporate technology into my classroom.  I believe the more I know how to do, the better I can help my students.  I have been able to expose all of my students to a computer.  Each month I share with my class what I have learned in Cyber Exchange.  I have helped other teachers set up ICQ and told them about creating a class room web page.  I have also helped some teachers with e-mail. 

I would love to continue staff development through the Cyber Exchange project.  It is a very organized way to incorporate technology.  I like that each month we learn something new then have a month to go back to school and use what we have learned.  The next time we go back to Cyber Exchange, we have to tell about how we incorporated the previous lesson and how it went. 
 

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