Alternative Energy Kits in the Science Classroom

The fourth grade has been exploring alternative energy sources as part of their Chemistry/Environment unit in science. Through a LAUNCH grant, I purchased 5 kits to pilot with this year's class so I could determine which educational kit would be the easiest for students to understand and be successful with. The kits we are working on include: Thames and Kosmos' Wind Power, Hydro Power and Fuel Cell Car Kits, along with Horizon Technology's Renewable Energy Kit, and Elenco's Snap Circuits' Green Kit. The students took on the challenge, and despite difficult directions (mostly geared toward adult readers), the fourth graders have problem solved, and teams have successfully constructed a working mill and a fuel cell car. Students are beginning to understand that there are sources of energy other than fossil fuels that we could be tapping and exploring in efforts to be more environmentally friendly! Our goal is to finish exploring the kits by the end of this month and have teams present their challenges and successes along with their recommendations so we can purchase the kits that support the best learning of the concepts presented in this unit.

-Maria Elena Derrien
LS Science

eReaders in Education

Reader

Once you’ve negotiated the Gordian knots of getting accounts through the school, iPad, Nook and Kindle perform exactly what their advertising promises, so...

eReader

Which is my favorite? iPad; no contest. I can build and organize an extensive library (much of which is free), bookmark several books at several points, enlarge print (or change style of font), even have the ‘read aloud’ function on (though with fiction this is more annoying than I can stand). In short, I’m carting around a virtual wheel-barrow full of books that doesn’t spill or get out of order.

Danger danger: This is soooo addictive.

The Big Picture: Illustrations are happening. The Earnest Shepherd ones for Pooh, for instance, have colors very close to the original. I expect more and more picture books by the day.

Dictionaries, highlighting and note taking functions make this seem like a great teaching tool.

Oh, and email and all my favorite sites are right there too, including Netflix and any games I might want plus the iPad functions as an iPod and can be my photo album etc.

Nook and Kindle do the electronic reader thing adequately. All 3 make great one on one learning tools. Ask me for my list.

Problems: Kindle has hampered itself in that it cannot accept materials from anywhere but Amazon. Nook likes Barnes & Noble. The advantage: no distractions like sample games or surfing.

Conclusion: It’s a rapidly evolving technology… so new models arrive in the Spring.

Next moves: Using these with students, and researching group rates.

Recommendation: School could make setting up an account simpler.

-Heather Lee
Lower School Librarian

The Search for Useful Technology in the Early Childhood Classroom

As early childhood educators we are constantly trying to solve the riddle of how we as teachers can invite technology into our child-centered classrooms. We want technology that expands on the children’s ideas about the world, not have their ideas confined by teacher direction. Children at this age explore the world around them through communication and manipulation. They learn through controlling movement and interactions between objects in their environment.

This year the BSR classroom was thankful for the permission to purchase a Smart Table through BB&N’s LAUNCH Grant Program. The Smart Table is a multi-touch, collaborative technology instrument for students at the primary and elementary grade levels. Teachers can customize activities so groups of students can create, explore, and problem solve together by manipulating icons on the table with hand gestures. We feel that the Smart Table shows great potential as an integrated technology piece in the early childhood classroom. It allows groups of students to observe videos, view themselves in classroom photos and short clips, and to use one of the many ready-to-go lesson activities found online in the Smart Exchange. Stay tuned for further updates on the Smart Table in our classroom.

Shera and Anthony
Beginners Teachers

Update on LEGO WeDo at the Lower School

4th grade students just completed their second LEGO WeDo creation and are beginning their third model. Students built and programmed a mechanical lion that makes sounds and is motorized to lift and lower its front legs as if it is sitting up and lying down. They “trained” their lions to sit up and roar, then lie down and snore when they threw it a “bone” made with a tilt sensor. Now the students are in the process of building a mechanical bird that makes sounds which are activated by manually tilting the bird up and down to lift and lower its head and flap its wings.
(The looks of surprise captured on the children's faces in the photograph above are due to the lion's head popping off as the students were trying to figure out the correct motor power and number of rotations required to make the lion sit up properly.)

