Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

In our English class, out teacher has us do a lot of work on our laptops like blogs, essays, and many other things. Having laptops has helped us exceed in many things like spelling, grammar, and other things but it has showed us how to write papers thoroughly and neat without any misspelled words, I think that it has benefited our class a lot. I think that if we don’t have laptops in the next years of schooling than we wouldn’t be able to do a lot of things that help us a lot. I think that I have changed a lot since we have been using laptops. I hope we can have laptops for the rest of our schooling.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Since beginning to work with laptops on a regular basis in 8th grade, I have seen a huge advantage to having laptops in the classroom. During my 8th grade year, for GT, I went 'paperless.' For every class, everyday, every week for nine weeks, I used virtually no paper. I clearly saw the advantages of using laptops versus not as my peers still wrote with paper and pen. I was able to take better and more detailed notes, because I was not worried about the neatness and speed of the teacher. I was easily able to access all of my work from where I was; there was no forgetting my homework at school. The world of my education expanded exponentially during this time.
Similarly, when I entered as a freshman at Arapahoe, in my English class, I saw these benefits. Because the whole class uses laptops rather than paper, we are able to see more benefits. Besides the individual benefits, entire classes are able to have discussions and interactions with people from around the globe. Everyone is able to feed off of each others learning via blogs, projects done online, and many other sources. The laptop has become a connection tool in the sense that the classroom is not the classroom. For a laptop classroom, the classroom is extended to whatever is posted on the internet, chatted about face-to-face, or blogged about.
For me, it has become second nature to have laptops in the classroom. I have adapted to learning with a computer rather than pens. I can easily learn more about the subject being taught or answer those random, burning, trivial questions. To not have laptops in class would be a return to traditionalism. The world is not longer traditional. Few professions in the working world do not require some level of computer skills. I would no longer be able to carry my work wherever, learn independently, or learn from others beyond the walls of the classroom. These things are necessary for the 21st century learner to succeed in future aspirations.
In addition to the technological aspects of laptops, collectively, students learn many life skills. Students become more responsible and willing to learn. Many students realize the value of the laptops and become more responsible not only with the laptops but with their other schoolwork as well. The laptop, furthermore, engages students who otherwise may not be interested in writing a paper or having a discussion. Most students are excited to go to these laptop classes, because they apply better to everyday life. Students must learn a new style of education and be willing to adapt to it. Adoption is a huge skill in college, the work place, and future life. By learning to adapt to learning on computers, students are practicing this skill for the future. The laptops just one class a day have changed the way students learn throughout the day; therefore, with an increased number of laptops, the students would be even more prepared for their future aspirations.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Having laptops in class is a wonderful new learning experience, it provides us with a new research tool. When the teacher is asked a question she (or he) does not know the answer to, the students are able to research the answer and check it against other resources. If we were not able to have laptops next year, it would mean the end of well researched papers, being well informed, and being positive in the knowledge we have. As students, we have learned to question what we hear, and make sure to check it against many sources. With laptops, citing sources has become easier, and we have gotten in the habit of doing that. The end of laptops would mean the end of extended knowledge.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Think about this for a second, you every peice of information known to man at your finger tips. You never have too look at another encyclopedia, dictionary, atlast, or thearus again. At the click of a mouse you are the wielder of the most powerful weapon known to man, and it is at its greatest capicity; that weapon is knowledge. If you can fathom that, then you now know what it is like to have a computer with internet acess. Now put that in a place where it's soul purpose is to give poeple as much of that knowledge as they can cram into their three pounds of brain as they physically can. If you can comphrend all that then you have just assertained a very small taste of what it is like to have computers in a class room. I have been given the ablity to have a computer in my class room and it changes everything. Usually in a class room you are confined to your personal knowledge, the knowledge of your class mates (which is usually about the same), the knowledge of your teacher, and the latest edition of the encyclopedia the teacher happens to have in their personal position. All in all this is a very small amount of information but with computers in the class room you can acess any information man has discovered. It completely changes what you can do and what I actually do. Now, in class I can not only find out everything about the topic of discution but i can also acess any information that is conected to the topic. It has changed the way i am a student by making me respect the value of haveing information and to lose that would be like denying me my basic right to a good education.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

With having laptops in class everyday, comes many learning possibilities. These possibilities enhance learning to its fullest potential. Some possibilities include skyping and collaborating with students in Texas about a novel and making research papers websites. These interactive learning methods allow students to exhibit how much they actually know because laptops and computers are what kids have grown up with. The presence of laptops in class enable instant learning. If no one knows the answer, they can look it up and learn immediately. This has contributed a lot with discussions of any sort. Without laptops, many things would go un-learned or researched at a later date. This makes things more complicated because everything relevant to a subject should be learned at one time, so it can be grouped in a brain as one. Next year, if laptops are not provided, students will have to go back to customary teaching styles which do not benefit the student as much. Since using laptops, I have learned things so pertinent to other subjects, I find myself bringing up things that I learned in English, in History, or Spanish and other subjects. Now, I am not a student who just contributes to one class, I contribute in all classes. Laptops really have changed my learning. My English teacher says, "This is not education as usual" and it truly is not. I believe, standing out in the crowd, in learning or anything else, is the key to success.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Having laptops is, for lack of a better word, cool. Think about it; one can access information ten times as fast, engage in interesting conversations (for example, "Cover It Live") and you don't necessarily have to work from home. If we didn't have laptops next year I'm not sure that it would be bad, but it wouldn't necessarily be fantastic. I've grown a little accustomed to having a laptop in class, but what happened to the good old fashioned classroom? As wonderful as it is that society is speeding up, I find it saddening that education isn't necessarily keeping up. Laptops are wonderful, and they do help maintain changing times, however, if it doesn't maintain the lesson, I don't see a point. I want to be in an English class where learning is number one, not what is on my computer screen. Since I started using a laptop I think laziness has ensued. I no longer really desire to work for any information, I simply Google Search everything and hope for the best. At the same time, however, I've expanded my thinking to a level that is above the norm. I enjoy laptops very much in the classroom, but I think it needs to be monitored a little more to help better-focus students. So do I think that laptops will help the school? I most certainly do. Do I think that they help enhance the learning and help keep the school up-to-date? Yes, I do think so. However, I think the teachers also need to help make that work.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Wernher Von Braun once said, "For my confirmation, I didn't get a watch and my first pair of long pants, like most Lutheran boys. I got a telescope. My mother thought it would make the best gift." By this, Von Braun means that instead of receiving something useless, he received something of substance, something that lasted. The words of Von Braun relate to the words I believe because as a student in a technology crazy English class, I am eligible to say that once switching to technology, there is no turning back. Like the telescope in Von Braun's quote, the knowledge gained from technology lasts forever. Having laptops in class is like having endless choices, endless knowledge at the tips of one's fingers all of the time. By being able to access laptops in class, I am able to increase the level of the knowledge that I know and learn, which was not the case when I was in a traditional pen and paper English class. Next year however, I may not be as privileged as I am now by having a technology filled class. This will stunt my growth as a whole, not only in English, but also in my other core knowledge classes. I will not be able to quench my thirst for what is out in the world waiting to be comprehended. Having laptops in class has allowed me to perform at my highest levels, levels I never knew could even be reached, or for that matter, even existed. Looking back on my years of talking traditional English classes, I have realized how much I have improved, whether it is with my writing skills, comprehension skills, or even just common knowledge obtained by taking only one course full of new possibilities, and new knowledge. Every day as I walk out of classroom C-11, I see the giant banner across the top of the doorway that reads, "CHANGE THE WORLD." I know that every time I turn on my laptop, and every time I contribute to others knowledge, either in my own classroom, or via wikispace with a class on the other side of the country, I know that little by little I am changing the world.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Before coming to Arapahoe, I expected to write all of my assignments and notes in a spiral notebook, which is why I was shocked to find out that we would be using laptops in English class. Having the opportunity to use laptops in English class is a major privilege that I greatly appreciate. Laptops give students the ability to interact with their learning on a different level. Not only can students watch their teachers pull up an online document, but they can follow along at the same time. Before laptops, there was much more confusion on my part because I could not get answers to my questions immediately. Now, I can Google any vocabulary terms that confuse me, right away. If I knew for certain that laptops would not be here next year, I would be very disappointed because technology is the future and my education would suffer if I cannot learn using technology. Using laptops in class has changed my learning strategies significantly, and I have grown as a student because of this.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Throughout the year, we have used laptops almost every day in English class. As a class we have published hundreds of online works ranging from poetry to essays. We have learned so much about the useful technology available to us, as students of the 21st Century. Through the use of laptops I have changed as a student, for the better. I have created a substantial online portfolio that represents my work well, and I have become a student who does not do the typical kind of work.

Having laptops in class is one of the most beneficial things to happen to me. Ever since I was exposed to laptops I found myself taking better notes, forgetting assignments less, and becoming more creative. When we first started using our laptops, one of our first assignments was to compare three different versions of Macbeth, by watching a couple scenes from the movies. I found that it was easier to take notes through typing then writing. I could just keep typing and go back and correct the mistakes later. I also was not wasting paper by taking hand notes; another added bonus to laptops. Another benefit to the laptops was that I was becoming less forgetful. I could email assignments home, and then back to school, so I would never have the excuse of forgetting my paper on the printer. If my assignment was an online piece it was accessible anywhere, as long as there was internet. Finally, laptops helped to expand my creativity. Smith, my English teacher, had us write a wikipaper whatsocietyhasnotlearned.wikispaces.com/). When I was writing my wikipaper in class I was exposing myself to a whole other way of publishing my writing. I added to my online portfolio with other writings, like my poetry portfolio which I did in the form of a prezi prezi.com/xw_6y3xza8v6/poetry-portfolio/). Prezi was just one of the many tools I have learned to use this year to make my writing more creative and to enhance the presentation of the writing. Laptops have proved to be a useful item that I could no longer go without.

As we have been informed by Smith, most of us will not have access to laptops in our 10th grade class next year. I know myself and many of my classmates will have a hard time adjusting to this change. Using laptops has become as normal to me as bringing a pencil to class. I feel that the laptop is the essence of class; without it class is not the same. I have learned so much this year about creating an online portfolio, that not being able to add to it next year would be a bad thing. So many of the reasons the laptop is beneficial is why I could not go without it. I would find myself to going back to 'education as usual'. Class blogging is one of the things I would miss most about laptops smith9h0910.blogspot.com/). In class we would have a live discussion and a class blog going on simultaneously. This allowed students who did not like to talk as much still voice their opinions. I liked this method because through the live blog multiple conversations could be going on at once without people talking over the others. Once and a while, after the blog I would go back and read through the conversations on the blog which I could not do with the live conversation. Doing this was one of the ways I studied for tests because classmates would catch things I would not, and then discuss them. My learning environment would change drastically without the use of laptops, but not in a good way.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Since beginning to use laptops in my honors English class this (my freshman) year, I have noticed definite improvements in my education. For the daughter of a former computer scientist, I was woefully undereducated in the workings of computers. I knew how to operate one, and how to fix one or two minor problems. I'd never stopped to think about how I might actually need to learn how to use microsoft Office and the internet more than for my own personal enjoyment and the odd paper.
Having laptops in class is a unique experience. I have more information at my fingertips than I ever thought I could. I can write papers and not have to lug home a giant notebook, rather something that weighs no more than my little finger.
English class without laptops would definitely be a change, now that i'm so used to having them in high school. I've grown used to being able to complete projects in class, and I've earnedhow to better collaborate with my peers on projects. Jobs are no longer the 9 to 5 grind. School probably won't be the 7 to 2 grind for much longer. People must collaborate with people outside of the office, often with people on the other side of the world.
I've noticed many changes in myself and my classmates since begining to use laptops. We are more creative in our presentations; we have more intellectual discussions more often.
The world has entered the digital age. It is time for the educational one to catch up.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Having laptops in my English class has been really different. There are so many different learning possibilities with laptops. You can access information within minutes, you can communicate with others in your class (blogging), and so much more. The laptops make class so much more interesting, as well as interactive. I have definitely changed as a student from using a laptop. We have connected with other classes from different parts of the country, and published many projects online for everyone to see (Wikified Research Paper). For our poetry unit,t we got the chance to digitally enhance all of our work without even using the classroom. We can also be apart of class, even if we are home sick. We simply have to use Skype, and we can participate in class without missing a thing. I have learned how to make websites, podcasts, and blogs, all of which have played a big role in our English curriculum this year. I am becoming more educated in technology, which proves to be becoming a bigger part of today's world more and more each day. Next year, it will seem odd to not have a laptop, similar to how someone feels when they've had braces for a long time, then getting them taken off. A computer-free classroom is something I've experienced before, but now that I've had access to a laptop in class every day, going back to how it was before will definitely feel unusual. I know that we take the laptops for granted, but I think we really need to open our eyes and realize how lucky we are to have access to this learning privilege. Having laptops has really brought out the creativity in everyone. In a way, it makes everything easier, because we have access to the internet, meaning we don't always have to think about something, because you can just look it up. But it has also made everything slightly more difficult. You really have to think if you're going to incorporate technology into all your work, because you can't just look something up on Google, then click on the first link and use only that. You have to use common sense sometimes, because not everything you read on the internet is true (perhaps try looking up "Tree Octopi", and you'll see what I mean). Having a technologically advanced classroom has taught me how to learn, which will stick with me for the rest of school, and hopefully for a long time after that. Laptops have really benefited my learning experience for this year.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Having laptops in class opens an entirely new window from the classroom into the world. With laptops information is fast and easy to access, and new ways of learning and understanding are always there. We have created wikified papers, blog sites, websites, and countless other means of expressing what we know and learning new things. The laptops give each student numerous opportunities that would not exist otherwise. They enable us to publish our work, which pushes each student to create something they are proud of and would want the world to have access to. Before having laptops in class none of this was possible. They have created an entirely new way of learning and teaching. If we did not have laptops in class next year we would have to revert to the out dated, and old fashioned way of learning. Though one may argue that this black and white way of learning has been the way people have learned for decades, the world is changing every day and education is changing with it. Black and white research papers have become websites with far more potential and possibility. Teachers can go beyond the text book and teach their students using things that are happening in the world currently. Books can be accessed on line and students are able to actually speak with authors to ask questions and further their understanding. This technology has allowed us to have a video conference with Corey Doctorow, author of Little Brother. The ability to speak with the author of a novel taught in class increased my understanding and thought level immensely. Similarly, blogs and chat rooms encourage the active and open expression of ideas. Through these, students are able to feed off eachothers thoughts and help each other learn. The best way to learn is to teach, and this technology allows students to teach and learn from each other. We must take advantage of the technology that we have to better ourselves as students and prepare for the technological world that lies ahead. Since I have started using laptops in class, I have become a much more involved student and have gained a greater appreciation for what we do in class. The by the book type of learning that I have experienced in the past was dull and seemed to have no meaning to me personally nor had any connection to the world I live in. Using the laptops and having that connection between my work and the rest of the world makes what I do in class seem much more meaningful. I feel that with everything I post and every website I create, I leave a little bit of myself and begin to create a technological footprint. The laptops have had a huge impact on the way we learn and they are key to the ever-changing world of education.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

I'm not going to lie - when I heard that I, in my English class this year, would have daily access to a personal laptop, I was thrilled. Ecstatic. And not for the reasons that might be expected of a teenager. I went into that class with no intention whatsoever of using my laptop for anything other than things that would benefit my learning. Computers are a fabulous and very valuable tool, not only in one's everyday life, but in school and learning. The internet makes an unimaginable amount of information accessible to oneself in mere seconds. There are millions of resource tools available for use, often for free. This is not to say, however, that one can trust everything on the internet, because one would be foolish to do so. Even still, the possibilities provided by this huge database of information are endless.
Even disregarding the seemingly magical powers of search engines to answer questions instantaneously, communication is a huge portion of the reason why computer technology appeals to me to the level that it does. Blogs, like the very one I am responding to right now, are a great means of discussion, presenting bloggers with a topic and letting them metaphorically run rampant on the topic by posting their opinions for the world to see, while also having the option to respond to others and compare points. Google Docs is another fabulous tool I have made use of. It allows me to create and save documents onto an account, which is completely accessible from any computer with internet access. There is no hassle with email addresses or file conversions, just one portfolio of any documents you've ever created, open and ready at your fingertips.

There are so many more different styles of learning available for me this year because of the laptops. One of my personal favorites was implemented during our class's Fishbowl discussions; while a small group of students had an aloud conversation in the center of the classroom, the rest of the class was busy on a blog - and later, a live blog - holding their own discussion. Both were centered around the same selection of reading, but each were able to hold completely different conversations. Because of this method of communication, students did not have a problem with talking over one another, or not getting heard. Everyone was given an equal opportunity to post their opinion, and could do so at any time during the class period. More discussions were had, and more material was covered.
Additionally, the technology provided by the laptops gave the English classes the opportunity to talk to Cory Doctorow, the author of a novel that we studied, via Skype. A select group of students asked him personally devised questions, while the rest held a live blog discussion on laptops about Doctorow's comments and reactions to them.

