October Entry
We Will Meet You at the Land Bridge

Anticipations:  My students and I were really excited when we began the lessons.  The complete lesson was not followed completely and some things were added to better fit my classroom. 

Reflections:  The time allowed for the lessons did not fit my classroom.  We needed more time finish that the time given.  The students had a tough time with longitude and latitude.  We had to go into a more in depth geography lesson than anticipated. 

Attitudes:  The kids loved the lessons.  They tried to simulate what life would have been like back in those days.  They had a lot of fun and were very shocked.  They didn't realize the hardships that those early settlers had to face. 

Cyber Ambassadors: My Cyber Ambassador is grouping together with other CyberAmbassadors to create a classroom web page.  She is teaching other students about the computer and other uses other than games. 

November Entry
Letitia Britt 
 I would like to give my fifth graders a big hand.  They worked really hard last month on our new Internet project.  Our math class has been working  the Elementary Problem of the Week.   This project is really a brain teaser.  The first problem was fairly easy and the students got the answer quickly, but the ones for the other weeks have been tough.  On the site, we have found that wording is very important.  My homeroom is working on book reviews for Book Reviews for Middle Grades, but have not put those into the project.  We plan to begin this next week.  The students are also correcting their poetry for the Uni'verse'al Expedition.  Our projects have gone slow, because we also have social studies projects going on at this time.  This takes a lot of time with students typing and searching. 
 The students have done a great job with the newspapers.   For the first two newspapers, we did them together.  Then, I used my Cyber Ambassador, Sarah Jane, to type up the other two.  We not only used the news from the Internet, but our weekly reader went along with some of the topics, so we added this information also. 
 Sarah Jane is helping students in my room and other classrooms.  She goes every Thursday to a second grade classroom.  She meets with the teacher before the class to discuss what the students need to know.  It is going really well.  Since she is in my classroom, she has a lot of responsibilities.  She helps during group work to answer questions, and she is teaching the other students how to send e-mail and browse the web.  She is doing a very good job.  I am proud of her. 

December Entry 

 Wow!  This has been a busy month for Mrs. Britt's Fifth Grade Class.  The lesson plan on poetry cubes went very well.  http://ofcn.org/cyber.serv/academy/ace/lang/ceclang/ceclang050.html  We began the lesson by discussing different types of poetry.  Then, the students practiced writing their own poems.  Some were very serious and some were funny, but they all turned out great.  I allowed the students to work in pairs.  After they had identified what type of poem they had written, they had to recite it.  Some of the students were very serious, on the other hand, I had one group to sing and dance to their jingle.  We all had a fun time and learned a lot.  We worked with the poem for two days.  By the end of the first day everyone had their poem memorized.  Our Cyber Ambassador, Sarah Jane Sinard, is working on typing  those poems for display in the hallway.  The pictures that go with the poems are in progress now.  We didn't use cubes, because the students memorized their poems quickly.  I will use this concept with longer poems next six weeks. 
 Our news staff is growing.  The kids are becoming more serious about the details.  The fonts have to be a certain way, and they all want a quote each time.  I have elected classroom editors that change weekly.  The editors staff correct misspelled words and grammar errors.  They are really taking pride in their work. 

January Entry

 We did things a little different this month in our room.  Instead of a lot of whole group computer activities, we worked in small groups.  I taught the students where to find email addresses in my address book and they took turns sending email to people in the school.  I also allowed them to receive email that I or another staff member had sent.  They feel important when they get mail.  I also let some students send email to businesses and most of them did reply to the students. 
 Our Internet project has gone slow this month since we have missed school for Christmas and snow.  We plan to start back strong next month. 
 The laptop has been a great tool in developing lessons.  It has given me the opportunity to work on power point presentations at home and school.  Since I have to attend all ballgames, it has been a big help.  I am now able to take it with me on the bus and work on grades, lesson plans, presentations, and planning activities for the students.  It is also nice to have an extra computer in the classroom.   I have a physically handicapped child in my classroom that cannot sit in a chair and her wheelchair is too high to go under the computer tables, so she uses the laptop to complete assignments such as spelling tests, etc.  This gives her a sense of pride since she is unable to write.  She is able to slowly type things out.  This has been a major help to her and to me.  She says that it is the first time she has ever been able to color and stay in the lines. 