-Megan Haddadi

4th Graders Create Solar Powered Vehicles

Prior to introducing my students to the Renewable Energy Kits purchased through my LAUNCH grant, I decided the fourth graders needed a background on how renewable energy works. I had them design and build solar powered vehicles out of Radio Shack solar cells and motors, as well as spare parts from LEGO MindStorms kits. A few days ago we had some sun, and we and tested our vehicles outside. We realized we need a more intense sun to create enough current to power the motor and will wait until the spring to try again! As we move forward, fourth graders will be working with other alternative energy sources (hydro power, wind power and fuel cell technology) while exploring the educational kits purchased through the LAUNCH grant. Check back shortly for an update on how the kits are going!

-Maria Elena Derrien

New "FAM" portal for parents

In early January the school launched a new website portal for parents to view report cards and the school directory of family information. This portal, named "FAM" for Family Access Module, is part of our student database system. Middle and Upper School report cards are already within this system and we hope to add Lower School reports to it next year. The online directory includes family address data. A benefit of this system is that parents can submit any changes (phone numbers, email addresses, etc.) right on the site. The link to the FAM portal is on the parents page of the BBN website under "Quick Links." There is also a PDF help file that describes the portal located online here.

Teachers have access to the student database through their "TAM" accounts, and can access the parent directory information there.

Schools in the Digital Age

These videos feature reflections on education and the use of digital tools. After viewing the videos, please use the comments box on the bottom of this page to post your thoughts and reactions in the context of teaching and learning at BB&N.

Ken Robinson's "Do Schools Kill Creativity" is a must see video.


Alan November has been reflecting on educational technology for decades.


Larry Rosenstock's "High Tech High" describes a school based on the principles of project based learning.


Salman Khan's "Khan Academy" is a free online set of videos that teach elements of mathematics and other subjects bit by bit.



Michael Wesch's "The Machine is Using Us" shows how the nature of text and publishing has changed forever.

Teaching in the Digital Age

The videos below feature teachers reflecting on their craft. After viewing the videos, please use the comments box on the bottom of this page to post your thoughts and reactions in the context of teaching and learning at BB&N.

History teacher Diana Laufenberg shares 3 surprising things she has learned about teaching...



Math teacher Dan Meyer reflects on how a digital projector changed his teaching...

dy/av : 002 : the next-gen lecturer from Dan Meyer on Vimeo


Instructional technologist Sam Morris takes a light-hearted look at teaching paperless in this "I Hate Paper" video...


Please post your thoughts, reactions, and comments to these videos.

Born Digital

Born Digital by John Palfrey and Urs Gasser explores the implications of the digital environment in which our students grow up. Each of the videos below represents a chapter of the book. These videos were created by Berkman Center summer interns.

After viewing the videos, please use the comments box on the bottom of this page to post your thoughts on these videos in the context of BB&N.


Chapter 1: Identities





Chapter 2: Dossiers





Chapter 3: Privacy





Chapter 4: Safety





Chapter 5: Creators





Chapter 7: Quality





Chapter 8: Overload





Chapter 9: Aggressors





Chapter 10: Innovators





Chapter 11: Learners





Chapter 12: Activists





Please post your thoughts, reactions, and comments to these videos.

Online School for Girls offers "Blended Learning" course for any teachers

The Online School for Girls is an effort by independent girls schools to move into the digital delivery of courses. In addition to offering courses to high school students this organization also offers 6 week online seminars to teachers [for any middle or upper school teachers]. The seminars teach you how to use a "blended learning" approach to enable you to add an online component to your face-to-face courses. They use the same online learning platform as the school, which is a system named "Haiku." I have heard great things about this professional development offering!. A course website can support student learning by offering organized access to course content/resources, calendars, & grades, as well as instructional activities like discussion boards, online quizzes, small group activities, and the use of "web 2.0" tools. You can read more about the OSG professional development opportunity on this announcement (from last year) by their director or this blog post by a participant, or you can go to their site to register (click on "Register for Professional Development" on the right side of page. Please register soon. There are only 25 spots in their course. It may already be full, but if you register now you can get on the waiting list for the next round. If anyone has any questions, please let me know. This is one of the best opportunities for teachers interested in teaching online that I am aware of.
~ Demetri

ATS Picks 01/06/11

1. Web-Design Competition Sparks Collaboration



Discussion Questions
1. How does the ThinkQuest competition benefit students of the Digital Generation?
2. What did you think of the solutions that the team came up with for the eDivide project?
3. How does ThinkQuest facilitate communication and collaboration skills? How can you provide similar experiences for your kids?