If I were to find out that I would not be given access to laptops next year, I would be sincerely disappointed. Isn't learning supposed to build on itself? Taking away a student's access to a laptop seems, frankly, counterproductive. In the real world, the use and influence of technology and computers is increasing. Though most students would be hardly ill-prepared, of what good does it do to limit our experiences? Besides, using laptops has been extremely beneficial to me in other classes as well, as I learn of new resources on a regular basis and are able to use them in other areas of study. My knowledge of options and methods of learning has greatly expanded because of the laptops in my English class, and I find them to be a productive tool and ultimately worth the expenditure of money.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Before laptops English was just another boring class with a conventional style of learning that doesn't inspire many people. Coming from a small middle school a public high school can be a big step. You know it is going to be different, but at the same time you always have normal classes with busy work. I still have busy work using laptops, but it has changed. Not only does my teacher and classmates see my work, but the whole world can. This standard makes me try harder and achieve more knowing that the whole world is watching. This constant reminder that the whole world is watching should change the way a person conducts him or herself on the internet, but unfortunately not many people realize what they are doing when they post on the internet. Before using laptops in classrooms many students would have excellent questions that go unanswered, because the teacher doesn’t have the right answer. Now our classes can collectively and efficiently look up the answers to these questions. This not only saves time, but it also helps the learning environment. We become less self reliant and start working as one group with a common interest and goal. Laptops make classrooms run smoother with less interruption and more collective learning as a class. Without being able to use laptops next year the level at which everyone learns would severely decrease, and we would begin to become more individualistic again. Classrooms are places of learning, and laptops are necessary in a modern classroom to further each child’s individual capacity to learn.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

There is nothing quite like having a laptop available in class. It is so useful and so different from not having one. It is actually been a long time since I haven’t had a laptop in class, since my previous school leased laptops to all students fourth grade and up for all of their classes, as they always found a reason for us to be using it. Having a laptop makes things more relaxed. You aren’t pressured for time and you aren’t pressured with rules and guidelines on how to learn. You can get the work done the way you want, and quickly. However, in other classes at Arapahoe where it is not totally customary to bring a laptop, it is more difficult and limited learning. You can’t just look up a question that you have or get ahead on some research – you are more restricted with what you can do. With a laptop, it is easy to get information off the internet and begin working. Taking notes is a big one for me as well. I type so much faster than I handwrite, and if I really don’t want to be focused on writing, then I could just record the lecture or assignment in a podcast to listen to later when I get started on it at home. Handwriting notes is an absolute pain. You always miss something, and when you’re trying to write so fast, you usually can’t even read your own handwriting when you go back to reference it. Not to mention, hand cramps are an obstacle as well. It just makes so much more sense to use a laptop! If I couldn’t bring my laptop to class next year I’d be insanely disappointed. My laptop is a learning tool. Without that tool, so much of my work in class would be hindered. It is hard to imagine my English class (where we use our laptops most) without computers. No independent research, no easy notes, no online reading, just mechanical motions of trying to cram all of the information the teacher tells us onto a piece of paper. Sounds impractical, doesn’t it? I would certainly say that I have changed as a student since using my laptop in class. I remember when I first attended my previous school and learned that I would be carrying one with me all the time – I was ecstatic. Now, it is just apart of who I am as a student. I am more independent. I don’t have to learn like everyone else, I can research what I want and take notes how I want and organize my information the way I want. I am able to look up things I am curious about without disrupting the class, which is a plus too, especially when the curiosity is a bit off topic. But regardless, it enables me to learn my way, which is most important to me, of course. Without it, I’d probably just be incredibly frustrated trying to keep my pencil sharp, let alone my interest.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

The use of laptops has drastically improved my learning and understanding. Laptops allow information to be stored all in one place, so a student never has to worry about forgetting a page of notes or a textbook. Information can be obtained much quicker through the use of the internet and the amount is staggering. In 8th grade we would have discussions where a group of people in the middle would talk and everyone on the outside would watch and take notes. The discussions we have now are similar, but with the laptops even the people on the outside can be part of the discussion. The world is also becoming more technology dependent to the point where even basic jobs require basic knowledge of computers. The skills obtained from using the laptops benefits us in finding jobs during our high school careers and beyond. Laptops also allow easy collaboration on projects. Tools such as google docs or etherpad can be used to work on projects allowing people to work at different times instead of having to be together to be able to work on a group project. The ease and accessibility that laptops bring are invaluable to a modern student.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

The use of laptops has drastically improved my learning and understanding. Laptops allow information to be stored all in one place, so a student never has to worry about forgetting a page of notes or a textbook. Information can be obtained much quicker through the use of the internet and the amount is staggering. In 8th grade we would have discussions where a group of people in the middle would talk and everyone on the outside would watch and take notes. The discussions we have now are similar, but with the laptops even the people on the outside can be part of the discussion. The world is also becoming more technology dependent to the point where even basic jobs require basic knowledge of computers. The skills obtained from using the laptops benefits us in finding jobs during our high school careers and beyond. Laptops also allow easy collaboration on projects. Tools such as google docs or etherpad can be used to work on projects allowing people to work at different times instead of having to be together to be able to work on a group project. The ease and accessibility that laptops bring are invaluable to a modern student.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Having laptops is class is a huge advantage over paper and handouts. Having laptops in the classroom has allowed me to access more knowledge and have the information of the world at my fingertips. I can go see anything in the world, can look up anything that I do not know, and write my thoughts down at a much faster pace. I am a really slow writer but a really fast typer. I can do much more with a laptop then I can do with myself and I can get the opinions of people around the world on a topic that I can look up from a computer. Laptops are a great addition to the learning environment and makes class just more fun. Now instead of just a teacher seeing your work and commenting on it, the entire world can see what you have written and can comment on it and give feedback. Also I can access all of my work in the classroom instead of in the backpack. Now there is no excuse that "I left it on the kitchen counter," or "My dog ate my homework." It makes the class a lot more honest and it makes it easier for kids to keep organized. It is very hard to lose work online as opposed to a backpack where things can fall out and get lost or torn, now those kids that have trouble organizing have a chance to put all of their work in one place. This is why I think that laptops is a step up from paper and handouts.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Technology has always been a challenge for me. Before 9th grade, computers seemed unpredictable and uncooperative. I viewed these machines as untrustworthy devices that could fail me at any time. I was well adapted to old fashioned education, always writing papers in black and white, taking notes off a chalkboard, and absorbing information from my teacher and textbook and never thinking to look beyond. This year marks the first time that I have had laptops in my English class. I feel that this experience has greatly expanded my horizons and changed the way I view learning and technology.
Having laptops in my English classroom was like stepping out of a box. I have become more active and involved in class because of these computers. For example, in my English class, students have been able to participate in live blogs when discussing literary material. This allows more students to participate and share their thoughts on a specific topic. I have learned much from my peers, and listening to their thoughts has helped me to come up with some of my own ideas. These class blogs have also increased my comfort level in sharing my thoughts with my teacher and fellow students. This would not have been possible without having laptops in my classroom. In addition, these computers have taught me to evaluate information and look beyond what is taught in class. There is much more information on the internet than I could ever learn from any teacher or text book. In addition, I search the internet knowing that some of the sites I visit will post false information. This has taught me to double check my sources and decide for myself what is true and what is false. Furthermore, spending more time with laptops and other forms of technology has provided me with a greater sense of pride in ownership. This year, I had to create a five paragraph essay on the lessons presented in 1984 and Little Brother. This paper was special for me because it was posted as a website instead of being printed in black and white. The fact that the world would be able to view my paper inspired me to work harder for perfection. Usually, when writing an essay, I know that my teacher will read it, give me a grade on it, and hand the paper back to me or just throw it away. In contrast, an essay posted online remains on the internet as a lasting representation of the author’s capabilities. I had to do well on that paper, not just because I wanted a good grade, but because it would be scrutinized by readers all over the world. I also felt that my work was more worthwhile. For the first time, I was producing information for the world’s benefit, not just consuming data. This particular paper was one of the most difficult and most rewarding assignments I have completed throughout my schooling. It was possible only because of the classroom laptops. From my experience in a classroom furnished with laptops and a technologically savvy teacher, I have learned that technology has no limits. I have been able to use websites, such as Glogster and Prezi, to create projects in new, creative ways that are impossible if one confines themself to the traditional pen and paper. Laptops have also prepared me for life in the 21st century. The majority of today’s jobs require employees to use computers, and new professions are being created that center around technology. Computers are the future.
With budget cuts, I likely will not have the same access to laptops that I experienced this year in 10th grade. This is unfortunate, considering how important technology is in today’s society. Without these laptops, I will have to consent to being pushed back into the box. However, I will strive to maintain the creativity and thoughtfulness that I absorbed this year. I hope that Littleton Public Schools finds some way to provide other students with the experience of having laptops in their classrooms. I know it will benefit them as it has benefitted me. Technology is still a riddle, but for me, it is no longer unsolvable or unpredictable. Thanks to my experience with classroom laptops, I now see technology as a tool that can help me push forward as a learner.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

The opportunity that I have to use laptops in English class is a very amazing privilege. The usage of laptops enables students to have an extended learning experience. This is a benefit to the teachers as well as the students. It allows teachers to go more in depth into certain lessons prepared; in turn, the students potentially learn more. With the usage of laptops in the classrooms, multiple English classes this year were able to have a Live Video Chat with Cory Doctorow, as well as ask him questions about his book, Little Brother. In my opinion, this was an incredible unique experience.
Not only do the teachers have the ability to teach their assigned students, but those students can teach other students around the country. While reading, 1984, the English classes took on a “side-project” to learn about the usage of propaganda in different time periods and the effect they had on the viewers of the propaganda. The students in a private school in Texas had the chance to be taught by the English students, here in Colorado. We, as students, prepared lessons to help the students in Texas understand the meanings of various propaganda examples; and then we had the chance to Skype the students in Texas for a few days in a row. This resulted in a very positive learning experience for students in both Texas and here in Colorado.
The students, with the ability to use laptops in the classroom, can express themselves more freely and creatively on projects and other assignments. With the technology to search anything from music videos to various websites to support the students’ learning, there are endless possibilities to express ones’ self. We have the chance to Blog about our ideas during Fishbowl discussions and learn collaboratively. With the most recent assignment, the Poetry Project, students had to create a portfolio. In this portfolio, there were several elements. The Pop-Up Poetry portion on the project consisted of creating a PowerPoint that connected lyrics to a song of choice to verses from a poem of choice. Fun, random facts were added within the PowerPoint that added to creatively expressing ones’ self with the use of technology.
The use of laptops in the classroom has overall enhanced my learning experience. I have learned how to understand lessons easier than I would in a traditional lecture.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

In my English class, having laptops have changed many things. Having laptops has caused myself to become more understanding of technology. Technology is the future and simply having these computers in class has helped me to be more prepared for the future. Also, having laptops has changed the way of accessing our information. In the past we would have to go through textbooks, which will be out of date soon, and my class and I would struggle to find information. Now with laptops we have unlimited sources of information expanding my way of learning. If I could not have laptops next year, I would be feeling kind of lost. Having laptops have provided me with many things, and if I lose this source of technology I will be losing many things. I have started my high school career with laptops, and I don’t want to change, and I would expect to keep these laptops through out my high school tenure. I have changed as a student because I have become more efficient with my work, which is thanks to these laptops. Also, I have become much more understanding of technology, and technology is going to be a big part of my future.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Having laptops in the classroom is such an advantage in learning. The whole world of the internet is at your fingertips. Information, accessible at the click of a button, would take hours to obtain otherwise. Having laptops gives the students the advantage of being able to excel and to bring their learning to a whole new level. It also allows them to take their presentations and papers to a new height with websites like Prezi and Google Sites. Having laptops in class is great.
Things that I can do now that are not possible without laptops for example are being able to keep all my work with me where ever I go. I can access the papers and projects that I work on in English class at home or at another computer in the library. If I did not have laptops next year I would be very disappointed. Laptops have created a whole new side to my learning and it has been great! I think that if we were not able to have laptops it would also hurt our education by returning to a normal classroom. Having laptops is such a valuable resource and tool that if it were to be taken away so would a part of our education.
I have changed in many ways since obtaining laptops in the classroom. I have become a better writer, researcher, note-taker, and many other beneficial things. Being able to access so much information is an amazing thing that makes the sky all the more the limit for my learning. If everyone in Colorado or America were able to learn with laptops I think our society would be much smarter and more successful.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Learning with laptops is a great way for students to fully grasp an idea that the teacher is teaching. When our teacher wanted us to fully understand how society is advancing in technology she showed us a video clip about ipods and how they can now track places and people. Technology is also a way of presenting ones ideas to an audience. Before if I had a project due I would have bought a poster board and glued pictures and text and hoped that it would be creative enough. Now I can make a voice thread or a wikispace to present my ideas and relate to the audience what point I'm trying to make. Laptops give us many resources of research and help teachers interact and present learning in a way that students can relate to.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Having laptops in class greatly benefits the learning environment. Having laptops and access to the internet gives us the power to expand on our learning in class. If a topic comes up that we are curious about, we can open up the laptop and find volumes of information on whatever we want to know. Laptops also make our essays much more powerful. We have the power to include videos and pictures in the essay, to supplement the points we are trying to make. After having a class with laptops, a class without laptops will be much more difficult to learn in. We won't have the ability to instantly access information, so we will learn only what the teacher tells us, and nothing more. However, if we have laptops, we are able to learn much more than just what our teacher says. Having computers makes class much better and contributes massively to my learning.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Having laptops in the classroom provides many opportunities to the students and teachers who have the privilege of using them. Having the laptops allows us in class to become more technologically aware. Throughout this year, I have had the wonderful advantage of learning about many new and exciting technologies that are now available to our society.
Having the laptops allows us to experience and learn about the new technologies all together, and without them, there would be less understanding about the world around us amongst the students.
If we did not have laptops next year, it would certainly harm our studies. To me, I would feel extremely disadvantaged if I was trying to learn about a new technology. The laptops have helped me an immense amount with learning about the society around me, and understanding how the world is changing and becoming more technologically dependent.
I can definitely look back and see how much I have changed as a student in English class since I have had the use of the laptops. I have certainly learned to use the many programs available on laptops, like Microsoft PowerPoint and the many new features on Microsoft Word 2007. My writing has improved tremendously throughout this year. The ability to access the information that we need to help us write better is much more easily accessed through the laptops available in class. Ever since the first day of English class, I have felt extremely privileged to be able to use these wonderful machines, and I truly feel that without them, I would not be where I am today in my studies.
Not having laptops next year in class would prove to harm many of the students in LPS. The laptops help us with learning about the technological world around us, and we also learn how to create positive virtual profiles of ourselves. Our work posted on the internet shows the efforts and improvements we have made throughout the year, and our work will only continue to get better.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Laptops in class are an excellent advantage. It allows learning in new ways. For example, my English class has discussions, to prevent people from talking over one another, half of the class talks out loud and the other half does on the computer. The ones on the computer use live blogging, which is a continuous conversation, where the comments pop up constantly. Every day we come into class, grab our laptop, sit down, and, at the moment, we are reading Romeo and Juliet so we pull up the online text in front of us.
With laptops there are so many things that you can do. Everything in class is automatically typed, so that makes it easier on the teacher. Also, resources are sitting at your fingertips. There is no need to reserve the library or computer lab because everything that we could possibly need is sitting right in front of us.
If we could not have laptops next year, English would be much more difficult. We would have to go to computer labs to complete tasks, and we couldn’t get them every day so projects would be harder to finish. Also, we did a whole paper on Wiki in class this semester, and there is no way that could be completed without a laptop.
As a student I have changed with laptops. For starters, it has made my typing a lot quicker, which really helps to get homework done faster. Also, when we use them in class, the teachers often show new websites, or tools that we can access to help our writing. This has really helped with editing my papers, or getting different information.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

This year, in my English class, I have had the privilege to use laptops. Each and every day, laptops connect us to the internet and limitless resources. Now, in class, I am able to research topics that I previously wasn’t able to. I am always connected to the world through my laptop; my learning is greatly enhanced. During discussions in class, I can research facts and data that will improve the topic of debate. Laptops also allow me to work on homework and school projects in class. Next year, if I didn’t have access to a laptop during class, I think the learning atmosphere wouldn’t be as efficient as it is now. I wouldn’t be connected to the internet, and therefore would be deprived of a wonderful resource and informational tool. I would also feel behind the times; it is the 21st century, and I think we should be using new technology to enhance our learning. Using laptops in class has been extremely helpful to me. I have become a more innovative thinker and problem solver. I am open to new ideas, and I greatly enjoy using the tools a laptop provides me with. Laptops are an essential piece of a 21st century classroom.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