February Entry
 Our class has really enjoyed ICQ this month.  We have interacted with other classes and even took a virtual field trip.  The students have been very excited to get to work with this program.  We had a chat with Mrs. Dooley and Mrs. Aterton's classroom.  Mrs. Langston's class was very interested in our class pets, so her class did some research and shared it with us.  Then, Mrs. Langston's class ask my students questions and we researched to find answers.  Her class took a field trip to our class to visit our fine frogs.  We also shared our weekly newspapers with each other through ICQ files, since each class had written about the other. 
 My Cyber Ambassador has been cleaning nasty rodents throughout the school.  Sarah has been on a mouse cleaning trip.  She has cleaned so many that they we should not have any dirty rodents.  Sarah has also helped with teaching other students download pictures from the internet to put in our newspaper. 
 The laptop has been a tremendous help at home and at school.   It has provided an extra computer in my classroom and I can work on presentations anywhere.  It really comes in handy. 
 We are about to start up full force with our Internet projects this month.  We have let them slide for a while to work on other presentations.  We will not start the math project over.  It proved to be a very unreliable site, and quiet confusing to my students.  We are excited to start the other two back. 
 Achievement through technology has been a total success.   When we first began this project, my students hated the news stories, but now they cannot wait to read the news.  They love to add their opinions to the news and to the bias of news reporters.  We have also received many funny ICQ files and email sites that have proved to enhance brain skills.  We got a funny ICQ about the Mad Cow's Disease, and our class started a chat with a second grade class about what the disease was REALLY about.   Both classes researched this and found out interesting information about this disease that affects the nervous system.  We also had some brain teaser sites that really caused the students to think.  I had a really low student figure out how to solve a very high order thinking skill.  I could write all day about how technology has enhanced language arts in my classroom. 
 Our newspaper is becoming a huge success.  My students are reporting, writing, editing, and producing the newspaper.  They are doing it all on their own now, and I am very proud of them.  They are really excited about this. 

March Entry
 Our classroom didn't participate in any computer activities this month.  Our computer is ill.  I think it got the same sickness as the students.  In the area of reading achievement, I can see a big improvement on how the students research topics.  When they have questions, they go to the computer to find the answer.  They have become very dependent with the computer.  Due to the illness of the computer, it has everyone frustrated.   Hopefully we will be up and running by the end of the week. 
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April Entry
The use of Cyber Ambassadors has been a big help this month.  My Cyber Ambassador has been teaching other students learn to use the laptop (especially the mouse).  The Cyber Ambassador has been tutoring students on how to save images and put them into the newspaper.  The students are publishing their own newspapers with the help of the Cyber Ambassador.  The Cyber Ambassador is also leading ICQ chats and teaching others how to use that program. 
 The laptop has been used to the max in my classroom and at home.  It has served as an extra (up to date) computer in the classroom.  It has also enabled the students to get projects done quicker.  Research is also quicker.  Project time is cut in half.  I have used it with my masters program and creating power point while sitting in the doctor's office, teacher's workroom, etc.  It has been a lifesaver.  This also gives the students the pride and experience of utilizing this piece of equipment. 
 We have not worked on our web pages because we have been reviewing for Terra Nova testing, but plan to work on it starting next week.  We are excited.  We are finished with all internet project and they didn't prove to be what we thought.  We did more exciting projects other than the ones we signed up for. 
 Our newspapers are looking better and better.  The students are completely creating themselves now.  I have to help with a few technical difficulties, but they have learned to solve the small problems.  The editors change each week.  There are sometimes that we have mistakes, but we learn from those.  During the tragedy in Colorado, my students were pretty numb and thought it couldn't happen where we live.  They weren't very talkative or sympathetic until they looked up the victims in a news story.  They were very shocked that these students were just like them.  They asked if they could print a few things.  Then they ask for a bulletin board space.  They created a collage with pictures and stories of the tragedy.  The story became real to them.  They wrote letters to the school, victims families, and the county.  The added them to the bulletin board and want to take a picture and send to the families.  They also want to add  their letters to the memorial.  THE INTERNET BROUGHT THE STORY TO LIFE. 
 Students have become more aware that research can easily be done on the internet and have come to appreciate it.  They have learned basic techniques and how to utilize them.  They have also changed from afraid to excited. 
 My teaching style would change more if I had more computers.  It is hard to do big projects with only 1 working computer.  We do more interactive lessons and it is more student led than teacher led.   I am serving as a guide rather than a ruler.  Learning is more fun now.  Students have a lot to give!!!  I learn daily from them!!!! 
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May Entry
The 1998-1999 school year has been full of computer usage.  The students have learned basic user skills to being able to successfully create their own class newspapers.  This has helped reading skills, writing skills, language skills, research skills, and most of all, life skills.  The most beneficial Internet project that we found was in math.  It was as simple as solving one problem of the week.  We worked individually and in groups.  It offered many problem solving skills.  Cyber Exchange training has helped me to become a more competent teacher for the year 2000.  There is no use for hardware or software if proper training is not applied.  It helps bring new ideas together and have fun watching them grow. 