2. Scratch as an Animation Tool

Next time you ask your students to make a presentation, consider having them use Scratch to create simple animations. Scratch is a programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art -- and share your creations on the web. BB&N students are being introduced to this tool throughout the school. It is offered as an after-school activity in the Lower School by Colm, is taught to the 6th graders by Megan and has been introduced to the 7th graders by Svetlana. If you are interested in creating a Scratch project, please contact your ATS. We are more than happy to work with you and your students. Check out these two scratch projects that were featured on MIT's scratch website:

3. Digital Youth Portrait: Jalen



Discussion Questions
1. Is Jalen typical of kids in your community? Why, or why not?
2. How is Remix World facilitating collaboration and reflection? What are some publicly available online tools that could accomplished the same goals?
3. How does digital media complement Jalen's interest in graphic design?
4. How would you describe the attitude of Jalen's parents about their son's passion for digital media?
5. What skills does Jalen practice or learn through his movie and animation projects? How can projects like this impact the lives of kids?

4. Send us your own pick!!!
If you give us a tool you have been using in your classroom, we would love to feature you in a future ATS Picks blog entry. Please leave a link in the comments box below if you have a technology you would like to share with your colleagues. Thanks!

ATS Picks 12/09/10

1) 50 Fantastic Resources for Educators
The title may say "New Teachers" but all teachers will find this a great place to explore to find websites with exciting content for their classrooms. Organized by grade level, it includes links to teacher networking sites, sites with free lessons, proven educational websites such as Discovery Education and PBS Kids and more.

2) Vocab Sushi: The better way to build your vocabulary

This free site offers free games to help you build your vocabulary. You can specify your skill level and your goals. You can look at words in context, play sentence completion and definition matching games. When you create a free account the site will remember your progress.

3) Grammar Girl
Grammar Girl provides short, friendly tips to improve your writing. Covering the grammar rules and word choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers, Grammar Girl makes complex grammar questions simple with memory tricks to help you recall and apply those troublesome grammar rules. Whether English is your first language or second language, Grammar Girl’s punctuation, style, and business tips will make you a better and more successful writer. Mignon Fogarty is the creator and host of Grammar Girl. Grammar Girl is a Quick and Dirty Tips podcast.

4) Edutopia Digital Youth Portrait: Luis, 18 years old

1. Is Luis typical of kids in your community? Why, or why not?

2. Luis has a demanding academic schedule but still spends a lot of time online and with community service. Do these activities complement each other? Or do you think he is overextending himself?

3. How is Luis using technology to improve the lives of his family members?

4. How does the Tech Wizards program empower students?

5. How do you think the Lego Robotics program benefits Luis and the kids he works with?

Best of TED

Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions -- motion, speech, self-awareness -- shut down one by one. This is an astonishing and at times emotional story that is both educational and inspiring.

8 Ways Technology Is Improving Education

Don Knezek, the CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education, compares education without technology to the medical profession without technology.

“If in 1970 you had knee surgery, you got a huge scar,” he says. “Now, if you have knee surgery you have two little dots.”

Technology is helping teachers to expand beyond linear, text-based learning and to engage students who learn best in other ways. Its role in schools has evolved from a contained “computer class” into a versatile learning tool that could change how we demonstrate concepts, assign projects and assess progress.

Despite these opportunities, adoption of technology by schools is still anything but ubiquitous. Knezek says that U.S. schools are still asking if they should incorporate more technology, while other countries are asking how. But in the following eight areas, technology has shown its potential for improving education.

1. Better Simulations and Models
2. Global Learning
3. Virtual Manipulatives
4. Probes and Sensors
5. More Efficient Assessment
6. Storytelling and Multimedia
7. E-books
8. Epistemic Games
   

Read more...