On the first day in Honors English, I admit, I was afraid to use the laptops everyday because I was not sure how they were going to affect my ability to learn. Well I could not have been more wrong in my thinking. Using laptops has opened my learning up to being able to go places it has never gone before. From in class blog-sessions during fishbowls, to having the opportunity to teach another class all the way in Texas a lesson on propaganda, these laptops have expanded my horizons. I am now able to take much more detailed notes in class while still being able to keep up with what the teacher is saying, along with being able to type in-class essays so that I am able to go back and check for spelling errors and personal words within the click of a button. Also after using these laptops day after day I have discovered how to work them much more efficiently now, and I also have learned many different ways to share my thoughts from different sites that Mrs. Smith has taught us, such as Prezzi and Glogster. Therefore, in the past semester I have really changed as a student now that we have started to use technology more in the classroom. I have learned more about the ways that I learn, and how I can be more efficient in sharing my thoughts and ideas. If I do not have laptops in my English classroom next year I do not quite know what I would do. I personally think that it would hurt a lot of stuff that I have been taught this year or how to express my learning in different ways, it would take us back to the 20th century with mainly just using pen and paper. Also technology is what schools need to be teaching us alongside the normal curriculum because it is going to make a major impact in our futures on whether or not we know how to use technology, so taking away the technology would not help us achieve the goals of preparing for the future.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Until I became a student of Littleton Public Schools, I had little experience with technology. The LPS elementary and middle schools that I attended provided not only access to technology, but also classes and assistance to help me gain knowledge of how those technologies can be used to benefit myself and others. Since the first time I used a computer at a Littleton Public School, I have grown to not only understand technology, but appreciate its value. Today, I put those experiences and lessons to good use in my technology based Honors English class at Arapahoe High School. Each day, my classmates and I are exposed to new technologies and programs that are accessible in the classroom. Composing any type of document is made quick and simple through the use of technology in our classroom. The documents can be revised again and again with no mess or laborious efforts. Group projects are made easy through sharing databases online such as Wikispaces or Google Docs. Communication is speedy and effective through downloadable software like Skype. Video chat and instant messaging through such programs allow for instantaneous communication between our teacher and students. Presentations and projects are so diverse and creative thanks to technology within our classroom. Programs like PowerPoint or online presentation creators like Prezi allow for never ending presentation ideas. So many doors are opened through the use of technology within Littleton Public Schools. Without it, I, along with many other students, would not be the highly effective and creative students that we are today. Technology is a key part of the learning experience in Littleton Public Schools and the ability to use technology in the classroom takes learning to a whole next level that can be achieved no other way.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

The English classes I have been enrolled in prior to this year have been very mundane. My classmates and I would read books, write papers, and listen to monotonous lectures. This year, however, my English class is much different than any other class I have taken because we are given the privilege of using laptops in class.
Having laptops in class has been an interesting and rewarding experience that I am glad to have been a part of. We use our computers to blog about books. Instead of just discussing a book our class is reading, some students blog while others converse about the novel. This allows us to have two separate conversations and also allows people outside of our school to see our discussions. We also use our computers to write papers. We read Macbeth last semester and wrote papers comparing different interpretations of the play. My classmates and I could work on our papers in class because we had access to computers. This allowed us to give each other feedback and ask our teacher for advice on how to make our work better. My favorite project we have done this school year was made possible by having computers in the classroom. We had to write a paper in an unconventional way by creating a website. This was perfect because I was tired of writing black and white papers that no one but my teacher would see. Through making a public website, the hard work I put into constructing my paper could be shared with anyone with a computer. sites.google.com/site/bwinter2013/

I type much faster than I write, which allows me to take notes quicker than I could by handwriting them. Furthermore, if I am reading an online text, I can copy and paste it into word so I can interact with the text.

I would not be the student I am today without getting the chance to use computers in the classroom. I have not always known about all the benefits of technology. My teacher has taught me methods and shown me resources that have helped me as a writer. I have learned so much by having technology in my English class; without it, I would be experiencing education as usual.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

i really like the triple eee because they are really easy and they are small. they are helpful for everything not just one thing.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

I like triple eee because there easy to use and helpful.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Thank you for all the computers. Also the color blue is the best for my computer.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


from,
Goerge

Magazine

The Eees help me get info on video games for my magazine in writing. I love the Eees and don't want them to go away.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

using laptops in class seems a lot more fun than writing on paper. if i didnt have a laptop i would get to browse the internet to find information. if we werent going to have laptops in class next year we wouldnt be able to browse the internet or learn as well. we wouldnt be able to do educational games for math, science, etc. i have changed as a student from using a laptop.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

It is fun to have Laptops in my room because we don't always have to go to the computer lab every time we have to write something. It also is awesome because we can play math games and I love math.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

I think that it is so cool to have laptops in our class because we have used them in so many ways and it helped us

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Thank you so much for giving us Laptops. We use it every single day at school. At reading,science,and math. Please keep on donating.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

i think the triple E's lets me type faster and more sufficient. the keyboard is smaller so it is a little bit easier. i think we should have them next year because it is a easy way to get computer stuff done so you do not have to go to the computer lab.Plus you can do it for games or free time or stuff like that.Also it is a easy way to do writing so you dont have to do it on paper.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

It's fun and more easy than to wright and change mistakes than to wright it out on a piece of paper. It really fun to just type on the computer, because you can just go back and look at your mistakes. On a piece of paper if you made a mistake you have to go back and erase it and some times if you make to many mistakes you can't read what you say.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Having a laptop is a great privilege for our classroom. In our class, we don't use them just for writing, but for math as well. Our teacher shows us websites that give us review. It is a big advantage over other grades in our school. Right now, we're making magazines about anything we want. The laptops help us a lot in our classroom.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Laptops help with a lot of things that books do not help. You do not have to write by hand. It will be more exiting to learn with a laptop. there is so much more things to do on laptops then in books. you can get to things faster then in a book. books are fine to use but it is good to go faster.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Hello. I'm here to tell you how I feel about the EEE's. These EEE's have changed the way students use their brain in reading,writing,math and many,many other subjects.I myself have changed. We can do much bigger projects due to everyone having their own. Things get done really fast around here.One of the projects we worked on had to do with a Country study and we had to do slide shows. It was very fun and everyone enjoyed it.Now we're working on magazine's.We couldn't do it without the EEE's. I love that that the District is doing everything in their power to keep the EEE's in the classrooms. I would just like to say thank you very much and Happy St. Patricks day when it comes.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

I like the eeepc's things you can write on them and play games if we didn't have them we couldn't do research for school

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

eees are fun for writing math and reading.it makes thos subjecs ezer. that we hav eees

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

the 333's are the BEST! they help so much in school. i mean they give you such a break so your hands don't swell, and burn you can just type stuff up! AND, they ROCK! if i didn't have a 333 i would QUIT school! well i would have fillings to do just that!

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

I like the laptops because they are easy to do anything on

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Eee are fun to play on

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

I personally, think that Eees very handy, and useful for all the subjects in the classroom. I've only been using Eees for afew years but still think they're cool to use and I hope to continue using them for a few more years.Eees are useful for science, writing, reading and more. My friends and family continue using Eees for many more years.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

I think the eee's are a good thing for students to have and heres why. When kids like me have to do a report on something they can't find in a book they should go on the eee because the eee has more information than just one book.If the want to put a picture on something the wrote they could take it from the images on Google and paste it on there article. This is why I like eee.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

The triple eee's help me research many nonfiction things I love to learn about. The laptops are also fun for many other research topics.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

The computers in the class help me with my writing in many ways. I can write papers and essays exponentially faster typing as opposed to writing. Also, being able to access teachers' websites during class let's you ask questions about the homework/ assignment while your teacher is avaliable to talk to. If there isn't laptops in the classroom, my writing projects will most surely lose points because of my horendous handwriting. Having laptops in the classroom helps me because I can get my ideas written down quicker than I can with traditional writing. My grades have gone up, and in turn I am less depressed, and have a much more positive outlook on life.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Coming into Arapahoe, I was expecting to continue taking my notes in notebooks and have my learning zone restricted to information found in the classrooms. Thankfully, things do not turn out how they are expected very often. This year in my English class, we were provided laptops to work with and in many other classes, teachers permitted the use of these handy devices if a student brought their own. This has of course changed classes radically. With laptops students are no longer restricted to the classroom and what their teachers know on a particular subject, they are no longer forced to carry around giant texts books that are expensive and damaging to the environment to produce, and they have the ability to publish their ideas on the web just as I am doing right now. The other day while in English, we were having a discussion on how to solve the district's financial crisis. We concluded that if we were to discontinue the CSAP test it would easily pull us out of the current crisis. The class could only have a fact-based discussion because we had computers to look up the yearly cost of CSAP (25 million dollars) and the LPS budget cuts (9 million dollars). Without the information the computers provided, the class would not have been astonished that instead of canceling the test they would rather fire teachers increasing class sizes, take away funding for foreign language classes, and take away funding for new technology in the classrooms. The laptops enriched our conversation by giving us instant access to information that would have been hard and time consuming to research otherwise. The next benefit of laptops in school is being able to access textbooks online or by CD. Instead of spending large amounts of money on environmentally detrimental paper textbooks, giving students laptops has allowed them to access the textbooks online anywhere. This year I have my Biology, Social Studies, and Math textbooks in electronic form. When given the choice between carrying a laptop or lugging around three textbooks, I would choose the laptop every time. Finally, having laptops this year has given the students the advantage of electronic publishing. Rather than confining the spread of students’ works and ideas to the school like many are use to, the use of laptops in the classroom gives student the opportunity to publish their projects online for the world to see and benefit from, to share their many opinions, and to be recognized as contributors to society. We all have opinions and the laptops are a means to express them. Laptops have clearly influenced the learning environment at AHS in a positive way. They have expanded the classroom to include facts and people’s ideas from around the world, they are beginning to replace expensive textbooks that destroy the environment, and they allow students to share their ideas across the globe. With more laptops, all the students at Arapahoe and in the LPS district would have these advantages not just a few grades.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

When I was in middle school, I had the chance to use a computer only once a week. In that time, all that I would be able to work on was the project that had been assigned by the teacher. When I came to Arapahoe, the thought of having a laptop for personal use was a new idea. Now, if I have a question in class that the teacher doesn't know, within thirty seconds, one of my friends has an answer from Google. We just recently finished a wikified research paper. The main difference of this type of paper between another is that the final copy is entirely electronic. Having laptops at our disposal allowed us to work on this paper in class. Another aspect of this project was instead of typing one of our body paragraphs, we were to incorporate a certain type of media into the paper. Without laptops, this would have been and extremely hard task. For me, laptops have changed the way that I learn and create information in class.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Having laptops in class is so important to modern learning. Without laptops new students will not be able to perform to their highest ability. It is no longer pencil and paper, it is cursor and Word 2007. I personally have benifited from these laptops because it has helped me learn new tools on the web and has helped me tap into my creativity. If laptops aren't in class rooms the student will surely fail when they get out into the real world.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Having computers in class is very beneficial. Last year, i had computers maybe once a month. It was hard to do anything that involved everyone in the class. During discussions, it became very hard for everyone to participate. This year, i was fortunate enough to be able to have computers in my class everyday. This allows the shy people in my class to be able to participate in discussions, without speaking aloud. Also, without computers, one person usually dominated the conversations. Computers allow students to be able to work to the best of their ability. Having computers in my class have also increased my writing skills. I am ale to write quicker and more efficent. Overall, computers are a benefit.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Having computers has been a really great learning opportunity for me. Compared to last year, I have been shown a totally different style of learning, and in my opinion, a better one. Laptops and personal computers allow classmates to share their ideas, without actually having to say anything. That helps for many people because oftne times, you don't say what you were thinking, it comes out differently, and often for me, the wrong way. Computers allow me to express myself on another level and allow me to participate in class more effectively. There are also greater varieties of information on a computer than there would be in just a normal classrom. With the web available at the touch of a button, information is easier to access. I have also increased my typing skill. It sounds a little strange, but I have had so much practice typing in a classroom with mainly computers that I have noticed improvement. Typing is a skill that will definitely be needed in the near future. Overall, computers are a definite benifit to both studnets and teachers.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Our class is different that others. Access to information is what makes us different. Is there a question in class on what the definition of a sonnet is or what the difference between a Shakespearean sonnet and an Occitan sonnet is? That’s easy. Just open your lap top and we will see. With the laptops in class we have a so much better and faster way of getting to the information that leads us to our learning. With lap top in the class, we have a faster and more extended option for research that opens a new way to learning. Instead of just writing an essay and handing it in, we do presentations and Wikified papers. Having laptops in class increases our options and our creativity in how we learn. I can’t imagine my class without a laptop anymore. I’m surprised I ever got by with out one before. If next year I was unable to use a laptop in my class, I would almost feel cheated. I am learning so much this year and it seems wrong to hinder that into my next year of schooling. The lap top lets me take control of my learning. How can I do that without it? I really can’t even imagine my last without one now. It’s like a third arm by now. It’s just a part of how I learn and it is what I am use to. Without a laptop, I know there will be a change in my learning process. The real question is; will that change be bad? I have changed and adapted to using a laptop in my class to get my information, my grades, and my new ideas. I have become I different student with a different way of learning. And I’m not ready to give up that different way. Neither is my class.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Laptops in the classroom have benefited me throughout this year. By having computers in the classroom, we are able to access information faster and easier. Computers hold almost 100% of any piece of information that a student could want to learn. Even though some people disagree that kids should learn how to use books as resorces, computers still hold the same information. When searching for anything online, we still have to know the keywords and any other information that applies to the subject. Computers also posess the ability to provide softwares that allow people to type out anything and be corrected. The computer will respond to anything that may be mispelled or gramatically incorrect. Instead of using a dictionary, people can go online and will be provided with many websites that will refer them to any online dictionary. This also applies to thesauruses, maps, and even many books or short stories. Online books are useful because a student may need to read a couple different books. Instead of buying copies, which will just take up space, the student can go online. This may be useful because they could even compare different texts just on their computer. Throughout this year, I have learned more about computers than I expected. The computers in the classroom have provided me with the necessary tools I need to obtain a better learning environment. Computers are still advancing, and by being around them at this age will only help students to learn more about them in the future. I think that computers are an important tool in the classroom and many more students
will continue to benefit from them.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

In our English Class, laptops are basically an every day material that we use for many things like blogging, research, and typing. Computers in the class are a major resource that we have and are useful because we do not just borrow them from the library or even have to go to a computer lab. That saves much time and keeps us from doing a bad job because we take our time and not rush into assignments. Now that lap tops are reserved just for our class, we can save many of our documents to the desktop so the data does not get deleted. Not being able to have lap tops next year would be harder on the students to find research and we would not be able to blog or type which means there will be alternative assignments that do not include the Internet. As a student my ability to type and figure out how programs work have increased especially because it is a tool that I use all the time. Also, I have learned many new things that I never have tried before and is helpful with many assignments this year. Overall, computers have made a difference in our learning because now we understand the tools and resources of lap tops and gives us knowledge.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Having laptops in my English class has made it one of my favorite classes. With laptops in our class, we have the power and information of the Internet at our fingertips. There are so many tools that only a laptop can provide. When we have laptops with online texts or cool sites like Glogster and Prezi, simple things like a paperback book or a cardboard poster are no longer needed. My English class can also have discussions called “Fischbowls” that we would not have been able to do without laptops. These unique discussions allow my class to communicate both verbally and in blogs.
If we could not have laptops next year, it would be very upsetting and would be a step back in my education. Taking away laptops would be taking all students’ freedom to express ourselves in endless ways. This technology allows me to have more fun and learn more in class. It means a great deal to me to keep this freedom, education, and fun that can only be provided with laptops.
Since I have started using laptops in class, I have learned that a pen and paper are not the only options when it comes to learning. Laptop technology is “not education as usual”, and therefore I have become “a student not as usual” because of the creativity and freedom I find in English class. I have become a much stronger student with laptops, so please don’t take them away, LPS!

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Having laptops in class has been a great experience. We are able to use them for so many projects and they allow us to reach information faster. The major search engines can load as much information as we need when we need it. No more lugging around huge reference books to find a single line of information. We are able to be more creative with our projects because we have the ability to animate, add pictures and blog. During class the ability to “liveblog” allows for many discussions to be held. I personally have not changed with the ability to use laptops but I hope that we will be able to use them for the rest of our schooling.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Technology and education go hand in hand in this generation. Teachers are teaching to help students find their place in the world and to help them find a job. Jobs these days require adequate knowledge of technology and our place in the world most likely has something to do with bettering technology and using it. Countless jobs now revolve around computers and the internet; well paying jobs. Teachers must teach for our times and the 21st century has technology written all over it.

Aside from being necessary for the work world and technology becoming more and more vital in our society, technology is simply more efficient. On a piece of paper you are very limited while on the computer there are myriad possibilities. You can link, cut, and paste. You can drag, click, type, and delete very easily. Paper kills trees and has a million boundaries. The computer is endless and ever changing. Computers allow students access to practically all of the information in the world; all at ones finger tips. This information and convenience is priceless. It opens a not only a new door to students but an entire world. It gives them a piece of paper to write on that can be seen by the world with a few clicks. There is no reason I can see why a teacher would not want this access for their students.

