October Entry
 We Will Meet You at the Land Bridge

Anticipation
We were all excited about a new way to tell about the journey of those first Americans crossing the Bering Strait.  The students were not sure at first how they wanted to explain that they knew the route and the encounters these first Americans endured.   They were wondering if they would have time to write a play, make costumes, and create props.   We decided that we should do some planning. 

Reflection
After studying about the first Native Americans who traveled from Asia across the land bridge, the students divided into cooperative groups.  They each developed a family group to be a part of a tribe.  They wrote their part…focusing on how to gather food for the trip, clothes they would need, tools and weapons they would use, and the feelings they were having about the long journey.  Then, we met as a whole group…discussing names of characters and a story line.  Each team took their characters and the assigned part of the story line that their little family group would take part in and wrote their individual part of the whole play. One group was assigned setting and so on …journey…encounters along the way…and arrival at a new home.  The group met again and decided that a narrator was needed to tie the play together, and a chief and medicine man were also needed.  We met again as a whole group to plan costumes and props.   We are finishing up on the props, at this time.  The dress rehearsal is now being planned, and invitations are being made for a parent involvement day to share the production. 

Attitude of Student/Teacher
Many skills were accomplished during the process of writing the play; communication skills like writing, listening, speaking, reading…social studies skills…latitude/longitude, map skills, and use of resource materials…creative expression using art and music…language skills such as sequencing…sentence structure…etc., to just name a few.  This has truly been a project that crosses the curriculum. 

Cyber Ambassadors
The Cyber Ambassadors were used as teachers for a PowerPoint demonstration and use of Word.  These were used during the writing of the play and enrichment activities for the lesson itself. 
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November Entry

Project Participation

I am working with a website that my class will help host called It's a Smallworld…Indeed.  We will be communicating with people from around the world via e-mail, ICQ, and ICUII discussing different topics each month.  At this time, we are trying to let the database build, so that we will have a variety of classrooms from many places to teleconference with.  It is our hopes to learn about how people from different cultures feel and think about topics we share in common.  In the month of January, we will host our first world conference…and hopefully many of the people in the database will want to take part. 

Our class newspaper is called the Talbott Fifth Grade Press.  Hopefully we will brainstorm within groups and create a paper for our class as a group activity.   Each cooperative group will take a turn creating the paper for the week…producing many interesting copies… 
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December Entry

A Bundle of Nerves 

This month has been a most unusual time for Talbott Elementary Fifth Grade.  We finally have all of our computer equipment hooked up…all of a sudden…poof.  Everything we have goes off.  We turn the equipment back on and we trip the circuits again.  We have too much equipment for too few plugs.  Everything is unplugged and new fuses are put into the fuse box.  Now…finally we get things running…three days of glorious activities.  My class is in "computer heaven" when we get the big news that moving day is a week away.  Can you believe that, three days of work and it is time to take everything back down and move again.  Mr. Steve came by to tell us how to pack.  All cords, all books all desks, and yes our animals…and computers…computers…computers had to be stored or moved.  Well, we have definitely learned to go with the flow this month.  If you take a peek at our newspaper…Special Edition…you can tell we were in a daze most of the week before Christmas.  I do hope January is a more productive month.  We have learned some valuable lessons, though.  We are very appreciative of uninterrupted time, and we do enjoy lessons that are challenging. 
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January Entry

Application of e-mail and the address book

At Talbott Elementary we are using e-mail on all of our computers.  With Project Serendipity, we were able to purchase 12 new computers…so I have set up 12 e-mail accounts using different free spots.  We will use these with It’s A SmallWorld…Indeed.  We hopefully will be able to put our talents to use now that our big move is over.  All class members have learned to create a folder under Netscape to organize bookmarks.  They have their own folder on every computer.  We have ICQ, E-MAIL, and of course individual folders for bookmarks.  The students are so fast at catching on…it takes me forever…but they are little brains at everything. 

Cyber Ambassadors

We have three Cyber Ambassadors at our school. They have worked out a schedule with at least one teacher per grade level  They are totally booked…but love every moment.  They have worked with everything from cleaning a mouse to teaching PowerPoint and leading group interactions for incorporating multimedia with what they are learning.  I am so proud of Grant, Emily, and Brandon.  They are totally cool kids…but then…I have a class of totally cool kids…very intelligent with the use of technologies…and most adaptable to change and going with the flow. 