Exploring Computational Thinking

Over the past year, a group of California-credentialed teachers along with Google engineers collaborated to develop Exploring Computational Thinking, a program committed to promoting computational thinking (CT) throughout the K-12 curriculum to support student learning and expose everyone to this critical set of skills. Similar to some of Google's other initiatives in education, including CS4HS and Google Code University, they are providing educators with access to their curriculum models, resources, and communities to help teachers learn more about CT and discuss it as a strategy for teaching and understanding core curriculum as well as easily incorporate CT into their own curriculum, whether it be in math, science, language, history, or beyond.

To learn more about Google's program or access CT curriculum materials and other resources, visit them at http://www.google.com/edu/ect.

EdTechTeacher at Harvard this Summer

This summer EdTechTeacher will be hosting its summer professional development workshops at Harvard University. EdTechTeacher is led by Tom Daccord and Justin Reich who both came to our technology professional development day last year. Available workshops include:

• Teaching Science with Technology
• Teaching History with Technology (9th annual)
• Primary Sources 2.0
• Teaching English with Technology (5th annual)
• Dynamic Teaching with Interactive Whiteboards
• Teaching the Elementary Grades with Technology
• Teaching Foreign Language with Technology
• 21st Century School Leadership: Leading Change in Changing Times
• The Best Web 2.0 Tools & Apps for Teachers
• Geography and Maps 2.0
  

Registration is already open.

6th Graders Creating Jeopardy Games

As 6th graders wrap up their history unit on slavery, they are learning how to create jeopardy games in PowerPoint using internal links. As a way to study for their unit test, students will create and play each other's jeopardy games.

5th Grade Explorers Oral Presentation

5th Graders at BB&N recently completed their social studies research project on explorers. At the conclusion, each student gave an oral presentation supported by a PowerPoint presentation.

In social studies students completed the research, in information science they learned how to find and cite books and online resources, and in technology they learned how to create a PowerPoint presentation as well as how to download online images and cite their sources.

4th Grade Excel Project

A couple of weeks ago, 4th grade students visited the New England Aquarium on a science field trip. During their visit the students collected data on the frequency of jelly pulses. Upon their return, the students entered their findings into Excel spreadsheets, creating charts that compare the average pulses per minute for large jellies versus small jellies.

When the Playroom is the Computer

A recent article from MIT News discusses a block-shaped robot that seems to roll onto a computer screen and is part of an educational-media system that gets kids out of their chairs.

"One of the things that make play so important for children's development and learning is that it’s an opportunity to be generative, to be creative, rather than just to receive." - Harvard Senior Lecturer and Director of the Harvard Graduate School of Education's Technology, Innovation, and Education program Joe Blatt (MIT News, 11/22/10)

ATS Picks 12/02/10

1) Creative Commons

Creative Commons provides free tools that let authors, scientists, artists, and educators easily mark their creativity. Creative Commons can help you find photos, music, text, books, educational material, and more that is free to share or build upon utilizing Creative Commons enabled search services.

2) Center for Social Media

The Center for Social Media has created a set of teaching tools for teachers who are interested in teaching their students about fair use. The tools include powerpoints with lecture notes, guidelines for in-class discussions and exercises, assignments and grading rubrics. We hope you'll find them useful!

3) Did These Mashups Use "Fair Use"? You Decide!

In AU Professor Larry Engel's Advanced Documentary Technique class, ten grad students used the "Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video" to try to create "fair use" mashup videos. Take a look at the videos and decide how well (or not) they did!

(An activity from the Center for Social Media)

4) Edutopia Digital Youth Portrait: Nafiza, 18 years old

Discussion Questions

1. Is Nafiza typical of kids in your community? Why, or why not?

2. Is it surprising that Nafiza spends so much time playing video games? Why, or why not?

3. Nafiza uses technology "from the moment she wakes up." Is she over-connected?

4. What skills is Nafiza learning by participating in Global Kids? How is Global Kids changing her worldview?

5. Why do you think kids like Nafiza enjoy virtual worlds like Second Life? Do virtual worlds have any learning potential?

