6th Grade Fakebook Project has Begun! Details and Overview

Dear Parents,

I hope you had a restful break. Mrs. Wilson has assigned historical figures to all 6th graders this week and the project was explained in detail during class technology time this week as well. I wanted to send this to you as a way to communicate some important information and helpful resources as we get things moving along.

Mrs. Wilson will be grading the majority of work for this project, but I will be assigning weekly participation grades on a scale of 10 points to document how students are utilizing class time over the next few weeks. Scores of 8/10 or lower will receive a comment in my RenWeb gradebook as an explanation.

There is information about the project in my RenWeb pages (lesson plans, homework), and in full on Mrs. Wilson's Moodle page.

The project has three phases in its timeline:

1. Personal Research done and uploaded by 5/7  to the individual forum in Moodle. Students will use the Word document Research Checklist they were shown in class, found on Mrs. Wilson's Moodle page.

2. Personal Fakebook pages will be opened on 5/7 (or when research has been submitted) and students will have until 5/16 to update them. 

3. 5/16-5/30 students may comment on other Fakebook pages 

 Project done by 5/30

Helpful resources, also all found on Moodle.

At the beginning of the school year, students were asked to bring in library card information. This will allow them to access databases for Wake County. All students have been shown how to do this. The link to the databases (they should use the Teen database list) is here: 

http://www.wakegov.com/libraries/Research/Pages/default.aspx

And a video tutorial we watched in class together is here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nio1jsMQ-Tw&

Students are not required to use databases, but they are strongly encouraged as good sources of reputable information.

Also, the link to the file for project directions and help is here: 

https://docs.google.com/a/ncsu.edu/presentation/d/1JJ38WJReUqt7GD4UmNe2Xa_TQxmc3iB4U7Urn5AxCII/present#slide=id.p

Students are encouraged to look through all available resources and ask questions via an individual forum in Moodle if they need help, rather than wait until their next technology class. They will not be able to get all project work done just in technology and should plan to work at home as often as needed, as this is a social studies project.

Thank you again for your support - we are very excited about this project!

Mrs. Cadran and Mrs. Wilson

8th Grade Career Planning

In conjunction with the guidance department, our 8th graders will finish out the year taking a glance at the College Foundation of North Carolina's college and career planning page. They will create their own high school account which can be accessed at any time to help motivated and engaged students plan for their futures. The link is here.
~Mrs. Cadran

Technology and Internet Safety

The StMM Technology lab, in conjunction with our guidance department, promote Internet Safety and responsible use of technology with our students throughout the school year.  Some of these activities include:
Review of StMM Technology Policy
Annual Internet Safety Week
2011 Presentation
The 2012 Internet Safety Week’s focus was on what technology our students are using and how often. This report and this video formed the basis for class discussions.
2013 Presentation with Results of cyberbullying survey
Research Ethics Lessons
Plagiarism, Copyright and Fair Use Lessons
Permanent Internet Safety Section on every middle school Moodle page
and the creation of a new Technology Group for middle school students interested in promoting
Internet Safety through responsible use of Technology at StMM.

These are a few additional links and resources to help you promote these issues at home:

Childnet International (http://www.childnet-int.org) provides safety guidelines, publications, and current information for parents and schools on how to keep the Internet a safe place for children.
Connexions (http://cnx.org) is a place to view and share educational material made of small knowledge chunks called modules that can be organized as courses, books, reports, and so forth. Anyone may view or contribute.
CyberSmart! (http://www.cybersmart.org/home) fosters 21st-century skills to increase student engagement and prepare students to achieve in today’s digital society.
EDUCAUSE (http://www.educause.edu/) promotes the use of technology as a means to further one’s intelligence and personal learning. This site is a wealth of resources that effectively uses various technologies.
The Federal Communications Commission
(http://www.fcc.gov) Web site allows parents and educators to investigate and examine information regarding the many bureaus and agencies associated with keeping children safe while they use the Internet.
The Federal Trade Commission
(http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/idtheft/bus45.shtm) provides an extensive amount of information that is valuable to businesses, agencies, and organizations. This site details how a student’s privacy while working online must be protected and kept confidential.
GetNetWise from the Internet Education Foundation (http://www.security.getnetwise.org) provides tips, tools, and actions for keeping the Internet safe and secure. Information is also provided on the ways to keep personal computers free from unwanted or inappropriate materials found on the Internet.
The NetSafeKids site from the National Academy of Sciences (http://www.nap.edu/netsafekids) allows parents and educators the opportunity to study and research the many ways children can be kept safe as they explore the Internet for educational purposes and entertainment.
WiredSafety (http://www.wiredsafety.org) is the world’s largest Internet safety, help, and education resource.
~Mrs. Cadran

Thank you to our PSO!