Internet Project

We are just about ready to start our world conferences.  I am letting my class work out time zone problems for a math activity.  We have a world map and push pins to keep track of our conferences.  January’s conference will be on introductions, culture, and the weather. 

Laptop Utilization

In class we are using AlphaSmarts to journal everything we do from brain storming to cross the curricular writing activities.  The students take their files from the AlphaSmarts and upload them to a file on the laptops and save them to their floppy then make a hard copy.  They will use the laptops with Project Serendipity when we start whole school integration of computer training and multimedia presentations…I use the laptop with everything I do from taking class notes as my team partner and I plan to working anytime I have a free chance.  I just don’t know how we could have ever lived without one.  For those who have very little money…an AlphaSmart might be a piece of equipment worth looking at.  Check them out at this website… (http://www.alphasmart.com). 
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February Entry
Uses of ICQ in classroom 

During this month we have focused on the use of ICQ within our classroom.  The students have been brainstorming on how they could use this medium to help them enhance what they are doing in the structured part of our studies.  Some examples of things they have tried are: chats with two, brainstorming with more than two, the use of a moderator to control large chat groups, study buddies through ICQ, resource harvesting by sharing parts of a lesson to research, sending files which are appropriate to the topic, being responsible net citizens when using ICQ, practicing safety on ICQ, and of course…all the creative color choices, saving features, history archives, and even saving chat sessions with ICQ.  The students have found that it is most helpful to save the chat sessions for future use in small group activities within our classroom. 

Cyber Ambassador experiences 

We have experienced a problem at Talbott Elementary with our Cyber Ambassadors over the past couple of months.  We have only three, and our teachers are starting to use their expertise quiet extensively.  The students are running out of time to help, and can not find time for all the enhancement projects they do within our regular classroom.  We have started brainstorming possible solutions.  The ambassadors have decided on several possibilities…if I can live with them…?…They have suggested that we start training other fifth graders to help with their tasks.  They have also mentioned that we could bring them to our room…a student or two…or even a teacher for a mentor type training experience during our regular afternoon flow time…if computer space is available.  Both of these are wonderful ideas, and we have started the first phase of suggestions. 

Laptop utilization

We have found, in our classroom that the laptop is an indispensable tool. The ability to carry our machines from place to place is wonderful.  We do hook a mouse to the laptop, and we also use the earphones.  Even though the kids love the touch pad, when it comes time to really work fast…the mouse is easier to use.  So, we are using both.  Now for me, I can't feature my life without my laptop…very addictive…I must say. 

Internet project updates

We are working very hard on getting ready for our first conferences on It's A Smallworld Indeed.  The students are working out all the time conversions for enrichment in math.  We are starting a database, which we hope to post at the site, for information that the various participants will add to during and after each session.  We are using Excel…of course.  We have fallen short on the Class Pet Exchange…but do hope to try and establish contact again.  Our time has been so limited…we have found out that it will be much better to concentrate on one or two projects instead of so many. 

Student achievement in reading through use of technology

Two of the most useful tools we have used recently are AlphaSmarts and PowerPoint. 
Practically all journaling activities are done on our word processors.  We brainstorm, write across the curriculum, practice sentence expansion, and even share group story writing.  With PowerPoint, skills are presented in creative fashions to students and whole class productions.  The students share different viewpoint of  a similar subject.  They are addressing several levels of intelligences.  All students are learning from each other.  The added bonus for me is that I can immediately see if they understand concepts, and if they are able to use higher levels of thinking by the construction and presentation techniques they use. 

Classroom newspaper experiences

During this month, we have used the newspaper concept to show understanding in social studies.  The students choose a topic or period of time.  The student became a reporter during this period of time.  The article had to reflect everything of that period from environment to emotions and feelings that developed during this period of time.  The students enjoyed the fact that they were able to use multi media to show understanding of an event or time period. 
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March Entry
Uses of PowerPoint in classroom
This month, students at Talbott Elementary are creating PowerPoints presentations on Computer Basics and MSWord.  Everyone started out with Computer No No's and advanced to taking a computer apart…down to identifying the motherboard, the CPU, the A drive, the CD ROM, the modem, the sound card, the video card, and memory chips.  In MSWord, all students are able to work with text, save, make tables, hyperlinks, and name and move files.  After the presentations were complete, every student presented their PowerPoints on the SmartBoard.  All students critique each other's work, then make corrections and additions before turning the final copy in for submission to the Cyber Ambassador Site. 