Spanish Skits Using iMovie and Green Screen

Ideas for Green Screen Video Production

Last year Ms. Jamison introduced the green screen idea to the Middle School. By shooting your next project on a green screen, you have ability to create a clean and stylish video production. Since you will have the ability to alter the background of your production, there are no limits to the creative direction of your final composition. The basic idea of green screen production is simple: setup a green screen, shoot the presentation in front of it, then remove the green in your video editing software (iMovie) and replace it with your chosen background in post production.

Here are some of the latest images from Hardy's eighth grade Spanish classroom.

A Lesson to Introduce Students to Creative Commons Licensing Agreement

Seventh graders in Billing's classroom were introduced to Creative Commons Licensing Vocabulary when they were asked to conduct research on an Incan topic using Wikipedia. They were asked to use images and consider their licensing agreements. Each wikipedia image file includes: description, date, source, author, file history, file links and permissions- licencing agreement for use and distribution.

An example of one of the licenses is shown below:

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Licensed Attribution-Share license

You are free:

to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work

to remix – to adapt the work

Under the following conditions:

attribution – You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).

share alike – If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one.

You may elect the license of your choice

Eighth Grade Current Event History Blog

Read the latest eight graders posts and comments to the Current Event History Blog. All the leading questions are selected by students .

Hs8-4 Blog Post: Airport Security: Too Much or Too Little

• Do we need this security, or more?
• Can we do with less security?
• Where would YOU draw the line between what is necessary/appropriate?
• Are you worried about flying?
• Who should make these security decisions?

Hs8-2 Blog Post: Hazing in Needham

• Based on your understanding of the Mass Hazing Law, is the suspension of the 5 players on the Needham High School soccer team just punishment for the alleged hazing incident that the younger classwomen were subjected to; why or why not?
• Do you think the parents were right in their efforts to override the decision the judge made to not allow the girls to play in the tournament game?
• If all students are clearly made aware of hazing laws by their school, then why do kids continue to commit such mean and degrading acts on other students?
• How would you react if you were with a group of your school friends and you witnessed another group of students who were “hazing” another student or group of other students? Keep in mind the students committing the hazing act could be several years older than you.

Hs 8-6 Blog Post: Chasing Pirates: Inside Microsoft's War Room

• Is piracy a significant issue?
• Should people have the right to copy software?
• Is Microsoft being too extreme in its prevention methods?

Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach Open House

The Center for Engineering Education and Outreach will be hosting its 3rd Annual Open House on December 9th, 2010 from 4pm-7pm.

474 Boston Ave ~ Curtis Hall, lower level

Come and Explore a day in the life of working at CEEO!

• conduct research studies like their graduate students
• test their educational technologies like their product developers
• think of ways to teach engineering like students in their STOMP Outreach Program (STOMP for STEM)
  
• and, of course, play with LEGO products!

Win LEGO prizes!
Kids take home a bag of LEGO bricks!
Play a part in the CEEO's largest SAM movie!
Meet the amazing faculty, students, and staff of CEEO!

Register at http://ceeoopenhouse.eventbrite.com
(You do not have to register to attend)

Movie Making Competition

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
"What's Your Adventure?" Sweepstakes

Enter for a chance to win a screening of Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader for you and 100 of your friends at a theater near you!

Make an adventure movie using SAM animation, free stop-motion software that allows you to create your own movie in minutes.

Click here to see a sample animation.

iCreate to Educate: SAM animation workshop

Educator's Institute: Going Beyond the Animation

There is still space left in the full-day hands-on workshop at Tufts University this Saturday! This is an opportunity to explore the ways stop-motion can be used as a tool to enhance and assess conceptual understandings by your students in science, math, and other subjects.

WHEN: Dec. 4th, 9am - 4pm
WHERE: Tufts University, Medford, MA

Click here to register

$175 registration fee (or $245 for the fee plus your own webcam classroom kit!)
All fees include a free copy of the SAM Animation software.