My class used laptops every day and I cannot imagine class without them. They make our class immensely more interesting. Using laptops in our class allows us to create a portfolio of our learning throughout our high school years. All of the work we have posted online and all of the blogs we have contributed we can put together and show to colleges. Without laptops this would never be possible. This is just one example of the thousands of uses of laptops. Laptops and computers are absolutely worth the money.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Thank you to each of you who have written about your experiences with laptops in your 9th grade English classes. Each of you describe so many ways in which the laptops have contributed to your learning. Classroom learning, outside of class, in the world of "google-ing about", sharing knowledge between different classes, your experience with English class as well as with google docs, blogs, etc. All of this is good to know as we talk with our community and the state of Colorado about learning for today's world. Thank you for sharing your insight into the LPS 9th grade English classrooms.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

It is nice to have laptops in class because they give a new perspective to learning and allows for students to keep up with technological advancements. I've learned that when we are in class the technology is taught to us through projects and is mostly just incorrporated instead of a class that specificly is made to teach students about the technologies like the phrase, "killing two birds with one stone."
Next year would be tough without laptops in my English class because I have gotten used to being able to express myself through the keyboard and it is much more efficient for me when I use a keyboard.
The class has given me the ability to focus on my writing instead of focusing on gramatical errors. The ability to focus on the writing opens up a doorway for me to explore and make sure that it us quality before worrying spelling and puctuation.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Having a laptop in class is like having an alternate world in front of you. Yes, you can dissipate from the deep discussion your having in class, however the learning aspect far out ways the personal enjoyment that some may strive for. If the class is per say reading Shakespeare and you are longing to figure out the meaning to a ridiculous word that no one has ever heard of, its possible. If you need to find a internet article to prove your point on advertisement, its possible. Maybe you just plan on using the computer to write up a word document at the spur of the moment, its possible. The countless uses for the laptops available in class are immensely helpful and overly satisfying. In my old school, everything was by the book. Textbooks were searched through unknowingly wasting countless hours slaving away at a book when the internet was ten times less of a hassle. Textbooks were a waste of paper and now with the online versions, accessible with the use of a genuine EEE-PC its possible for me to search through an entire 500 page textbook in less than 4 seconds. If, next year computers were no longer allowed in the classroom, I would be devastated. This to me would be like having the earth fall down because the next generation of knowledgeable people would no longer be advancing in the fine uses of the laptop. As a student, today, I have changed in the sense that I no longer use a bunch of paper to remind myself of things, write down assignments or take notes on. With the use of a laptop, I am able to save my work to the school server, which is accessible every hour of every day. Computers are contributing to the saving of planet Earth. They replace needless items, giving its user a more profound access to knowledge and simpler life style.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Have you changed as a student since you started using laptops in class?
Having laptops in class has changed the way I've been learning. Suddenly we are able to read our text online, type essays faster than hand-writing, and have access to look up any word or phrase that might confuse us. A whole new world is opened up to us, just by having a simple computer in front of you. If I could not have laptops next year it would damage the way that I personally learn. The laptops help me plus getting the text online for free really helps out with our family budget. Laptops are one of the biggest changes in how I have learned this year. It has made everything simple and easy.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Having laptops in my English class, has been an interesting addition to my class. Now our whole class can collaborate on line using tools such as live blogging and Google docs. These tools have taken our group work and decisions to a whole new level. Now when arguing a point you can pull up information right away to back up what you are saying and find other relevant information. This allows our learning in the classroom to be broader and more in-depth. The laptops also take away the bulk and immobility of normal desktops that create problems when completing an assignment with a group. The laptops are easy to pass around for your entire group to see something that you have found. Laptops also introduce much better ways of presentation that are limited when creating something so 2D like a poster. There are awesome presentation software’s such as PowerPoint and Prezi. Here’s a Prezi prezi.com/-ldbkodduokh/ ) that I created for a Poetry Project, as you can see it is a far more interesting presentation then a poster. The world of class projects is also opened when you are able to use a computer and the internet. This year we created websites on a comparison between Little Brother by Cory Doctorow and 1984 by George Orwell. In my website sites.google.com/site/nickd2010project/) I embedded a video that I created on Xtranormal www.xtranormal.com/), along with a whole bunch of external sources that the viewer can access. Without these laptops in my classes next year it would severely prohibit my learning and I would be taking quite a few steps back in the technological world in which we live. I would be limited to my access to information, which would be another step behind other students with this advantage. This year I have changed as a student by becoming much more proficient with technology and increased the depth of my learning this year.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Using lap tops in our class has really been a change in pace for my way of learning. In past years of english it was the same activities year after year and now with lap tops I can expand my learning even more. I can now access information easier nad ingo into more detail with it aswell. Not having laptops in my next class would definately take away from what I have learned and what i can learn. The class would be less interesting and I don't think very many kids would pay to much attention or learn very much without the help of technology. I have changed as a student by using laptops because I have a lot more resources to further my learning on a subject.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

As a student attending Arapahoe High School I take pride in the fact that I know how much my school cares about students succeeding by recieving the best education possible. The teachers, administrators, counselors, and even the students work hard to ensure that this goal is reached. One way that my school tackles this goal is by using laptops in many classes and allowing students to bring their own laptops to school. Using this technology in class has made my learning and, more importantly, my means of learning, increase tremendously. I have so much more access to the outside world and the knowledge that I now have at my fingertips is amazing. Not only can I access any information that I wish but I can publish my knowledge to the world.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Laptops are an essential addition to the classroom in my opinion. You have programs that check your spelling and grammar, and internet which can stream endless amounts of knowledge from one portable electronic to another from almost any place at any time. Having laptops in class allows one classroom to connect with everyone in the world. Computers in class allows students to obtain a higher grade on written essays because of the neatness, perfect spelling and flawless grammar. Typing on a keyboard is faster and neater for me than writing with pen on paper and allows me to cut down on the time needed to do homework. Classes without laptops next year would be rough for me personally because using a laptop has become a daily routine for me in class everyday. Without it I would feel less involved with my class because not only does laptops allow me to write, but it also allows the entire class to interact and share with everyone else. As a student, I have changed since using laptops in class. I have improved on my writing and how I think. Instead of using a dictionary book to look up a word I use the internet. Instead of having teachers check my grammar I have use the computer.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Laptops are an essential addition to the classroom in my opinion. You have programs that check your spelling and grammar, and internet which can stream endless amounts of knowledge from one portable electronic to another from almost any place at any time. Having laptops in class allows one classroom to connect with everyone in the world. Computers in class allows students to obtain a higher grade on written essays because of the neatness, perfect spelling and flawless grammar. Typing on a keyboard is faster and neater for me than writing with pen on paper and allows me to cut down on the time needed to do homework. Classes without laptops next year would be rough for me personally because using a laptop has become a daily routine for me in class everyday. Without it I would feel less involved with my class because not only does laptops allow me to write, but it also allows the entire class to interact and share with everyone else. As a student, I have changed since using laptops in class. I have improved on my writing and how I think. Instead of using a dictionary book to look up a word I use the internet. Instead of having teachers check my grammar I have use the computer.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Having laptops in class is like having everything you need right in front of you. Since we got laptops we can write essays with fewer mistakes and more formal ones too. The internet can give us quick and easy access to research and reference help. Next year if we did not have laptops I would most likely fail my class because I cannot write well at all because of spelling errors, punctuation and format. I think that lots of kids would do badly in class if we did not have them because it makes the class much harder. Since we started using laptops my grade has shot up from previous year where it was very low. I have turned in all of my assignments because there is more than one way to get them to my teacher so that has made it much easier on us. Laptops are helping students more and more, students also enjoy class more with laptops.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Having laptops in the classroom has really changed my experience as a student. I now feel that they are essential to my everyday learning and are used in most of my classes. I have used a laptop in Math, every day in English, Spanish, Sign Language, and Biology. Having them in class is fantastic. I can be so much more responsible for my knowledge and that has really helped me in my responsibility and how seriously I take my knowledge. If there is a topic that I do not quite know or we are talking and something comes up that raises a couple questions, more information can immediately be looked up so the class can get on with the current conversation. It has really opened up such a broader span of information for me. When I read a book in English I can use the online text and take notes on Word, which is much more organized than notes in a hard copy of a book. I honestly cannot even imagine not having laptops in class next year. There has maybe been two days this year that I have not actively used my laptop for my schoolwork. It would really change my education and take the level of education down I feel. As a student I am more responsible for my knowledge and I look at more sources before making a choice regarding the information I use. I also take my education more seriously because I am so much more responsible for my actions.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Having the opportunity to use laptop computers in English class has helped me a lot as a student. The laptops give us an infinite bank of knowledge that we can access at any time and make things easier in class then they were before. Now if we need create a bibliography paper for something we've written, instead of having to memorize a different formula for each source we can just go to easybib.com and type in the information while the citations are made for us. Also, the laptops allow for work to be published online on sites such as WikiSpaces and Google Sites. This is really an amazing thing, because now instead of just having our work on a piece of paper that we might lose, we can back everything up online and have all of our school work through out highschool available online. Having the laptops in the class room have changed a lot of things in good ways.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

At home many students often use laptops for help on homework or to do research. Recently teachers have been assigning assignments that need the need of internet access. Students of recent generations are constantly exposed to laptops at home, and for some at school. In school use of laptops allows for storage of information, of school work. Many find it difficult keeping papers organized while others do not enjoy seeing their hand written notes. Use of laptops allows for better organization and accurate notes. Students are given the oppurtunites to have access to an infinite amount of information. No longer is there a need to shuffle through a binder to find a piece of information, you can easily and quickly access that same information online. Laptops with the use of internet allows a faster communication between students and between student and teacher. Students who need to share ideas or work on a project can easily with the use of laptops. Students through the use of laptops can sumbit their information directly to the teacher without the need of submitting a papper copy. Through the use of technology in class, there is less need for waste of paper. All information can be accessed online. With the use of laptops in my Enlgish Class has allowed my learning to grow. Writing has improved for I can clearly see what I have written and revise it as I see fit. It is easier to do class projects, there is no need to stand up in class and read a paper. There are online projects many like power point and photostory that allow for a creative and fun way to express learning. Technology, laptops is becoming a part of everyday life. Some classes are beginning to use laptops as part of daily activities. Without the use of laptops it is unlikely that grades will drop however they most likely will not improve. Laptops help you learn faster, and many times you remember what you learn through videos, images and other related materials. Laptops with the help of the internet allow my learning to broaden from not only the use of textbooks but as well as the works of others.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Using laptops in class has opened a whole new door of opportunities. It enables learning at a much greater depth. In my English class, we have gotten the chance to Skype with an English class in Texas, Skype with author Cory Doctorow, and we have learned many new tools to enhance our work. I now get so much more out of class when we do things such as when we have a class discussion, live blogging at the same time, getting many more ideas, thoughts, and collaboration of others.
If laptops were not available to me in the future, everything would be different and I would not be able to do so many of the things I now have the ability of doing. Laptops have definitely changed me as a student and I am now capable receiving so much knowledge and ideas at the tips of my fingers.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Using laptops in the classroom is probably one of the biggest changes to my learning I have experienced throughout my ten years in school. Laptops create a learning environment unlike any other and truly make learning better.
Say a teacher wanted to know the capital of Vietnam, well in under ten seconds, a dozen students in a laptop class would be able to tell the teacher that it is Hanoi, population: 6.5 million and that the coty has been inhabited for roughly 5000 years. If it takes only ten seconds to do that, imagine what can be accomplished in an hour. With laptops, lessons are truly interesting and diverse. Laptops also help students become more independant and critical leaerners. Say you are reading a text in class and the teacher explains something to you; well any student who is unsure about this explanation, or still confused can go on the internet and find an interpretation of the reading that makes more sense to them. Laptops also make activities in class different each time because there are so many more options and it does not become repetitive.
Laptops in class have made me a more efficient and independant learner as well as increasing my interest in school. Without laptops in class next year english would become just another subject that I did not look forward to, because one of the great aspects of learning would be gone.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Laptops have changed my learning. This year is the first year I have had the opportunity to have laptops in class. I can now follow along with the teacher with online text, commenting on word, so that I will not lose my thoughts. Now, laptops enable my class to use Skype, to talk to the author of a book we have read. Not only that, but if you are sick, you do not have to miss class, because you can Skype into class. The class also helps each other, by keeping tabs on each other and live blogging, this way the teacher can also check in on our discussions and make sure we are understanding correctly.
Also, the laptops encourage me, and my peers, to do better on our work. Essays and certain assignments are published to the web, which then can be accessed by anyone, so you want to put out your best work. One essay we have done, was exchanged with a class across the country to whom commented on the essay.
Now, because everything can be accessed online, our class is helping save the environment by not wasting paper.
Clearly, a student and class given the tool of laptops is benefited in many ways, hopefully one day all students will be given this opportunity for a new level of learning.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

The triple e's and other laptops have been very useful. From experience, the laptops have provided an alternate source of help and resources. They allow independence and provide the opportunity to improve in both English class and our technological knowledge. With the laptops, students are able to have countless web documents in just seconds. I use the laptops in my English, Spanish and Science classes. Class without these laptops would be very difficult. These laptops allow the students to become more responsible for their decisions and work. If there were no laptops next year, classes would be very different. I have used the laptops in class almost every day. Class without them would be very different. I would not be able to post blogs, check our class homework or read online versions of the stories we are reading in class. With the computers, almost unlimited numbers or sources are at my finger tips. The laptops encourage more diverse learning topics and activities for class. These topics and activities are never the same. The technology provides endless opportunities for learning. In previous years I have had to search endlessly through books and try to find an available working computer to tediously find a small fact that could have been found within seconds on a laptop.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Having laptops in class is a great experience. Laptops allow you to take notes and be able to edit them and send them by email. Taking notes by hand gets really tiring after a while and with a laptop it is easy to type fast and you are able to record more information as well as pay attention. If laptops were not available in next years’ classes I would be disappointed. Having a laptop in class as a freshman honors student has allowed me to do so many things with my essays and research, that I cannot imagine class without them. After starting to use laptops in class I am finding myself participate in class more often and also becoming more efficient in my work. I think it would be really unfortunate if laptops were not available to students next year.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Coming from a low-budget district in California, the ability to use laptops has been more beneficial than I ever could have predicted. Most of the teachers from the middle school that I attended did not even posses a computer in the classroom, and those who did, rarely decided to use them. At Arapahoe High School, I watch teachers use technology for so many tasks, all of which further compliment my learning experience. Technologies such as Google Docs or Skype, have made school increasingly convenient and accessible from any location. There is no longer an excuse for missing an assignment when absent, everything covered in class, is covered on the teacher's webpage. Personally, the ability to find all of the information given out in class, proved itself invaluable when I missed two consecutive weeks of school due to an illness. Despite the lack of attendance, I was able to consistently turn in assignments and occasionally skype into a class during a discussion. The use of skype in particular, made me realize how bright the future of education appears to be. Every student could learn from his or her home, joining class within a chat room such as Cover It Live, or a face to face environment such as Skype. Teachers would not have to grade students on tests or quizzes, but rather their understanding and critical thinking presented in these discussions. Students from countries around the world could participate together in a single class, and the exposure would result in an unprecedented cultural awareness among teenagers. Clearly, learning with laptops not only currently benefits a student's learning experience to a great extent, but also provides revolutionary possibilities for the future of education.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

What matters in the world today is a post on Dan Maas's blog that has several questions about lap tops in class rooms. The first question is, what is it like to have lap tops in class? Having lap tops in class, gives us access to the internet and many other recourses. We no longer have to go to the library to do research; we can just pull up a Google page. The second question that Mr. Maas has presented is, what can you do now that you couldn't do before? Before we had lap tops in class we would have to go to the library or the computer lab to do research. We also have connection to the rest of the world through the internet right in front of us. We can also email our projects home allowing us to work on it no matter where we are. The next question he posed was, what would it mean to you if you couldn't have lap tops in class next year? I personally would not enjoy the class as much because we wouldn't have the resources that we currently have now. It would also make things just that much more difficult. It would also be disappointing because just being able to use technology is fun and interesting. The last question he asked was, have you changed as a student since you started using lap tops in class? I don't believe so, the lap tops have made my life as a student easier but I do not believe that I have changed the way I learn because of that. All of these are great questions and they relate back to the Dr. Warschauer blog. I will re-sate what I said then; lap tops are a good resource and have made class easier.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Going into Arapahoe High School gave me new opportunities, especially using a laptop in class. In my English class, my teacher always has us use laptops in class. She has us blog, look up things, do assignments, and many other things. Using laptops in class lets me do things that I couldn't do before. It allows me to look up things that I don't know. It allows me to connect with other teachers and people around the world to learn new things. If we couldn't use laptops next year I think that it would be hard to learn things in school. I believe that I have become a better student now that I have the ability to use laptops in class. I can type up a report, do my homework, or look things up for class.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

In our English Class at Arapahoe H.S., laptops are an every day tool that we use for many things like blogging, research, and typing. Instead of writing your thoughts out on a piece of paper, you can type it onto a computer, save it and come back to it later. Having laptops in my classroom is great because when you type you never get tired, you can do so many different things with laptops, and they do not take up that much space. On a laptop, if you do not know a word, you can look it up right then, or if you do not know how to spell a word you can also look that up while you are working. If you used paper though, you would have to find a dictionary and find what you are looking for, possibly erase multiple times etc. On laptops we can do different things on them that we could not do before. You can use Google Earth to find places, Blogger to show your thoughts, Wordle to finish a project in a cool way, Diigo to organize all of your work, and the internet to make researching easier. If I could not use a laptop next year, it would be hard because I rely on computers almost every time I do school work. I do not think that I have changed as a student because laptops are readily available thanks to projects like this one. Laptops are just a easier ans simpler tool to use in class. It is also nice because not all students have computers at home!