Cyber Ambassador experiences
We have added a few "Serendipity Kids" to our Cyber Ambassador team.  We have too many people wanting to use our services and not enough ambassadors to go around.  The Cyber Ambassadors train the Serendipity Kids…then everyone is off…mentoring to all.  The program is a most wonderful success at Talbott Elementary. 

Laptop utilization
The students enjoy using the laptops, but if they have a choice will choose a desktop.  They seem to enjoy the larger screen and keyboard that the desktop offers.  They have found that the desktop and laptop both have advantages…this awareness, I think, is a mature life skill, which they have already mastered. 

Internet project updates
We have ICQ and E-mail set up on all machines…finally…and on Wednesday, March 23, 1999, we are going to have a videoconference with a fifth grade class from Scotland.  We will send e-mails to the students and have an ICQ conference chat before the conference.  We are excited about the conference because this class is from a small, rural farming community…just like our school. 

Student achievement in reading through use of  technology
One of the most exciting changes that I have seen as a classroom teacher, in this area, is the fact that my students are reading for a self-directed purpose now. 

Classroom newspaper experiences
Our newsletter is hard to keep up with as a whole class, so…we have decided to work with the newsletter in cooperative groups.  We think that we will be able produce a paper with more continuity this way. 
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April Entry
Our three original Cyber Ambassadors are now training every student in the fifth grade class to become part of the original cyber force.  As a part of Project Serendipity, all students will be mentors for others. 

The laptops are a vital part of our whole fifth grade program.  The ease of movement from place to place and the ease of connectability to other hubs, which hook, into our main server are indispensable.  My team partner and I have the ability to communicate anytime we need to send files, pictures, etc. back and forth when the need arises.  We use the laptops with every kind of written communications imaginable. 

I am sorry to say we are a bit behind on our classroom web link, but we have been finishing up individual web sites which we will tie into this.  You should have a bedazzling experience by next meeting…if you click into our web site…J… 

Classroom newsletters have taken a different direction in our fifth grade, from a structured newsletter to journaling activities that are hosted at each students individual site.  I hope to use the newsletter more, this last six weeks of school, for summation purposes after each collaborative group activity during the infusion of Project Serendipity into other classrooms at Talbott. 

We are making progress.  The excitement is building.  We are ready to integrate out project with other activities taking place in classrooms K-4.  The next three weeks will be a test bed for skills learned…technical hardware and software, communication with others both older and younger, collaborative skills, leadership skills, and direction in presentation possibilities.  As a teacher and facilitator of this project, I look forward to watching and guiding my "little brains" through initial interactive stage and the ending community stage of our project.  They will record all their endeavors at their site.  We are all full of excitement. 

I have been very impressed with the ability of my students to gather, harvest useful information, and organize data.  They use their bookmarks many times during class discussions.  They are to the point where they have organized these bookmarks…folder within folder within folder…according to topic, subject, and individual areas that are being investigated. 

We have used all components of Office 97 except Access, PowerPoint, Publisher, ICQ, ICUII, and Netscape components as needed.  They are versed with using digital equipment and the SmartBoard in preparation and presentation of their work.  The students are now able to evaluate and synthesize which of these skills and equipment would be most appropriate to represent the projects they are working with. 

I truly hope to see an increase in the areas of Language Arts and Social Studies when Terra Nova scores arrive for the 1998-1999 school year, but only time will tell on that one.  Now, what I have seen is a maturity and sophistication level of skill development and technology incorporation that adults who visit our classroom marvel at.  I have seen an attitudinal change that has empowered my students to become independent learners.  This makes me very proud. 

We have found it is necessary to consider curriculum restructuring that incorporates multi intelligences.   We feel this will add to the infusion of technology at our school.  We are thinking about a cross-disciplinary approach to our curriculum development for next year.  We plan to work collaboratively with music, physical education, technology, and the curriculum for future planning. 
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May Entry
In my classroom each student learned how to create a new folder and create folders within folders to save bookmarks dealing with core subject matter and items of interest to them.  As we studied this year, time was given to research and locate sites dealing with curriculum integrated projects.  These were added in their own personal bookmarks on the computer assigned to them. If I compare the 1998-1999 school year to the 1997-1998 school dealing with Internet usage, I would say student centered Internet searches have been much more focused and organized.  I have facilitated more and the students have initiated learning activities according to their interest.

