Simon Says, "Let's Use Technology"

Sometimes the simplest teaching methods are the best, even in the world of technology. My most recent discovery is using the old Simon Says game to step students through learning new skills and I call it "Mrs. Campbell Says". Basically, when we are navigating new tech territory in a whole group setting, I give simple one sentence instructions. For example, I might say: "Mrs. Campbell says, click on the start button; Mrs. Campbell says, click on My Documents; Mrs. Campbell says find your saved Word document titled "My Halloween Legend". To command attention there are little or no repeats (depending on the difficulty of skill). At the end of the "game" the student has learned some new skills without being overwhelmed. One of our first grade class successfully created a short PowerPoint project titled Me and My Pet using Mrs. Campbell Says in about an hour. Sometimes I give stickers and I always give praise for a job well done but in any case we are all winners!

Interactive Posters? Kick it Up Using QR Codes

Want to extend the message of your poster projects? Try using QR codes! What does a good poster do? First, it grabs your attention. Secondly, it conveys important information about the topic. Using QR codes is the perfectly simple solution. Chances are your students have gathered topical information using reputable internet sources. Select the best source for additional information on the topic and generate your own QR code to embed/attach/apply to your poster. The resources are numerous and the possibilities are limitless. Maybe there is a cute YouTube video that someone has made that further elaborates on the poster content. If so, create a QR code for the video link.

Shout Out to Sloan and Laurel - Winning Poster

In the example above, students were challenged to create a poster for the local Farm City contest based on the theme "Grown Safely - Extra Tasty". They were invited to look at several websites for inspiration, including www.AlfaFarmers.org. When they decided on the content for their poster, the students attached a QR code linking to a farming brochure on this site. The brochure was packed with additional information about safe farming practices.

Now...with all this said, the question you may have is, "How do I do that?".
Answer: Simple, just check out my QR Codes on the Fast Track page (click the link or beside the Home tab on this page). There you will find a code generator link, recommended QR code reader app and other ideas.

Setting the Mood for Computer Lab

Sometimes the simplest things can liven up an environment, so I periodically change the desktop backgrounds in the computer lab. One of our favorites is the "Click or Treat" one that I created in Microsoft Publisher. Basically, I started with a blank publisher file. Setup the page size to be 16 x 9 (wide screen), inserted jack-o-lantern clipart (stretched the entire size of the page) and added the "Click or Treat"  text. Then I saved the file as a jpeg. Finally, when October rolls around I locate the picture, right click and select "Save as Desktop Background". Now, sit back and listen to the oohs and aahs.

WGS - Fantastic High Tech Readers

This month Walnut Grove School is participating in the Be a Champion! Read! contest. The classrooms are encouraged to participate by reading and decorating an area for their class. All of this in hopes of winning prizes, gaining knowledge and making reading fun.
With that said, I didn't plan to participate. Mainly because I am a computer lab teacher and don't have a homeroom class to fulfill the reading part of the contest.
Then it hit me. WGS needs a board to represent the "High Tech" ways in which we read.


Thus is born our board. "FANTASTIC HIGH TECH READERS - LEARNING IS OUR GOAL!!!"
Footballs highlighted with the following media types
(and examples):

• Online Encyclopedias (Wikipiedia, EB Kids...)
• Search Engines (Google, Kids Click, Bing...)
• Online News (Time for Kids, al.com, CNN.com...)
• E-Reading (iBooks, nook, Kindle...)
• Online Libraries - AVL
• Social Networks (blogs, wikis, facebook, twitter...)

Gathering information through electronic media is not only commonplace but is a formidable means of learning.
So get out there kids and read to learn!

Help! I want to use my iPhone/iPad photos on my PC

If you are an avid iPhone/iPad user (especially iPhone users), your life moments are captured through camera apps. Am I right? We snap special occasions and silly everyday moments, important information and cute crafty ideas, or picturesque scenes. Now, we want to share or use these images. There are tons of sharing and manipulation apps, which I am not going to attempt to tackle.
But, if you still live in the PC world, there is a simple way to port images to the PC. Just follow these simple steps.

1. Connect your iPhone to the computer using the USB -> iPhone cable. When you do this an "Apple iPhone"  dialog box will appear with several options (such as Dropbox, Microsoft Publisher, Word, etc.) 
2. Highlight the Microsoft Scanner and Camera Wizard option and click the OK button. The wizard will step you through copying pictures from your iPhone/iPad to your computer.
3. Select the pictures to copy, click Next.
4. Name the picture group and choose a place/folder to store the group.
5. Click Next and you are done.

Now, print those images, upload them to your blog and incorporate them into your Microsoft programs.
How simple is that?

Star Themed Computer Lab

Who is the STAR of computer lab? You are!!! That's the theme I set at the beginning of the school year and kids love it. This is how we create a STAR themed computer lab.

• The computers are numbered with stars.
• Desktops have a star backgound, created in publisher and saved as a jpeg.  PowerPoint slides can also be saved as jpegs.
• In the Monitor Display Properties(right click on the desktop for properties) under the Screen Saver tab, select Marquee. There I set the Marquee to scroll "*** I'm the star of computer lab!!! ***".
• We watch a PowerPoint titled "How to Be the Star of Computer Lab" which covers the basic rules of our environment

To complete the theme the Computer Lab door is covered with the American Flag look and stars reminding students of our does and don'ts. As the year goes on the stars can be changed to cover other technology topics, such as computer terms or Internet etiquette.

What to Blog About?

What keeps us from blogging? For me, there are two things or maybe three. The number one reason - I like to call it blogger’s block. Does anyone else suffer from bloggers block? Are my blog topics interesting or useful to my followers? What to blog about???
What is a blog? A blog can be a personal diary, how to information or it is really anything you want to put out there (the web). The possibilities are virtually limitless. Check out the Blogger Tour has to say about blogs.

Then it hit me…take the “lo” out of blog and replace it with “ra” and what do you have? That’s right, “Brag”. All I really have to do is brag or tell about all of the interesting things we at WGS are doing with technology. I have been encouraging our teachers to brag about (i.e. post to their blogs) all of the great things they are doing in the classroom. The classrooms and halls of WGS are looking awesome and the photo ops are just waiting.

So, the conclusion of the matter, WGS Tech Gal has her blogging juices flowing now...More posts, coming soon.