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

In our English 9 class laptops are a every day necessity. Using personal computers in class cut down on the need to use paper based materials. Laptops allow me to easily access information on any topic. Using laptops also make any class more interesting and lets students engage in more conversations. Laptops are also a very good organization tool. They eliminate the need for messy binders and backpacks. Advantages like this will have an huge impact on student's grade. Laptops allow me to access my work in class and c always be pretty reliable opposed to backpack. Last, laptops make your work accessible to everyone so instead of just the teacher reviewing your work, you can receive more feedback on your work.
www.littletonpublicschools.net/DISTRICTINFORMATION/GetInvolved/LPSBlogs/tabid/656/BlogID/7/Default.aspx

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

In my ninth grade English class at Arapahoe High School we use our laptops every day and that is very useful. It is very nice to have laptops in class because we can research things for class. Although laptops are nice I think that are very distracting as well because you are tempted to go online and play games and do things that you should not be doing. With laptops in class now it is easier to do work on essays and papers, because you can save your things at home and do not have to use paper. When you use paper it is a lot harder to do corrections because it is very hard to see what is written with all the corrections. With laptops you can add in comments and then change whatever needs to be changed than delete the comment plus you don’t have to write it all over again just make corrections. If I was not able to have laptops in class next year I think that it would be very difficult change because of how accustom I have become with them already in class. It would make writing essays and papers a lot more difficult because I would have to re-write my paper all the time instead of just correcting them on a word document. I think that laptops have helped me become a better student because when I used to have to write on paper I would not want to do that so I would not right to my best ability. With laptops I feel that I can write everything on my mind and if does not work it is easy to change. Plus I can have the internet right there for research so that I can make my paper very strong writing.

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Mr. Maas,

When we have laptops in class then life is much easier. Most kids like to write on laptops more rather then paper/pen/pencil. For me my mind just tells me to type, type, type and keep on typing and I never get tired. For while I am writing on paper/pen/pencil then my hands just want to rest on a job but I have to keep going. I cannot stop thinking about typing. Just typing this comment makes me want to keep on going. Laptops in class can be really useful. For example, we can study our multiplication facts on the laptops when we want to reach 100 facts in just 2 minutes. Division works the same as well. We may not have a computer at home to study facts so we can do it at school when there is time. On the other hand, what would we be using to study our facts? Such as flashcards to study? Even spellcheck can help. While we would be writing and spell a word or words wrong then we can use spellcheck to correct our spelling. Instead of having to get up or raise your hand for a teacher to tell you the correct spelling. To add on, we can inherent our learning by having laptops in class. It can inherent our learning by learning things that we do not know about. Maybe even information that teachers don't know that they want to know. Or when we do not know what a word means and there are no resources in the room to look up the word except for our laptops. On the eee we can even use a website called wordle.net to see what words we use to much of in writing. This connects with the time I was doing my fiction story and I had decided to use wordle.net to see what words I was using to much of. Just thinking of wordle.net I want to check what words I am using too much in this comment. Since I was reading my fiction story I had saw a lot of words that had gotten repeated. When we use wordle.net then we can use a thesaurus to see what other words you can replace in your writing. But if there is not a thesaurus in the room or anywhere then you can use thesaurus.com on the laptop to find words to replace words. Everyone should deserve to have a laptop in their class.

Last year in 4th grade there were most things that we can still do in 5th grade. On the other hand there are also things that we could not do in 4th grade but did in 5th grade. Take spellcheck for example. Once we write on our laptops we can do spellcheck as usual. Same thing happens in 5th grade. In 4th grade we would not do cover-it-live sessions like in 5th grade. We would use cover-it-live for read aloud, shared reading, and other things. We would even use a website called today's meet to communicate without talking in the room in 5th grade. Anyone could join. As in 4th grade we just use our laptops for writing. In both grades we would be able to use a word document to write in before we publish a comment or write our writing on our pbworkspace. If you are interested in seeing some of 5th grade students' writing then click here to visit the pbworkspace. Feel free to even comment on some of the 5th graders' work. We all do try to work our very hardest in school even in writing.

If next year we don't have laptops in class then that would be just a bust. I would feel really bad. We would have to go back to pencil/pen/paper. We would need to get our hands exhausted while writing with just paper/pen/pencil. We just get so interested on typing on the laptops that we want to keep on using the laptops to do our writing on. Instead with paper/pen/pencil. I bet that many other people would agree with me that if we do not have laptops next year then that would be a bust. The laptops even makes it fun in class. Such as playing online computer games that you can play to help you with your learning. Since if you didn't have any games to play to be fun at and learn things in then you would need something to play on. For example, math games. Or if you have to look up a word that you don't know and there is not one single dictionary in the room then you would need a computer to help you with that.

If you ask me I certainty have changed as a student since I have started using laptops in class. Not only am I using the laptops in class but I am becoming a better writer using the laptops. While hearing the mini-lesson for writing I am just so eagerly waiting to get on my laptop and type away. I have changed as a student since I have started using laptops because I have more knowledge about things and am ready for middle school. I mean besides getting information from teachers I can get information on the laptops. I would probably know websites to go on in middle school when I need to instead of asking a teacher for help. I know more words to use in my writing and even better words to use in my writing that could get my reader's attention. My hands tell me to stop when I am writing on paper/pen/pencil but when it comes to typing on the laptop like I had said before my brain tells me to never stop and keep on typing. This would be a big opportunity for the future students who get to use the laptops but they should become better students and enjoy it.

I hope that you had enjoyed reading this comment and I hope that I will hear from you about this comment.

Sincerely,
Kathy

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Mr. Maas,

So far in school this year laptops have been such a help in class. Having laptops in class is fun and helpful. For example, the kids who would not pick up the pencil and write now have the urge to turn on their computers and start typing. Another example is kids who don't know what a word means can jump on line and try to find the word on a dictionary. Computers in the classroom have also enhanced our learning experiences and my teachers Mr. Moore and Ms. V sometimes says that we teach him about the computers sometimes, he does not teach us. Computers in our classrooms helps our secondary language learn English easier. When visitors come into our class room and they ask us questions, sometimes we do not want to talk but in a computer we can say everything we need to say just like i am doing right now. Having laptops in class has been a great experience and I can not wait to keep learning with computers in the classroom.

I can do so many things with a computer that I was not able to do when I had just book, some paper and a pencil. I know I have mentioned the on line dictionaries earlier in this comment but When I use a normal Dictionary, it would take me a while to look up one word. Right? But now that I have an on line dictionary I can look a word up with a simple definition up in a couple of seconds. Sometimes when our class is getting ready to read a book, we go to a website that we call leveled readers. you can listen to the books and that is also very helpful to our secondary language learners and our lower level readers. One more way leveled readers can help us is Mr. Moore can put the book up on the SMART board and the class can read together.

If I did not have laptops next year, I would not enjoy writing half as much as I do now and all the other subjects would be really boring to tell you the truth. Even if we dissect a frog, make a volcano or any other cool things the subjects would not be half as exciting as now. When I first turn the computer on I have the urge to type. It might seem like I get excited over nothing but I am getting excited over something very important, my school work. When I do not get a chance to type during the day my heart throbs with sorrow and I have become a better writer over the years and the computers have helped me in so many ways, here is proof this is my writing at the beginning of the year, I could only write one paragraph and I did not get the assignment finished.Here is my writing from the second trimester. My grades in writing on my report card went from a B to an A in one trimester. I thought that was amazing that I improved like that.

I must say that I have changed as a student since I have used computers. The computers have enhanced my learning skills and my typing skills. When a kid thinks of a computer they think ooh video games or something like that. I think of an opportunity and a privilege. When I type it feel like my hands can not stop and I want to keep typing and typing. Another way I have changed as a student from computers is I have learned how to have great amounts of responsibility. Responsibility is an important thing as you grow up. I am also now better at getting to know books in general because of our cover-it-live sessions. We have to post up comments and if they get published we know for a fat that they are good comments and we were pushing our thinking. There are so many other ways that computers have changed me as a student and helped me improve my learning skills but I will be asleep by the time I name them all. I can not believe that we have this and it is such a privilege! Well thank you so much!

Sincerely,
Anna
Fifth grade student at East Elementary

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

The hyperlinks on my previous comment did not sow up so I will give you the links in this comment.
Here is my writing from the first trimester (eastdragondentake2.pbworks.com/Anna-Independent-Reading-Letters) Here is my writing from the second trimester (eastdragondentake2.pbworks.com/Anna-Independent-reading-letters-second-simester) Here is my fifth grade blog (blogclub-anna.blogspot.com) Thank an enjoy!
Sincerely,
Anna
Fifth grade student at East elementary

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Dan Maas,


I think it is great to have these EEEs in class. I think it has been big change for the past two years. I bet the kids that have and will use the EEEs have a big life ahead of them. For example, having laptops in class during all subjects but math is the best because we can use the PB workspace or an educational site for kids. I felt I have learned more this year than I would have if we were not provided with these amazing tools. We have all the dictionaries and passwords to things that we need right at our finger tips. I feel this gives us a chance to have dream. Maybe a dream to provide kids across the nation across the world every city every little school you can think of with EEEs because all kids should get a chance to learn the way we do in the Littleton Public School district. In writing I believe my grades have gone up because of these EEEs. Last year in the middle of the year i think in writing I was at a B and now I am at a B but I feel that I deserve that be this year because last year I felt I really didn't need that B that I got in writing on my report card. Having a EEE at your finger tips in writing is really mind blowing and I swear I rather be at school than not at school at all and that isn't the case with most students.


I can write astonishing stories in writing. It's not just the EEEs its self it is the teachers and materials around me too. They deserve some credit but not all of it. I am a good writer but my skill for writing as blasted into space since last year and all the things I have learned in the past are included in my writing which usually doesn't happen. One reason is, I apply effort now and use to not apply effort because I thought having effort was the hardest thing ever but now that I have that effort getting good grades isn't that hard and you know what its from. It is from having these amazing tools all day at my finger tips and not having paper and a pen to write with. I can score better grades in school than last year and that is something I have not been able to do before. Typing I feel makes it easier to write a story because I can get it done faster than when I write with paper and a pen because my hand would cramp and I would take a five minute break but now I can just type and not have to worry about my hand hurting.


I believe it would be a lot harder to do my work if I did not have the EEEs next year. I believe, my grades would plummet because I would have these tools that help me all day and enhanse my learning. I don't want my grades to plummet because I don't have these amazing tools to help me in writing or science. Learning with the computers is better than having a teacher just spill it all out at you then tell you to take a test. I think when the teacher tells you go here do this and this 2 times it gets drilled into your head better and then you will get better grades. Well thats just what I believe and you can believe different. Next year if the EEEs weren't around the teacher would just spill it all at you then tell you take this test. I would not be very happy and I would not want to come to school. Like I said I would rather come to school than not go to school at all.


I have changed a lot with the EEEs around. To give an example, I get better grades, I remember things better, and I have many things to talk about in class like answers and questions about something. I wish that all students knew how I feel having the EEEs and having the ability to be involved in class. Students would probably be more involved in class if they had EEEs to be on in class.


Having the EEEs has given teachers the ability to do a club like blog club! Check out my blog (blogclub-savannah.blogspot.com/) Also check out the PB workspace (eastdragondentake2.pbworks.com/FrontPage) and see what we have been doing!


East 5th grade student,

Savannah

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Sitting at home in my kitchen over spring break, watching the wet, spring snow fall, I reflected on why it is that the use of class netbooks has become such an integral part of my practice as an LA teacher. “It’s funny, I thought, “How could I ever move to a grade level or school where there wasn’t an option for my writer’s workshop?” The last eight months of using class netbooks with my sixth graders have helped me rediscover and refine my fifteen year practice and bring it into the 21st Century.
While a class set of netbooks may seem like an extraneous luxury, especially in today’s economy, it has become an essential and foundational resource for me and the sixty-five sixth graders who work along side me daily, studying the qualities of good writing, improving skills like organizing, supporting a main idea with evidence, learning new conventions and improving old ones, and generally becoming better writers.

Admittedly, this course of study should be happening in any well-run LA classroom founded in current principles of writing instruction. However, writing is a laborious process, and some middle school students do not understand an adult’s sense of urgency about it. Truly, while we, the teachers and parents of middle level students, literally cannot fathom their cavalier attitudes towards school (it IS secondary school, after all) , my sixth graders are just as close to high school graduation as they are to being kindergartners. While we, the guardians of their futures, know how important these fundamental writing skills are and how they will separate kids on college and career paths in the near future, many of my sixth graders are “doing time,” doing what’s needed, and waiting for the bell to ring so they can get back to reality.

Netbooks have given me a powerful tool to use in combating the idea that many teens hold that school is not relevant to reality – an outdated remnant of another time. Today’s students are children of the digital age – digital natives (a term popularized by Marc Prensky). They spend seven and a half hours per day using electronic media. (New York Times, January 20, 2010) This year I’ve found that when I teach them writing skills on a netbook, I am speaking their language. Combating the old English teacher stereotype with paper, pencil, red pen, (and graying bun!), netbooks have enabled me to take my classroom into the 21st Century – in image and in substance. What we see as a luxury, these kids see as reality. I am thankful for the tool to help bridge the relevancy gap because there is one thing my fifteen years tell me for sure about middle level students: wherever their heart goes, so goes their mind.

I also know that the immediate access to netbooks closes the digital gap for students who have no computer and/or internet access at home. The fact that students can draft, write, conference, and revise with such easy access to word processing means that they will have more opportunities (and requirements) for feedback and revision than if we had to book the overcrowded computer lab or require typing as homework when some students don’t have a machine at home. With a class set of netbooks, I can require any number of drafts and revisions and students begin to see the power of looking at a piece of writing over and over. Boys in particular, who are reluctant writers and tire of the seat time required in school, have been visibly more engaged with writing this year than I have seen in past years. There are also environmental bonuses – rather than reproducing great numbers of copies for all students to read certain essays or documents, I can upload them and all students can view on their screen what I project in the front of the room. They are able to check their grades on Infinite Campus easily and communicate with their parents about what they print.

I am grateful for the opportunity to teach timeless skills like organizing, conventions, engaging the reader with style and fluency, and most importantly, revision using tomorrow’s tools – Google Apps, Wikispaces, digital peer conferencing, real-time blogging as part of a Socratic Seminar - today. I feel fortunate to have these tools to help close the gap between the industrial institution known as school, and the fast-paced, tech-centered lives of today’s early teens.

A heart-felt thanks to all those at LPS and at the Foundation who have made all this possible for our sixth graders this year.
Val Grenawalt

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Mr. Mass,
Having laptops in class has truly been a wonderful experience. It makes everything so much easier. For example, sometimes we can take test online and it makes it better for us and the teachers because after we're done, we have more time to do things we enjoy, and it's not as much work for the teachers. It makes you feel a lot better and a lot more confident about what you are doing. Sometimes when writing on paper with a pencil, you don't really do everything right because all you want to do is finish. To add on, once in fourth grade when we didn't have these computers, we had to do a lot of things on paper and I remember that I didn't do all that I was capable of doing because of all the pain writing gave me. It's a whole other world with the laptops, because if you look around while students are working, they're doing it correctly, confidently, and they never seem to want the class to end because they literally enjoy using the EEE's. I have always loved using these computers and I'm guessing that I always will.
I can write a lot better now that we have the laptops. I spell better, I can concentrate better, and I can do everything that I have the ability to do. I've noticed that I have become a much better writer with these laptops then I ever was before. Something that I am really impressed with the results is science because here with the blog, our teachers can assign us links and we can write comments on what we learned and I think we learn more while doing that the. I've noticed that I can use words then can make me sound a lot smarter because I can go and look up a word that way I know more words and I can understand what I read and write. Cover it live. is something that we use a lot too. It allows us to create conversations while Mr. Moore is reading to us. One of my favorite website that we use is, the wiki workspace. We can comment on other people's work, see how they are doing and give them some suggestions they can use. If we're not doing so good on our writing, then we could look at people that are really good writers then, it gives that person some ideas. These laptops have also made me become a lot more independent and I think it's good because we will all need that as we get older.
I would be really upset if we wouldn't be able to use these laptops next year. It would be something that I would do anything I can to make the teachers give them to us because, it can really be a great use of education. I bet the world's education can become a lot better if they used EEE's.
Without these computers, my education would not be as good as it is with these computers. Grades will go down, and so would some smiles. Things wouldn't be the same and that is why we are very blessed to have these in our hands. I couldn't imagine not being able to use these computers ever next year. I would do anything to my ability to make sure that we can use them sometimes.
I have changed into a whole other person with these laptops in class. It doesn't sound like it is really possible for someone to change because they are using a type of tool, but I'm noticing that it is possible. While being in fourth grade, I struggled a lot in science and math. But thanks to these laptops, there's sites like DE Science, that give us the ability to see sites where we can learn what we need to know about while having fun because they are sometimes games involved. It's some what the same with math, we can look up hard words we have no idea what they mean, and there are a lot of great websites out there related to math so we can study our facts, and we can do games on the levels that we are being taught at that very moment. I have improved the most with these computers.
It's no question that these EEE's have made us better and more successful students. Whether we use them for half an hour or the whole day, we're able to learn a lot more with this kind of technology other then then using a pencil and paper. They persuade us to actually be interested in learning and,we enjoy learning and that isn't always the case with most students all over the world. We're thankful we have these in the first place, and there are a lot more things ahead of us to learn.
Sincerely,
Paola 5th Grader at East Elementary

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Mr. Maas,

I go to school at East Elementary School. I am in Mr. Moore's 5th grade class. I am very lucky to have the laptops in our class. The laptops made a huge change in my class. For example, when we got the laptops we can do a lot of cool things. One thing that I think is very cool is the Google Docs. The reason for this is because most of the stuff we need for school is in the Google Docs. When we need to do a presentation, you can do the presentation in the Google Docs. To add on, the Google Docs is like a class wiki, (A wiki is a place where you can do your work online and you an save it so you can do it at home too.) One time, I was doing my work and I was so close to being done but the time was up. Luckily, I could save my work at the class wiki and I get to do my work at home. Also, there were after school clubs that needed the laptops. In that club, I get to make my own blog. As you can see, the laptops made a big change in my class.