In my classroom the online lessons have been springboards to introduce or review lessons and to spark independent study activities for students.  I have used the Cyber teachers lesson database as a beginning point for myself.  I worked with this group of teachers; I know their teaching styles; and I chose from the data according to the needs I addressed during certain lessons.

Each computer in my class was set up with an email account, ICQ, and half of the computers with a video cam.  Students were assigned to a computer; therefore, folders were set up so they could personalize the computer.  We infused these electronic communications tools with project based activities throughout the year.  My class used all communication devices and programs daily according to their needs, since we were working on another project at the same time as this one.  My students found that each electronic communications technique had a purpose and they chose to meet the needs of the independent or collaborative project they were working on. 

Both Word and PowerPoint became invaluable tools for the students and myself.  After all students were trained with typing skills, they had the option of typing projects and creating PowerPoint presentations to express themselves in different ways.  They were very creative.  Many of their personal presentations are listed at our PowerPoint site.  I think the crest of excitement for both my students and myself occurred when they took tests by using Word.  I saved the tests as a template on our school server.  They would open the test up…take it…and save the new document in their personal folder on the server.  I would go in…check their work…and they could open it up and look at it.  This was totally cool for all involved. 

I am sorry to say that my classroom was not very faithful in the area of our web site and classroom newspapers, but it did lead me to a new idea for this coming school year.  Every classroom at my school has a video cam on the teacher station.  The fifth grade will present a news broadcast each day from about 8:20-8:30…starting with pledge, our school mission, and focus points for "Character Counts".  We will try a weekly newspaper to go home to share with parents on Fridays.  This is a great commitment on the part of the students and me.  We will have to start slow, but I think it will work.  We will add highlight of the news show to our web site.

Our county is in the middle of a tremendous school renovation program, and the beginning phases of curriculum restructuring at the same time.  Teacher inservice has been a very week point.  This project made me feel that I was a professional who could share ideas on curriculum development to my peers and truly make a difference in what I did and how we thought as a fifth grade teacher group across the county.  The inspiration to share ideas was very strong and evident in all teachers as we met monthly to discuss how we used the technology tools, and what we planned to research or do with the new learned skill.

I didn't use the laptop assigned to my school, I had one of my own that I purchased with another project.  I use it constantly, though.  It is an essential tool for a teacher.  I did notice the other teachers from my school as they shared the laptop.  It became an indispensable tool for them also.  They were very excited when it was their turn to use the laptop.  They told me that they were able to expand on ideas started at school when they were rested and relaxed at home.   I had already found this to be a truth.  If the State Department or individual counties ever do anything to enhance professionalism and inspire independent research and staff development, a need to seriously consider purchasing laptops for every classroom teacher is essential. 

My fifth grade students went around the school scheduling each teacher who was interested in taking advantage of their expertise.  As word of their skill spread from teacher to teacher, their workload was to the point that all fifth graders had to take part in the program in order to cover our school needs.  Project Serendipity and the Cyber Ambassadors merged as one and both became synonymous, Cyber Ambassador and Serendipity Kids.  We served the whole school from grades K-4. 

At this point, I can't make a statement on academic achievement shown on test scores showing student achievement through the use of technology as a tool, but in teacher assessment, the increased improvement was tremendous.  First, I noticed it most in attitudes then in improved grades.  The lower students made the most dramatic changes as an overall statement.

The most beneficial aspect of participating in this project for me was the enhancement of professional team building among my peers, and a more in depth collaborative approach to teaching for my students.

The teachers at my school look to me for technology help or advice.  I am constantly trying new things or looking for new teaching strategies and ideas for my peers.  The importance of project based learning and a move toward more facilitative teaching techniques has been my contribution to my peers.  Through my modeling, they have become excited about the possibilities of technology infusion.

I would suggest more focus in all core subjects, not just Language Arts through the Cyber Exchange project.  *  I appreciate having had the opportunity to take part in this project.  It has been a tremendous success and a personal inspiration in my opinion.
 

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