Teachers are very limited to time, but not resources.  It is so easy to pull lesson plans off of the Internet that are created by other educators.  Not only can one use these plans, we can collect ideas and share new creative ideas with others.  This will help our society and our world to become a better place to live.  Training is a must.  If you don't get proper training, then the students don't get proper training.  We need staff development in order to share ideas so we can grow.  Technology will die out if it is not used, and if it is not taught, it will not likely be learned. 

Electronic Communication is the way to bring the world into your classroom. You don't have to take fieldtrips to see and find out about the world.  It is just a screen away.  My students have communicated with people in other counties and countries.  They have learned about other cultures, as well as, their own. 

ICQ helps teachers find out answers without having to go to the office, library, etc.  This saves many hours of much needed teaching time.  ICQ is also beneficial for safety issues that face our schools today.  Messages can easily be transmitted from room to room without any hastle. 

MS Word is a great program for students.  It is user friendly and offers a wide variety of ways to expand.  It also works like many other programs, so it makes it easy to teach other programs. 

PowerPoint is great for interactive presentations.  PowerPoint has changed my way of presenting from boring overheads to exciting ways to present.  I have used it with my masters program and my students really enjoyed watching those also.  It shows the students that the teacher values education and technology's impact on it. 

I have not utilized my classroom web site that much this year.  Further training will help me to succeed in this area.  Next year I will post student stories, newspapers, and class information.  I will also place a plan of the week with the homework so there is no confusion of the assignment or when it is due. 

We have really done a lot with newspapers.   We have learned everything from the basic parts of a newspaper and how to produce a beneficial newspaper.  The students are also more aware of world events and pay closer attention to the news.  They have gained a respect and learned to utilize computer and software skills. 

We used the laptop as an extra computer in the classroom, also for further usage at home.  I am using it personally to further my education.  It helps to be able to create PowerPoint presentations at home (in a quiet environment).  I have become very dependent on the laptop. 

Cyber Ambassadors have helped train other students in simple tasks.  They have helped other students to become better teachers themselves. 

Technology brings the world into your classroom.  You don't have to take fieldtrips to see and find out about the world.  It is just a screen away.  My students have communicated with people in other counties and countries.  They have learned about other cultures, as well as, their own. 

My students have learned life-long research skills which has helped their reading and language arts skills.  They find things that apply to themselves, therefore they read more, and sharpen those skills. 

The most beneficial aspect of this project is learning about and how to use new technology.  It is also important to share those ideas in training sessions with other teachers that are doing the same thing.  We all grow, so education grows.  Interaction of ideas and sharing is very important, and is needed.  We have shared newspapers, ICQ chats, and on-line tutoring.  When the students see teachers interact, they want to interact also.  Keep the Cyber Exchange project going and GROWING.   That will keep technology alive. 

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