Here (eastdragondentake2.pbworks.com/Raymond-Pre-Writing-Assessment) is an example of my writing in the beginning of the year. The last writing that I did was this one(eastdragondentake2.pbworks.com/Fiction-Unit-Raymond). Now, I love to write so much! When I was using pen and pencil, I never like writing because it was so tiring. If I was writing with pen and pencil, my best of writing will be probably 2 pages. With the laptops, I can write more than 5 pages of writing. Before I used the laptops, I always wish to stop writing. But when I used the laptops, I keep wanting to type again and again. For example, one time I was writing a fiction story with the laptops. I never realize what the time was. Then my teacher said that I needed to clean up. I was so surprised! I wanted to type, type, type, and type. Also, before I used the computers, I wasn't that much of a good speller. But now, I am getting better at spelling words. You might wonder why the laptops changed my spelling. Well, I learned to be a better speller by using the spellcheck. Whenever I misspelled a word, the laptops would tell me to change it. Every day I keep doing this until I learned to be a better speller. Also, the laptops helped me learn my English better. There is this one website that really made me learn my English better. The website is (www.kwarp.com/portfolio/grammarninja.html)

If I don't have these laptops next year, it would really make a big change. If I don't have these laptops next year learning for me would be not that fun. In the beginning of fifth grade, I was so surprised to have these laptops! At first I wanted to write with pen and pencil but later on, I learned about the educational things this laptops can do. I really hope that I can have these laptops next year because of these reasons. First, if I didn't have laptops for writing, my hand would hurt so bad. I remembered when in fourth grade, I was using pencil and paper for writing. Writing used to be my least favorite subject in school but now they are my favorite. Second, I really hope I can use these laptops next year because my grade would go down again if I didn't have these laptops. When I was in fourth grade, you wouldn't believe how little my writing was. Later on, I learned to write more pages. I really hope that I can have these laptops next year.

I changed a lot since I use these laptops. For example, when I used these laptops, it really made a big change. I never thought of the opportunity that I have. I never have the time to think about my teachers and my opportunity. I am so lucky because there are people all over the world who doesn't have these laptops. Another time that got me thinking is when my teacher read the book, "The Giving Tree". My teachers was posting questions using the laptops (eastdragonden.blogspot.com/2010/02/parable.html). Also, the laptops made me a better and respectful student. I used to be a little rude to my teachers but now I realize how much they did to me. As you can see, that is the reasons the laptops changed me as a student. Thank you for taking your time reading this comment.

Sincerely,
Raymond
5th grade students at East Elementary

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Mr. Maas,

When we have laptops in school it makes it easier to carry the laptop and we don't have to use pens and pencils in class that much. Another example is when we do a report and we need to do it as a team we can bring the laptops together and work. The laptops help us with our work because we go use online and we can visit sights that Mr. Moore and Ms.V put on our blog for us to see and learn. What I learned was how to get the fifth graders to know how to type fast. I've been writing in class on the laptop and I've been writing a lot in school and the laptop was a great way to type and I could show you our writing on (eastdragondentake2.pbworks.com/)

Also it made our life much easier, and when we write on the laptops they can tell us what we did wrong and how we could make our sentences better. In addition, when we don't know what the definition of a word is we could look it up on the laptop's dictionary and we don't have to get up a grab a dictionary from the shelf in the classroom. I learned the things that we don't know could be found on the laptops when you go on to the Internet we could find things that we study in class. The Internet now shows us how to find answers and now we can use a Google docs so we could write to you.

I think if next year I don't have laptops then it would be boring to work on sheets of papers all day without using technology. When we don't have any laptops next year, then school could be dull and not interesting. We would have to do every single thing on paper again and again. Then in school when I can't use laptops I don't know what going to happened on the Internet and what happen and learn about the school.

Now in fifth grade I have changed and learn new things that the teachers already know and I could create my own blog and and if you want to see it here it is (blogclub-duc.blogspot.com/). I even learned how to go to get things and Mr. Moore and Ms. Vander Velde got me and other student a email account for school work. Also we learn more things and find definitions for our work and could post on the blog. I have respect for the EEE's so other student could used it again in the future/

Sincerely,
Duc

Fifth Grade Student at East

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Dan Maas,

Having laptops in class is great. First they make it easier than using pen and paper because you don't have to worry about running out of room because as you type you constantly don't half to keep moving down lines the computer does it for you. Next you don't have to keep asking classmates how to spell a word because there is spell check. Another great thing about having laptops in class is it keeps all your things organized so you don't have to. Check out what we are doing this year dragondenreadersa.blogspot.com/. Dragon Den Readers A

Some of the things that i can do now that I could not do before are, not having to use a not book all day. For example if you're watching a video you can pause the video and go to your work space and write your notes then go back to the video. Also now I am able to look up information on the computer instead of looking it up in a book. For example if I want to know about the history of the 13 colonies I could go to Google and look it up. Another thing we can do now is keep a blog such as our class blog. Pleas check out this post at our eastdragonden.blogspot.com/2010/03/where-red-fern-grows-cover-it-live-329.html.

If I did not get to use laptops in class next year to me it would mean that I would have to work even harder to find the answer. Also it would mean that the teacher would have to talk even more. Next it would mean that we would not have cool websites such as, ninja words.com,Wordsmyth.com and Wiktionary.com to look up words that are hard or words that we don't understand. Last we would not have cool websites like Wordle to help us know what words we need to get rid of.

Yes I have changed as a student since we have started using laptops in class. For example one way I have changed as a student is now I can use better word choice. For example now that I have websites likeWordle to help me see witch words I've used too much. Another way I've changed as a student is I can find the definition for a word and copy and paste it it in a word document for me to memorize so that next time I know what it means. For example I have been doing this a lot this year check out what words I have learned this year. Click dragondenreadersa.blogspot.com/2010/01/word-finder.html. Another way I have changed as a student is I can concentrate better. I can concentrate better because I don't have to worry about my hand writing so I don't have to keep erasing every thing. Last I have changed as a student is I don't have to concentrate on my spelling because we have spell check.

Sincerely,
Marcus
5th grade student at East Elementary

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Dan Maas,
I think that having the use of laptops is really helping everyone most of our classes. I think the eee's are helping in mostly every subject/classes because when everyone is writing a long story or something else really long our hands start to hurt. Another reason about having laptops is that you can search in an online dictionary. Sometimes when you want to find a word really fast, the computer can find the word faster than you can look up the word in the dictionary. To have laptops in the classroom it is very exciting. I think having eee's is very exciting because of this reason. For example, when you are trying to look for information you can find the information fast on a computer. I think that everyone would not know how to do the things that now we know how to do.
One thing I could not before we had the eee's was I did not know how to go to many different websites. For example, when we got the new google accounts. Before I did not know how to use the google accounts, but know I do now how to use them. Also, I did not know how to use Cover It Live. When you have time will you please look at my writing. Here is the link for Cover It Live (eastdragonden.blogspot.com/2010/04/where-red-fern-grows-cover-it-live-45.html#links ). Also when you have time can you please check out my writing on my Pb works space(eastdragondentake2.pbworks.com/Larissa-Fiction-Unit).
If did not have laptops next year I would be so sad. For example, if we do not have laptops next year my hands would be hurting and itching really bad because next year there is going to be a lot of work. Also if we did not have the laptops I would be devastated. For example, if we did not have the eee's when we would go home our hand would probably be exhausted from all the work that we have done in school. Also if we did not have laptops next year we would probably not be able to play math games and we would not learn the things we know now.
I have changed as a student since we have started to use the eee's because I write more. For example on my Persuasive Prompt. If or when you have time can you please check out my writing that has made me write more(http:eastdragondentake2.pbworks.com/Larissa Persuasive Prompt). Also I have changed as a student since we have started to use the eee's because us (our both 5th grade classes) we have started to write more. For example, when we started to use the eee's I learned how to use cover it live, but I know now.
Sincerely,
     Larissa
    Fifth Grader at East Elementary

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

        Dear Mr. Maas


       It has been a wonderful time using laptops in the classroom. Ever since I entered 5th grade and started using them I just never want to stop using them. It feels as when I type it is like if you are outside doing exciting things when yo u use Eee's. We are lucky now that we have the Eee's because they advance our learning and enhance our learning. The computers show us a way to lear things about , science math and other things. . When I started using the Eee's I knew that right away I would learn new things and learn how to use the computer more and learn things about the Internet.


       Now In the Eee's I can now type my writing instead of just all the time writing. Also when I am typing and I make an error of spelling, it would tell me right away and the computer would already have a dictionary. Then when I am writing I need to go get a dictionary. It is much more faster in the computer. Even now the laptops have allowed us to create our own blogs. You can check out my blog if you click in the address, ( blogclub-juan.blogspot.com/ ). Also we have created our own google account for the school. Also I have learned a lot about how to use these fonominal laptops. They let us do so many amazing things that we can't do without the computers.


       If next year when I went to 6th grade and the teachers said we are not going to use computers this year I would be devastated. I would want to use the computers every day of school and when I am not in school because the Eee's help us learn a lot of things. If I didn't have them next year I would of changed to a school that did have them. I would want to have the laptops because the computers have enhanced my learning. It would mean a lot to me if I didn't have the Eee's. I think that every school and every grade should get the laptops for almost every subject or when it is needed.


       Ever since in the beginning when we got the computers I began learning right away. Then I got to the point were the computer persuaded me to write more and learn more. Also to do more work and impress my teachers with the work I did. Also at my reading and influential for reading has gotten better cause of the computers and my smart teachers. The computers have also made me learn lots of things I didn't know in science. It made me believe that I can learn a lot more than just reading and science. In the Houghton Mifflin website. I could even learn math. I could learn math on the websites about math. I could learn new math words, algebra, and even the definitions or examples of the words. It is like a word diameter and then the definition pops up and an example. Know I have gotten better at almost every subject cause of our Eee's and our teachers.



Sincerely,
Juan 5th grade student at East Elementary

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Dan Maas,
I think that having a laptop in my classroom is so amazing because we get to use it a lot every day. We get to use the laptops for everything. We use them in the morning for science and social studies. For example, right now in social studies we are learning about the colonies and we are creating a dictionary on our google docs. Instead of a word document. I think that doing it on our google docs. is way cooler than just doing it on a word document because if you do it on your google docs. you can work on it at home and if it is on a word document you can only work on it in your classroom laptop. I think that doing our writing on the laptops is cool because you get to use spell check and you can also work on it at home because it is on our workspace. It is cool to do writing on the computer because you get your things done faster. If we were to write a fiction story on paper and you were doing things step by step you would take like three weeks and if you are typing in on a computer it probably would take you two weeks. We also use the computers for shared reading. Sometimes for shared reading we do cover it live. My favorite one is this one. Please check it out at (eastdragonden.blogspot.com/2010/02/shared-reading-february-19-2010.html). I think that using cover it live is fantastic because the whole world can see our writing an if we were to do it on paper and pencil maybe no one would see it. Also we use the laptops for independent reading. We have to write a letter for what we read about that whole week. Then everyone can see and they can comment on your work. We use them for guided reading as well. Also, I think that now that we have the laptops we can work on our own because all the directions get posted on the blog. With the directions being posted on the blog our teacher doesn't have to tell us what to do anymore. I think that our teachers also might like us to have laptops. I love having our triple eee's. They are so much fun to have in our classroom.
Now that we have our triple eee's I can work independently. Sometimes we have a prompt and all the directions and what the prompt is about are posted on the blog. I know what to write about. Also when I do my writing if I spell something wrong I can just use spell check and my problem will be solved without having to ask a teacher for help. Also, I can learn about all sorts of things from the blog. Another great thing about having the laptops in our classroom is that since we have our google acounts we can start working on something in class and if we have to finish it we can do it at home.
If I didn't have these laptops next year I would be so sad because they are really helping me now that I have them. We use them all the time in class for almost everything and I would be so sad if everything had to done in paper and pencil. Also if I did things with paper and pencil it would take us longer to write than to type. Also on the laptops we can use lots of cool dictionaries and if we don't have computers we have to search it up on a normal dictionary. I would be sad because we use them a lot this year.
Sinced we started using the triple eee's I have changed by being confident that I can do work on my own. I have become a better student because I get better grades and I work harder and I get a lot more focused. It is like the only thing around me is my triple eee. I now how to figure things out on my own. For example, When my computer won't let me type I know that I have to restart or get out of the internet and go back in. This is how I have changed.
Please visit our blog at (eastdragonden.blogspot.com/)
Sincerely,
Karen
Fifth Grader At East Elementary School

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Mr. Mass,

Having Laptops in our class is such a big opportunity to have. If we didn't have these computers with us then we would not have that much learning. We would have never been able to see the cool activities that we have seen and we wouldn't be able to do cool activities like create a blog for our selves to have the experience that Ms. Vander Velde and Mr. Moore have with blogger accounts. These eee's have taught us what it is like to be able to go to school every day and just right away start working on our computers, also these computers help us save trees from dying because we use paper and that is where paper comes from. If we use computers then we will help the environment and forest and the animals. These computers are a big difference for our world because we take tests on them and we write things on them except for making 45 copies of paper each day and wasting that paper.

We can do many things like look up words without having to sit up from and watch Ms. Vander Velde look up those words and explaining to us. We can do read aloud and post comments for asking questions or answering other people's question. We can learn more about science and when we are watching videos then we can just open up a word document and start taking notes. We can build presentations like we did with the body systems groups and we won't have to explain so much that we are remembering what we said for the rest of our lives. If we didn't have these laptops we would have nothing to think about and we wouldn't be as smart as we are right now.

I would very sad for the present class because every school should know that using computers is a huge opportunity for the whole world because it can give more experience then any thing else can. I would try to have a fund raiser to raise money for our school to have triple e laptops because they are important to me and any one else that has used a eee before. I would do anything to have eee for my whole school because if they are in 3rd grade then the have a eee laptop they will be able to have more experience then we did when I was in 3rd grade and that would be a huge difference. We were given them a month before the end of the fourth grade.


I have changed as a student since I first started fifth grade because I thought it was going to be like the years before without computers and we having to write on all paper but on the first day of school we used the eee's and I was so excited and also these computer have given us the ability to go on blog sites and see what they are writing and see if we have entrests in anything they have to say about them or something else. On the dragon den we have an ability to see what are teachers are writing instead of the teacher having to talk to us all the time. If we read our class blog then we will have more experience reading and we will improve our skills on reading and we won't fail for reading and we will go up higher then we were before. Please be sure to visit some links after you read this: www.eastdragonden.blogspot.com, www.blogclub-brenden.blogspot.com, and also please look at my writing I have been doing these past few weeks. www.eastdragondentake2.pbworks.com. Thank you for reading and also visiting those links and have a wonderful day!

Sincerely,
East Student: Brenden - 10

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Mr. Maas

In 5th grade the laptops help me in writing because when I'm not sure of a word I could use spell check. When we have read out loud we could use the dictionary if I didn't know what the word mean instead of getting a dictionary book out. Writing with pen and paper is old with the laptops you can use spell check and when I use pen and paper I write sloppy but on the laptops I could see the word very clear. On the laptop every documents is were I save is although sometimes the paper is not so organizes and then you'll just have to look for your documents.
I never got to use spell check before I use a laptop and when I got the laptop school got a lot easer like no more wrong word and also there is a document call open office in the home page.With the laptops we can do a lot more like the math dictionary and even the math facts so we can use them to get 100% on are Mad minute.

If I didn't had laptops next year I would be crying a river of water because I won't have my best tool and the spell check. If there were no laptop or even a computer I would just go loco in the coco. The laptop are what got my grades up and if next year I didn't have the laptop next year my grade would go rock bottom like a meeter. If next year there are no laptop the I would just have to go back in time because that how much the laptop mean to me. Think that The laptop really help all my class mate and everyone using them I hope. The laptop is really helpful because one the laptop can help us learn are math or are spelling. Another is that Mr.Moore and Ms.V class just had a very cool docs called the Google docs docs.google.com/a/lpsk12.org/Doc?docid=0AT9915VW5Xo4ZGN2azZzcmtfMGd0NjZxcmZ0&hl=en.