Due to the generosity of our PSO, the technology lab now has student headphones with built in microhpones, and a flatbed color scanner. 

These items will help us to provide resources for students in the following ways:

• The microphones can be used for students to narrate and do other voiceover recordings.
• The microphones can be used for differentiation and narration of assignments. 
• The headphones will allow students to utilize audio and video files individually while in the lab. 
• The scanner will more easily let us utilize student-created artwork and other hard copies of materials, including photographs. 

Thank you!
The StMM Tech Lab Team

7th Grade - Mr. Callus's Trip Project

Students working on the third quarter project for Mr. Callus now have a space they can utilize online to communicate with each other in Moodle.

All student teams have been given a space in a team forum on Mr. Callus's Moodle page, where they can post resources, questions, and information for each other. Only their team members, Mr. Callus, and Mrs. Cadran can see the posts.

A screen shot of this resource is below:

This is a great resource for anyone, especially if a student is absent, or if class is missed for any reason.  Students have 5 minutes from the time they post to the Forum to edit or delete that information.

Thank you!
Mrs. Cadran

8th Grade Updates - Quarter 3

It is hard to believe, but time is flying by for our 8th graders. This is an exciting time of year, and as we look toward the Spring, it is time to begin thinking about graduation.

Graduation Slides

One of the best parts about my job is being able to put together the 8th Grade slideshow. This year, students will be making their slides at home, and uploading them to Moodle.  I am asking for all 8th graders to have their slides uploaded to me no later than Friday, March 7, to allow me time for viewing and compiling them together.

If a student has photographs and needs them scanned because they are not available digitally, I am happy to do this. I ask that these photos be given to me by Friday, February 28 to allow me time to scan them and get them turned around to the student.

Data Collection

Students have been working with me to cover a variety of skills on their information and technology curriculum.  Currently we are working on data collection, and focusing on creating appropriate graphs with data entered onto a spreadsheet. We will move on to the main phases of a research data collection project:

A main goal is for students to see the ways they can apply these skills to projects outside of the computer lab; graphing and data analysis is very useful in a variety of real-world settings.

I will be working with 8th grade on the following phases of this mini-project:

1. Identify a research topic and question
2. Devise a plan to collect data
3. Submit a project proposal for approval
4. Collect, organize, and analyze data
5. Report the results

These  phases, or steps will cover a majority of technical and research-related benchmarks included in our curriculum, and hopefully give a new sense of the value of research and data in our world.  By the end of this week, some students will already have identified their research topic and question (they can indicate a topic of their choosing, or tie in with one of their classroom units/topics). In total, I project this project to be finished by our Easter holiday.

We will take breaks as needed when classroom projects come up, and I will communicate that information as needed.


Thank you!
Mrs. Cadran

7th Grade Updates - Quarter 3

Mrs. Reese and I are partnering to work with 7th graders on an extended project called “Going Local.” Work for this project will cover both science and information/technology curriculums, and will be graded by both Mrs. Reese and me. 

This form of learning, called “Project-Based Learning” (PBL) has shown to be more engaging and authentic for our students. You can find out more about PBLs here.

This ongoing project will allow your child the opportunity to take on the role of a scientist/engineer by choosing a local ecosystem (backyard, field, pond, etc.) and then going through a series of steps to describe the ecosystem, define an environmental problem/challenge within that ecosystem, develop a plan to implement, and then carry out and evaluate that plan.  

This is something new for our 7th graders, and puts them in a very active role, in which they can make many decisions for themselves. I will be facilitating the majority of the activities involved in this project, some of which will require students to keep track of due dates and deadlines.

I will take the project step-by-step, and most work will be done through Moodle.  Due dates will be posted there and in RenWeb Homework.

At this time, we have been spending a few classes getting ready to begin Step 1: Defining and describing the ecosystem.  Students are to spend the next few weeks deciding which local ecosystem they would like to choose. Here are some tips given to the students: 

• Make sure the boundaries of your ecosystem are clear. 
• Choose somewhere you can easily get to: Your backyard, a local park, or pond. 
• You can also choose somewhere on the school campus. 

Inspiration for this project comes in part from the Pacific Education's Institute website and curriculum for project-based learning.

Parents, if you have any interest in helping to mentor students for this project during the design and implementation phases, please let me know!