**lunch will be served**

If you can't make this one, there will be another conference held in January:
EDCO Collaborative
Waltham, MA
Jan 27th, 2011
4pm-7pm

Information Literacy Quiz - Answers

Somewhat Savvy (0-5 points)

Moderately Savvy (6-10 points)


Downright Nerdy (10+ points)

1. List four major search engines and a major directory.

A: For a full list of search engines, directories, and all their functions check WIKIPEDIA's list of search engines

2. What is a blog?

A: Blog is short for weblog - it is literally a log of the Web

3. Why might you use quotation marks when conducting a search?

A: Use "quotation marks" to ensure your keywords appear in your search results in the order you have specified

4. URL is an acronym for:

A: Uniform Resource Locator

5. Identify three Boolean search terms.

A: AND, OR, NOT

6. How do you find the owner or publisher of a Web site?

A: Go to www.easywhois.com and enter the URL of the site you would like to research

7. Identify these extensions and what they represent:

(A: .org - organization .com - company .sch school .k12 - most US school sites .edu - US higher Ed .gov - US government .ac - higher ed outside US usually used with country code, example, ".ac.uk".net - network .mil - military .co - company)

8. How do you find out who is linked to your school’s Web site?

A: Go to AltaVista www.altavista.com and do a LINK: command search. In the search box type link:your school's address

9. What clues in a Web address might indicate you are on a personal Web site?

A: Look for a tilde “~” or the “%” sign or a personal name “jdoe” or the word “user” after the domain name and the first forward slash “/“

10. How would you conduct a search for the following: a list of Web sites of all the academic institutions in South Africa? (Hint: South Africa’s country code is .za)

A: Go to AltaVista www.altavista.com and type host"ac.za in the search box

11. How do you find the history of any given Web site?

A: Use the Wayback Machine. Type the URL of the web site you would like to research into the search box.

12. How would you conduct a search for the following: US higher education Web sites that contain the word turtle?

A: Go to AltaVista www.altavista.com and type "host:edu + turtle" in the search box

13. How do sites get to the top of a result list in GOOGLE?

A: One factor Google uses to rank sites is popularity. It counts the number of links from sites all around the Web. For example, if a large number of sites has a specific keyword somewhere on their Web site along with a link to a particular site, Google counts the number of times the keyword appears along with the number of links to a particular site. The higher number of links to a site, the higher Google will rank that site on a list of results. There are several additional factors as well, including but not limited to the title of the site, the site’s meta information and the actual content of the site.

From http://novemberlearning.com/

ATS Picks 11/18/10

1) How the US Engages the World with Social Media

An interesting article about the ways the US government is using blogging, Facebook and Twitter to improve our image in the world.

2) Preceden: The easiest way to make a timeline

This free site makes it easy to create your own timelines. They aren't fancy, but they are quick and you can print them out or embed them on another website.

3) Facebook's Zuckerberg Says The Age of Privacy is Over

This ReadWriteWeb blog post summarizes some of the recent comments made by Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, regarding Facebooks new privacy settings.

4) Edutopia Digital Youth Portrait: Cameron, 11 years old

Discussion Questions

1. Is Cameron typical of kids in your community? Why, or why not?2. How would you describe the attitude of Cameron's parents toward technology and Cameron's interest in digital media?

3. How would you describe the attitude of Cameron's teachers toward technology and Cameron's interest in digital media?

4. What did you think of Cameron's Rewind video? Was this a good use of multimedia for learning? Why, or why not?

5. What would it take to support kids like Cameron at your school? What are the potential challenges?

How much do you know about information literacy?

Take our Information Literacy Quiz. Answers will be posted by Friday!

Somewhat Savvy (0-5 points)

Moderately Savvy (6-10 points)


Downright Nerdy (10+ points)

1. List four major search engines and a major directory.

2. What is a blog?

3. Why might you use quotation marks when conducting a search?

4. URL is an acronym for:

5. Identify three Boolean search terms.

6. How do you find the owner or publisher of a Web site?

7. Identify these extensions and what they represent: (.org .com .sch .k12 .edu .gov .ac .net .mil .co)

8. How do you find out who is linked to your school’s Web site?

9. What clues in a Web address might indicate you are on a personal Web site?

10. How would you conduct a search for the following: a list of Web sites of all the academic institutions in South Africa? (Hint: South Africa’s country code is .za)

11. How do you find the history of any given Web site?

12. How would you conduct a search for the following: US higher education Web sites that contain the word turtle?

13. How do sites get to the top of a result list in GOOGLE?