If I didn't have laptop next year then how would I use the great laptop any and the good Google docs. I just hope there are laptop for every middle school so everyone can use the fun tool and use the laptop for homework. The laptop changed me by the spelling because the spelling help me with the words. www.spellingcity.com/dragoncafe/.The laptop really changed me because I really like the laptop and the paper and pen not so much because the paper and pen is just old but the laptop is not old and and funner then the paper and pen because the pen make your hand so stife and the laptop don't make my hand stife and the laptop make the time go by fast and fun. The laptop made my life like 2x easier then with out the laptops. Here is are school blog eastdragonden.blogspot.com/.

Sincerely,
Andy - 13

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Dan Maas,

For me laptops are important because, you have every thing right in front of you and you don't need to get so much thing on top of our desk. For example, When you need to get a book or a dictionary and other things and then next thing you know your whole desk is filled with things and then when you do have a laptop you are able just to have one thing and it is small so it doesn't take much room so you don't ever have to spend your whole time looking for a word or how to spell a word.

  It would take lot of time when you have to do a test but now we use spelling city {http://www.spellingcity.com/dragoncafe/} It would be sad if every one else doesn't have this great device to use and to be able to use the laptop is very important. This makes me realize, That I love the laptop because, It make me a better learner and it helps with the time and when I finish all my things in time and finished that make me feel nice and proud of my self and my grade is getting better now scene

I have a laptop I think these is important because, If I didn't have the laptop I might not be these far from were I was in fourth grade because, Back then we use to use pen and paper and that was the hard part because, you have to use neat hand writing and that was hard when you didn't have a soft laptop to lean on and a place where you can just type with out getting tired from writhing your best with a pen or pencil and that is the most hards thing to do ever. please check out pbworks page at [http://eastdragondentake2.pbworks.com/]


I couldn't do much before when I didn't have a laptop for example, When I was in third grade I had bad hand writing and so I would have bad hand writing so my grades went down and I know that I can have good stories that people like and I could read my hand writing so it was a good story and I love how I can still try but now I can do grate stories and get the full created that I worked hard for that is why I think that every one should be able to get these great laptop.

Sincerely,
Ashley a 5th grader at east Elementary

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

The eee's are really helping us in school. I think eee's is important because eee's help me stay organise, when I didn't have a eee's I always lost my papers and the eee's helped. Now, I have most of my storys in a doc and it easy to look back at it. Another reason is I get more writing out of type, my hand writing is not so great and on paper I don't put alot on a line. But on computer I write a lot more then usual. Here is an examplehttp://eastdragondentake2.pbworks.com/Tri-Breathing-Life-Into-Essays. I wouldn't know what it would be like with out eee because I think I had a eee's when I was in fourth grade and I am still using it today.

What can I do now that you could not do before is I use to spell everything wrong and really I didn't know how to use a dictionary. I would take the dictionary and look throught the whole dictionary intell I found that word. But now I use spell check,and it lets me have more time to write. We also can talk about the book while the teacher is reading it and we wouldn't, interup the teacher. The thing we used is called Cover It Live eastdragonden.blogspot.com/search/label/CoveritLive. How Cover It Live is used is you send a comment and a administrator looks at it. A administrator can post it or A administrator could delete it and if  a administrator wants to tell the student something she can sent a privet message.
What would it mean to me if I could not have laptops in class next year. It would mean that my grade would drop. If I didn't have a laptop I would write slower and my teacher could not read my hand writing because it would be to slopy to read. And everytime I write I don't want to, but when I type I can't stop. Writing on a computer helps me write when I am at home and when it's break. Typing has changed my writing and that is why I want laptops in class next year.  

Have I changed as a student since I started using laptops in class, yes I have. Using laptops have made me feel good when I typed and I want to use the laptop intell I'm out of collage.

Tri
5th Grade Student at East Elementary

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Dan Maas,
I think that having that laptop in our class has really helped students in many important way because it help them learn more about the technology in the world and that is very important. I also think that we learn more with the laptops because it helps us extend what we now and it helps us know about different things in the world. For example, I think that most of our life we just stay in one place working or learning about the same subject but if we have the laptops we can be in many place and work on a lot of things that we did not know of. I think that have the laptop is important because we can do thing faster than we would be able to do them in a peace of paper. I noticed that many kids get tierd when writing on a peace of paper but on the other had when I see kid tipe I do not see them get tierd at all. I used to think that have a computer was not fun but then when I was trying to beat a kid on writing on a peace of paper I got far from him but when I was done my had hurt and when I write on the computer my hand do not get hurt. To add on, the computer helps work every sigall finger but with the paper it does not, it only works with one had. Sometime when I am done typing and my hands get of the computer I feel as though my hand are in shok because they are so shaky from typing so much.


I think that now that the whole fifth grade has the laptops it has been helping us a lot in all of the assignment that our teacher have been giving us throughout that whole entire school year. For example, when Ms. V told us that we had to do an assignment for the human body we were all real exited to do it but I am sure that if we did not have the laptop we would all be very nervous about how we were going to find the information or how we would show the information that we learned. I think that the computer help us a lot on that assignment of the human body by doing a avatar on ''http://www.discoveryeducation.com'', I think that I never knew that you could do an avatar and think that I did not even know that avatar existed. Another thing that I can do now that I could not do when I had the computer is that I do not have to use a dictionary because in the computer it has a lot and you could put it in different language and in the dictionary it can do that. To add on, when I did not have the computer I had to use the paper and my hand hert when I was done with the report I felt like I could not life it up because of all the writing I have done.


I think that it would be hard that there is not computer in 6th grade because it would be hard to make an essay because in fifth grade it is easy because the hand writing will alway come out perfect but in hand writing it most of the time come out really slopy. I also feel that it would be hard to not be with out the computer because it would be hard for many of the 6th grade to do their homework without the computer or find information with out it. To add on, I think that there should be a law that says that students in any school should be able to use the computer because with out them we would not enhance our learning and we would not learn more about different thing, we would just learn the stuff that the teacher tell us about and not about other things. I also feel that it would be hard for the teacher to teach us about new thing that did not just happen in the U.S but also around the word. I feel that having the laptops is really important in our learning as a fifth grader and many grades to come in our lives.


I think that since I had been given this computer it has changed me a lot in this time. The first thing that I think has been change since I got the computer is how my hand has felt. I think that my hand could go for a long time without stopping to take a brack from typing. Another thing that has change since I have been given the computer is how it has help me learn more and see more thing in the world. For example, ''http://discoveryeducation.com'' has really helped me learn more about the animal and other thing that the teacher would not teach. I could also got there and I could see some very cool videos. I think that I know more now than I used to when I did not have the computer that I have today.

Sincerely,
East Elementary student- Jefferson

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Mr. Maas,
    Well, have you ever felt like keeping your computer on all day long? Right by your side? Well I have. That is how the EEE's make me feel. I have always liked to be on the computer and be on the Internet but never had the chance to. Until the EEE's came along! When I walk into class, all I look forward to is getting out my EEE, and getting to work, as I know exactly where to go. For example, if you want to use the google docs, every letter/word that you type, gets saved as you go! Also, you can organize every folder you need or want to be saved in the documents as well. Furthermore, if you have homework due, it might as well get done, too!
   
Because of the EEE's, I've been able to focus on my work, not only that, but I have been able to keep track of my work and keep it all organized, too! Here at East, we learn tons of information not just from our teachers, but by the Internet, as well. With the EEE's, most of my homework has been getting done. For example, one night, I was supposed to finish my writing assessment. The assessment was to finish my fiction story because the next afternoon the 5th grade was supposed to share with everybody. I was worried that I wasn't going to get it done on time, because I had about two-three paragraphs left to write! Luckily, when it was writing class, I only had about 15-20 minutes to get it done, and I got it all done in about 10 minutes! I guess I really do get my  work done every time I am in a rush, and is using the EEE's.
   
    Huh! No laptops? I would be so sad if I didn't get to use a laptop in 6th Grade next year! First of all, if I didn't get to use laptops or the EEE's in class next year then I would probably ball about my grades! Without computers/laptops/triple EEE's, then my homework probably wouldn't be all correct, my school work wouldn't be turned in, and just maybe I wouldn't be able to organize my work in folders in some places. That would be very disapointing! What do you think about my opinion?
  
     Ever since we have been using computers, I have changed a a student and as a writer, too! I put my writing at a cool kids website used for litleton public schools writing (pbworks.org). I have changed as a student because many people think that using pen and pencil is a pain in the behind! Some people may disagree with those who think the opposite of them. I think that pen and pencils can take a little bit too much work. After all, if you start to write really well on your story or something, you stop because your wrist hurts! I mean, if you had a sport event like tennis, softball, football, or even baseball, anything, do you want your team to fail, and score for example 0-20? I wouldn't! Unless I had fun, but that is not what I mean. What I mean is that if you use a computer or a laptop then your story or your comments will get published or sent and get done way faster than if you are using pen/pencil and paper.

    Sincerely,
                Anjelica20v 5th Grade at East Elementary School

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Mr. Maas,

I feel that using computers in class is helping me a lot because we can do our work faster on the computer than on pencil and when we don't know what a word means and it is not in a dictionary that is on a shelf we could go on an Internet dictionary and it will tell us. Also we use to have an assignment in class for guided reading we had to to find a word in are word that we didn't know and then we wrote what we thought it meant and then we went to a dictionary on the Internet and then we put the definition in our comment and then we send it so it could get published or rejected. Also we use these computer after school if you have blog club. In blog club we get are own blogs and then we could write posts of anything that is appropriate for school then Mr. Moore and Ms. Vander Velde show us new things that we could put on are blogs and we comment on other peoples blogs like for example my blog (blogclub-jaime.blogspot.com). We also could put some gadget that does not have sponsors on them.

When I was in Fourth grade we only used the lap tops only in writing and now we use them for reading, sometimes in math, writing, and in science and social studies. Like before when we were in Fourth grade we didn't use Cover It Live(www.coveritlive.com/) and now we use it in read aloud. The Favorite cover it live that we did was for the book The Mighty(eastdragonden.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Mighty). Also in Fourth grade we mostly did everything in pen and pencil and it took me much longer to do my assignment but now that we have the computers I could write more faster and if I was using paper, pen, and pencil my hand will be tired and it will hurt and I have to take a long time so my hand could stop hurting.

If I didn't have the EEEs I would take longer to do my work but I would not get good grades because I take much longer to do my assignments and I will not get good grades. If I had the EEEs in sixth grade I would do my work faster and I will finish most of my assignments and get good grades. Also if I didn't have the EEEs next year we wouldn't be able to do cool things in sixth grade like get blogs like some of us do. For example, this year we got Google Docs and get some blogs. If we didn't have the EEEs I wouldn't be able to work on educational things like for science like D.E. Science (streaming.discoveryeducation.com/). If we didn't have the triple eees we wouldn't be able to do cool things like how we are doing right now like we are doing things that are kind of like a power point but I think that it is way cooler the website is (prezi.com).

These computers have changed my life and my life as a writer because before when we didn't use the computers that much and I didn't know a lot of conserving energy and about Earths history. But now that we have the computers I learned of how things from the past get buried under ground. I also learned how to conserve energy because in D.E. Science we use to use for science it said to conserve energy don't leave lights on and use this fuel that is called fossil fuel it is made with parts of animals and plants. Also this has changed me as a writer because when I was in fourth grade my writing did not appear on the writing wall. The writing wall is where teachers hang up good writing on the wall. But now that our teachers teach us more stuff we write with strong lead sentences because we have a chart that has about twelve strong sentence starters. Also now I get my writing put on the writers wall because I think I got two essay's on the writers wall. Also this has changed my life because before I didn't write a lot on the computer but now I do because we have to push our thinking like for important pieces of writing. When we push our thinking we write great writing and they could be multiple paragraphs.

Sincerely,
Jaime fifth grader at East Elementary

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Dan Mass,
Well I think that computers are good for use because they are better than no computers because if we need to look up some thing we have to look it up in a dictionary and that takes along time to words to search in like a million words in one book but with computers are different. Computers are different because it makes life easier by just entering the word on Google or other place and there it is the website or the image that you what like another place is www.ninja words.com. If we didn't have computers it would be like without having an arm on us. I'm super happy I went to East Elementary because now we get to use computers I thought I would never use a computer by my self to have. Good thing went went to this school because now I have a computer for my self. Mr.Mass if you want to go see some off my work I done just click on the name thing (eastdragondentake2.pbworks.com/Fiction-Unit-Miguel )
Read the candy war , on my pb works page. computers you can write as many story as you want and save them and you wouldn't lose any of the pages you wrote about the stories you could talk to more people you can do more fun thing then just not having a computer. Having a computer is really hard too because they are so cool that other people want one so they have to steal it from you that's how special computers are. I think I would die if the guy that invited the computer did never make the computer I would be sad too. This small computers are good for us because they are not that small and not that big computer this small ones are like the coolest like mostly of earth. This small computers that we have can do more than regular computer because when they shut down you could make it have a picture.Computers are cool too because you just push the letter and there it is on the screen it better then just making it your on self and you could write really fast if you have been practicing where the letters are. Well I really like computers there the best electronic every to be made. Maybe in the future they might make a different computer that is more cooler then this one, well I will still like this computers more because they are good for kids because they are the right size for kids and you could like put it any where.




Sincerely,
Miguel
East Elementary 5th Grade student

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Mr. Maas,
In school the laptops in class are the best in school. School, most kids would hate but putting computers in classrooms is the best thing that happened in school since P.E. Computers are a privilege and we love them like our favorite toy or game. I feel that having computers is a HUGE responsibility and the teachers tell us not to take advantage of what opportunity we have in front of us. I have never thought that this advantage that I have now, would be so incredible. I never thought that laptops would be such a big help to me.
I couldn't be able to see what the computer can do. I was about the games on the computers what games are on google and stuff, but now these Gmails and blogs have made the laptops more important to me and more incredible to see. I couldn't learn how to type or get better at typing than at school. I love to work on the computers at school. I couldn't explore the Internet and now I serf the Internet. I couldn't see the google docs, blogs, or any of the links we have on the blog.
If there was not any computers in school, school would be very very boring. I would get tired of writing on pen and paper. School would be like school in the old days (like who wants that again all boring) and if we write on pen and paper our hands would hurt. If there weren't any computers in school I would not know how the Internet works. The Internet is so fascinating and interesting that is makes my mind think of so many questions about the Internet. One of the questions I had was, how could somebody create such a wonderful thing? What is the experience to doing something like that?
The computers now have changed me as a student because they make work at school go so much faster. I have gotten about 15x as much work done than I have working on pen and paper. Also, it's changed me because I am faster and more respectful to whom I'm around and I am a lot nicer to people. I know that does not sound believe able but it is true. I have been able to have more fun on the computers by doing work in school. The Gmail is teaches and I have fun with it too.
Thank you for your time,
Triston East Elementary 5th grade student

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Dan Maas,
Having a laptop is like getting to play games, do work, or even watch videos like on streaming.discoveryeducation.com/. I also think that having a laptop is like getting to know other people like some old friends from school or from another school like Field Elementary and Moody Elementary. My mind starts telling me to go on the computer at home and just type for a long time. I will start typing from now till the rest of my life because typing is the greatest experience I ever tried in my life except for video games but I still like to type at school, at my house, and at my friends” house.

I can type faster than last time or I can go to other kinds of games like www.carrotsticks.com/east and www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/. I can go on my friend Savannah's blog because you can comment on it, look at it, read it, and you can be a follower on it, “You should at blogclub-savannah.blogspot.com/." That is what I can do that I could not do before in lower grades, like 4th grade. Another example, is that I can go to my class blog which is the (eastdragonden.blogspot.com/) I can go on my Pb works page on the Eee laptops, I can go on games like carrot sticks, grammar ninja, EDM games by lesson or by unit, and arcademic skill builders. I can type comments on the eastdragonden blog which is my class blog and get to go on other kids blogs like Tommy, Savannah, Anna, Duc, Marylou, etc.

I think it would mean if I didn't have laptops next year is bad because I don't get a lot of stuff done with out it. An example, is that its hard with out a Eee laptop because I can't do my work, I can't learn enough, I can't type, etc. Another example, is that I will need it a lot because with out it I can't do anything right. Typing in a Eee laptop is like you don't want to stop typing because it feels good and I don't want that taken away from me at all. I'm doing really good right now typing and doing my work because its fun and I just can't move on with out a Eee laptop. When I don't have a Eee laptop my mind would be like really sad about it.

Yes, I have changed as a student by doing my work, my writing, and my learning. I really changed by my writing by making leads, stories, etc. I've changed my stories by using the pushing my thinking chart and I've changed as a student by learning harder stuff like math in algebra because its getting herder that I can't understand it but I'm starting to understand the hard algebra. So I will keep changing as a student the good way like doing my work, writing better, etc.

Sincerely,
Daniel
5th grade student from East

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Dan Maas
Having the EEEs in The Classroom is better than a class full of people writing with pen and pencils. One reason is that having the EEEs Help with people who have English as their second language. Like for example I have a friend who speaks Chinese and he uses the computer to translate the blog post. Also the EEEs can also change the way in the school. Like In Technology Leadership we can find prices of I pods for kids that are coming to 5th grade. In the Tech leadership blog, so heres the link (4-5techleaders.blogspot.com/). In the two fifth grade classes that has the EEEs Are helping kids to learn better in class. Like In writing I used to think that having a pen and pencil was boring. Also my hand writing was bad. So I kept on using computers and I noticed that my work was more organized. Finally we do our spelling test on the computers. doing a spelling test on paper make you feel uncomfortable  because you head only concentrate on the hand not the the hand, but when you do it on computer you would think on the test more then the hands. We use this website called a workspace where we use it to write a story and we can save it. So here is the link to the workspace ( eastdragondentake2.pbworks.com/FrontPage).

What I can do now is get my work done faster and find the work easily. Have you ever had messy desk and you can't find your work? Well I had a lot of that. My papers get riped and I can't find my work. So when I use the computer I can find my work fast and get to work on it. I also can do now with the EEEs is to read books on line and find out if this book had movie or another book. If you wanted to know if this book is a the movie you will have to buy that book and look if their is another book, For example I read the Diary of a Wimpy Kid and I went on the website to know if there another book. What couldn't do back then was that I had to write about the topic that the teacher had give me. But With the EEEs I can write what I want.

If I did not have the laptops the next year and the year after that and so on I have to write about the topic that the teacher had gave me. But With the EEEs I can write what I want. I feel like I'm back into my old days writing with pencil and writing what the teacher told you to write. Is it annoying when your pencil breaks? Well I once was doing a test in pencil called CSAP, I broke my pencil and I was mad that time because I needed a new pencil. Also If we have computers the work you can have can be transfered into a flash drive. If I did not use the computer today I would think that we have to do our work again on paper and write a prompt that the teacher tells us. If the computers where gone away my grade would drop really fast. Also If we did not use the computers in the first place I would not be so organized.

Ever since I had the EEEs laptops I started to learn how to program robots. I have changed when I did not use the laptops. Before I had the EEEs I had bad grades. But when I had the computers I got better on my grades because the computer organized my work so I don't lose it. Second, I can edit it even after I send it and it gets rejected. If the work gets rejected I can edit the work. One other thing I use is cover it live. When we use it we can respond to a book instead of like listening to the book. With Cover It Live the teachers can find out if people like this book or not or the teacher can also ask the students questions and the students respond to the question. So then they switched into Cover It LIVE heres the website of cover it live ( www.coveritlive.com/).

East fifth grade student,

Jonathan

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Dan Maas,
I think having laptops is pretty cool and the reason I say that is because I have gotten so good at typing that I never feel like I want to stop writing. Like also I feel like laptops are a huge deal in me now because every day in my life I use them and it just makes every day better and better. For example Dan Maas I feel like I can do my work better in class if school was actually fun because when we have these laptops and we write with them it just makes me want to use it threw my whole life. I want to use these computers threw out my life because I think they are a good way to make kids learn better because we got so many materials. Like for example when we have to look something up we can go to Ninja Words, if we need information about people, like for example right now we are learning about Colonies and I think we can get more information by looking up things about back then. But at the same time when we use the laptops I feel like we are very special kids and that our teachers really do care for us. When I also use these computers I kinda really want to have them with me my whole life because I know some much about laptops that I think I can type ten words faster typing then having to use a pen or a pencil. And also when I write at home I never want to write it because I now I'm use to the computers so if I was suppose to write again with pen and pencil then I would be very bored in class.like for example I have so many things I have written that I don't know which one to choose. So here is something from writing from my

Dan Maas there are many things I can do know that I couldn't do before, like for example lot's of the kids in these two classrooms kids have actually figured out problems that some teachers in this building can't really figure out. But now that we have mini laptops and Google accounts and all these other great things that are very fun to do. Like for example I bet back then doing assignments was pretty boring, but now it is way better doing assignments because we have Google accounts. And what Google accounts allow us to sign in and do work from home. Like another example if we have a question from home and you can't contact no one you can use your computer and you can send an e-mail to the teachers letting them know you are stuck on something. And that is what is so cool about having laptops and Google accounts that you can do so many things with the computers. Also I think these computers are very good education. Also when I didn't have a computer my hand use to hurt so bad, but now that I have the computers some how my hand does not get tired. Like for example I have some work I would like you to see them so bad because I have done so many good work. Like for example here is one of my stories. eastdragondentake2.pbworks.com/Ivan%27s-Creativity-Prompt

I think it would really not be cool if we didn't have the computers next year that would not be awsome. But the reason if we didn't have computers would really not be cool. So what would you think if we didn't have computers next year. I think it would be very boring because these computers are the one that make class exciting because before I use to be very bored in class but now I prefer being here then being at home watching T.V. Also I wish that we can have these computers because sometimes some of us have problems understanding things but then when you get home you can send a message to your teacher if you don't get what she or he was saying. And also I wish that teachers use more the computers because we use spelling city to take a test and what is so cool is that it only takes such a little bite of time to get to the test. I think also that if we didn't have these laptops that it would be very not good because now that I know so much to how computers work and also I think it is also some good education for us because I use to get about 20 math facts down in a mad minute but there is this website where I got to learn my math facts and that website is so cool because you can play with people online. And also I think that other websites that we have in our blog are cool because they help you do something that you might not have known.

Yes I have changed as a student in class. I have done so many cool things in class like for example some times I think that being in this class is the best and the reason I say that is because when I'm in this class it is so cool because we get so many oppositions so I feel like I'm one of the luckiest kid in the world. So it has changed me because I use to think school is boring but now I love school. So I wish we did have these computers with us at middle school because it ha changed me as a kid, as a citizen, and as a person. So I hope we get these computers because it changes you.


Sincerely, Ivan Student From East Elementary

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Mr. Mass,

Having Laptops in my class is very cool because we can do things that we have never done before like one day we went to a website and we had to read books and each one of use had to have one and now that we have the triple eee we can read the books on line. Another reason that think that having laptop in our class is cool is because we can learn more like when we had our science presentation the computers helped us a lot because it had some resource that we needed to have to have the presentation. I think that it feels fun to have them because now we do not have to play board games like we used to do but now we can play on the computers. I think that having computer is very cool,fun,helping to.

One of the things that I can do now that I could do now and not before was that we can can do our writing in our computer and not like before in paper. I think that I have come a better writer Here look at this (eastdragondentake2.pbworks.com/Daisy%27s-Fiction-Storys) One of the other things that I could not have done before is to take a test in the computer like one of the science test that we did one on it. The other things that we did was take a spelling test in them a print it and when I was in third grade I did it by hand and my hand hart bad some of the times we did it in forth grade to. One o the things that we can do now that we could not do before would practice our multiplication facts (www.harcourtschool.com/activity/thats_a_fact/english_K_3.htm)and not use flash cards, and tables any more because not we have the computers.

What would it mean if I did not have the laptops next year I would feel very bad and bored and I would not want to go t school anymore and I would do my homework slower to. For example last year in writing I was very slow because I did it with pencil and pen an and that I have the computer. I would feel bored to I would not want to even go to school because I would learn less than before. I would feel bad to because I would not have them any more and I would not learn like I used to learn in 5th grade. The other reason why I would feel bad would be because it would be very hard to write a lot of time with a pencil.


I think that I have changed because I think that i have become a better writer and there I an  example on the top. One of the thing why I think that is because I got my writing put on the wall. Another thing that I think has changed is that I know my multiplication facts better then when I knew them last year. Some of the times I go to practice my facts On the links that we have in the blog one of them is in them is in the top. I think that the other thing that has changed is that I can spell words better one the links tat i go to is called spelling city Here is the link (www.spellingcity.com/dragoncafe/) . I think that it is very helpful.

Those are the answer to the questions that you gave me and I hope that you like my letter see you soon.
Sincerely,
Daisy
Student from East Elementary

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Mr. Maas,

I am a fifth grade student. When I first went to fifth grade it was easy to do everything. Because we have spell check, dictionarys we don't have to look for the word now we don't with the computers we just have to look it up and it well search for the word you looked up, have Documents to save our things and we have math dictionarys on the computers. When we write on paper our hands get tired of writing the words on the paper when you write it on the triple eees it is easy because you don't need to tell the teacher how to spell things. Instead of telling the teacher you could go to spell check. We don't have to do spelling on pencil pen and paper we do it on the laptops here is the sight to it

I could write better now because we have the computers. Here are some examples of my writing using my eee. This is the sight to my work space eastdragondentake2.pbworks.com/Leonel-Raising-The-Quality-OF-Narrative-Writing
We well tell the teacher how to spell something almost all the time.Or we might look at the dictionary in class and wasting time of our learning by looking in the dictionary it well take almost the hole time to do. We well have to write on pencil pen paper if we write in pencil pen and paper. We well need to take long breaks until our hands don't hert. If we write on the trible eee we would do our writing faster then writing on pencil pen and paper. Here is a sight for a dictionary ninjawords.com/ and here is a math dictonary www.teachers.ash.org.au/jeather/maths/dictionary.html

For example the triple eee has helped me get better grades I use to get D now my grades on writing are C or C+. And we could do mad minute on the tripel eee. If we don't have triple eees we well not be organized if we do have triple eees we well be allot organized. You could save things in a document instead of writing in pencil pen and paper. Here is a sight for the mad minute mrsbogucki.com/aemes/resource/apps/madmath/madmath.htm this is where we do the mad minute we do a online stop watch on the triple eees. Then we have a place that is named wordle it helps you if you use a word allot. Here is the sight for wordle www.wordle.net/ then if you put a story in will tell you if you used the word to much.

Sincerely,
Leonel
5th grade student at East Elementary

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Mr. Mass,
I think it is good to have laptops in class because I think it gives you a better learning experience. For example there a lot of things on the computer that you can learn like DE science and writing wikis and even dictionaries like ninja words. Also you could take the laptop anywhere to take notes in a document or in google docs. I like how we have google docs because that's where we can write down all the information we learn and find out new things to. I think it is good to have laptops in the classroom because it helps you with grammar and spelling too. For example when you are writing in a document and you don't know how to spell the word you can check it in spell check and for me I learned how to spell a lot of words using spell check. Another thing that helps you know words is (www.SpellingCity.com.) Spelling city is where you can learn words and practice them on a game. That is why I think laptops are good to be in the classrooms.

What I can do know that I couldn't do before is use google docs to plan and put all my all my learning in it. Also all the other stuff like play games, use the dictionaries and other really cool things. I can learn new things by going on (DE science), spelling city, and math games. I can see how many people been on our website and post things up for people to see all around the world. Also ether pad to talk to other people that are learning the same thing. For example when the fifth grade class was doing to presentation on the human body we used the ether pad to communicate. Also we used the laptops to play a video during the presentation. That is what we could do that we couldn't do before.

If we couldn't have laptops next year I think that we wouldn't get as much privileges that we have right now. Also I think that we wouldn't learn as much because the computer is filled with new things to learn like words, new math studies, and more. For example it would take us a long time to figure out something hard but when you have a computer or a laptop you can figure it out in less time. To add to that I think that kids will like it more if we had laptops because it is so easy to learn but at the same time we are learning hard things. I hope that they will have laptops in sixth grade because it would not be as fun without them. That is why I think it would be bad if we didn't have laptops next year.

I have changed being a student since we had the laptops because it taught me how to not talk when other people are talking. For example when we were writing on the computer we were being loud and the teacher said if we keep on talking we will just right on paper. Also it taught me other things like about new math studies and how to write a thesis.

5th grade student at East Elementary

From,
Brandon

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Mr. Maas

Using computer is like a hole new way to use writing instead of using pen and paper or pencil and paper it is like a keyboard on the piano but it is without a sound coming out of the speaker but it is. It is like nothing I have ever used before. But it is so cool to use the keyboard because on paper and pen you have to raise your hand to see if you spelling is correct doesn't waste your time and your teachers time so your can write or type faster my brain tells me to try not to get my hands to get all sweaty and icky. Here is some page writing for my east wiki page here is my favorite essay because it is my favorite sport to do so it is my favorite sport eastdragondentake2.pbworks.com/Hayden%27s-Essay.


Here is my most writing I have ever done in my hole life you can only see my most writing if you scoll down ward a little http ://eastdragondentake2.pbworks.com/Hayden-Launching-Writers-Workshop. If you would like would type in the key borad it would not be good because I would get nevoures if people could not read my hand writing on the computer. I like like to have laptops in all subjects because I could write faster in the computer. How could I get my own computer if I got my own computer I could go on some sities to help my writing. www.spellingcity.com/.

I could not as fast on my computer but now that I have one for everyday because now I write with paper and pen faster since I had the computer for everyday purpose's. Before I couldn't use the spell check but I can now because of my computer it is so fun using the computers in school. In my old school grades had computers. But since we have then now we can use them and type faster and faster.

If I could not use the computers next year it would not be cool because I love using the computers to in hanse my writing so I get better. If we didn't get computers next year I would cry to the end of the year because we had so many good times with the computers we would type and type and do some fun games like www1.center.k12.mo.us/Edtech/edm/5.htm and this one is by lesson here is the one by unithttp://www.littletonpublicschools.net/forStaff/TechnologyResources/EverydayMathLinks/Grade5MathLinks/tabid/539/Default.aspx then here is one to help you with your math facts www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/if I couldn't have the computers I couldn't practice my math facts on the computer like I do on the computer today and it couldn't help my math grades without the computers so I'M so thank ful for the computers in are class.

I have changed as a student because here is my writing from the beginning of the yearhttp://eastdragondentake2.pbworks.com/Hayden-Raising-the-Quality-of-Narrative-Writing here is some of my writing form the middle of the year eastdragondentake2.pbworks.com/Hayden%27s-ConferenceLetterhere is the end of the year eastdragondentake2.pbworks.com/Hayden%27s-Litearay-Essay. I also have changed as a writer because we have great teachers to help us succeed during the the hole year. Here is are blog to check out all of are links and blog posts. www.eastdragondenblogspot.com

5 Grade Student at East Elementary
Hayden 17 Moore

Re: Writing with Laptops Yr2

Dear Mr. Maas

It is very nice to have Eee's in our classrooms. We all get to learn more by having these laptops and if we do not know what a word means we could just go to a website and look it up. Also we could have links so we could get to a website really easily. We just have to  click on it and we are there. In each subject we learn we could go to some websites to learn about the subject. For Example science we could go to Discovery Education and there are a bunch of videos and activities we could do so we could learn more bout science instead of using a whole lot of paper worksheets. I don't think that a lot of the kids like to use paper worksheets to study about science because you have to read a page or more and then you have to answer some questions. So I think a lot of the kids think it is boring to use paper worksheets to learn about science. There are not much activities that you could do on a worksheet. Also I think that using Eee's will help study more for a test because you have a lot of fun doing activities to do in websites and if it is fun more kids would want to do it. For example when I was in fourth grade we took spelling tests on paper and I did get 100% most of the time. Now in fifth grade we could study our spelling tests on a website called Spelling City.com and now I get a 100% on my spelling tests almost every week. So now I can not stop doing activities to learn information with the computers. 
Now with the laptops we could do a bunch of things that we could not do before. For example, when we were studying about the human body system each group made a little pod cast on a lap top and we could not do that without the laptops. Also now we could take the mad minute which is a multiplication and division test on a website. We have to do it in two minutes. Before we had the Eee's we had to take the tests on paper and we had to write the facts down really fast and it makes my hand cramp and really hurt. Also while I do the mad minute on paper during the test my hand will start hurting and getting tired so then I have to write slower and then I could not get the target but taking the mad minute on paper is good exercise for my hand and arm. Now we have a club that uses the Eee's and the club is called Blog Club. We get to create our own blog so people could look at it.

It would be a shame if we could not have Eee's next year. It would be so different. We would have to do everything on paper which would cause my hand to hurt and it would be so boring. Also I think if we did not have Eee's next year it would drop my writing grades because now I am so used to writing on a website. Also if we do not have Eee's next year we could not do activities anymore so then I would not do that good on tests. If we don not have Eee's we could not do a lot of fun things we could do like in fifth grade. For example we could not do our Google Docs and if we can not do our Google Docs then we could not do a spreadsheet of our own. If we do not have a spreadsheet we could not do a chart or something like that. Also if we can't use computers next year we could not get a Google Docs and we can not get an email. If we do not get an email we can't email anything to other teachers or students.

I have changed as a student since we started to use laptops by getting higher grades in writing. When we did not use laptops I got C's or B's in writing. Now in fifth grade we are using laptops and now I am getting A's or B's and I am proud of it. Also I am doing better on tests and getting high scores and I get some 100%'s. Also now I like studying on the computers. When we didn't have computers I did not know how to type. Now that we do I know how to type faster so I could get more work done. So when I type I could get more words down on a document or on another typing place in a website. Also I know where I should put my fingers on which keys to type.


From A Fifth Grade Student From East Elementary,
Guoxin