Feb
24
Written by:
Dan Maas
2/24/2010
Any day when I can visit a school is a good day. I do miss my classroom (can it really be 13 years?) and having even just one hour with teachers and students is a real gift.
Yesterday, I visited Field Elementary and watched Ms. Moore's 5th grade classroom where netbooks are a part of the daily activity. The students were totally on task and worked on the main assignement which involved drafting a thesis. They made use of their wiki (http://moorelearning.wikispaces.com/ this is a secured site so if you want to join, you will need to identify yourself to Ms. Moore) to compose drafts and share information both with their teacher and with each other. What really excites me about classrooms like this is how students come to really own their learning.
Several students had been sick earlier and needed to catch up with the group. They were working on the previous assignment and were getting help from others to catch up. Students used the wiki, accessed information online, composed their writing both on paper and electronically and generally engaged in high quality learning. Ms. Moore shared with me how they use their wiki for other subjects beyond writing including science and social studies projects. Scanning through the work, I could see how the teacher had taken advantage of the collaborative wiki to leave comments for students on how to improve their work and even how some students send her messages after school. One student even monitors the wiki for the teacher's uploads so she can get a head start on the lesson plans!
Field is defnitely a great school and seeing classes like this makes me wish I had Ms. Moore for a teacher in my day. As I am writing this, I wonder if the students at Field have comments they would like to share. So I'll pose some questions I've asked students before:
How is it different to have a classroom with the EeePCs compared to only working with pencil and paper? Are there things you are learning that would be really difficult (or not possible) without the computers? What would you say is the most important thing you have learned this year?
Good luck on your CSAP next month and thanks for sharing your classroom with me!
8 comment(s) so far...
Re: Inspired Writers at Field Elementary
Here is another wiki from Ms. Moore! Great suff! exhibitionhealth2009-2010.wikispaces.com/
By Dan Maas on
2/24/2010
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Re: Inspired Writers at Field Elementary
EEE's help me and make my life easier because, I have really bad handwriting so I like to type all my writing pieces on the EEE.
By Oron on
3/11/2010
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Re: Inspired Writers at Field Elementary
What I have learned this year is how we need to writ checks and do a deposit slip
By jonathan on
3/11/2010
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Re: Inspired Writers at Field Elementary
finding picshers on th` computer
By Liam on
3/12/2010
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Re: Inspired Writers at Field Elementary
Its harder to work with paper and pencil and easier with the triple eee's and more sophisticated.There would be a lot of things that I couldn't do like our powerpoint.The most important thing was all of the young Ameritowne things.
By aaron on
3/12/2010
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Re: Inspired Writers at Field Elementary
I would not have been able to work on the same piece of writing at two different places with out computers here. I am also learning the short cuts(ctrl i for italics, ctrl s for save, ctrl shift s for save as, ect). how to teach computers to others and how to operate the internet.
By conrad on
3/12/2010
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Re: Inspired Writers at Field Elementary
I think it would be impossible to try to work with paper and pencil while doing home row. That's why I think that having these computers really helps with how kids are getting better at their typing skills.
By Alazaye on
3/15/2010
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Re: Inspired Writers at Field Elementary
It is funner to do the work because when you work with pencil your hands get tiered. It is so easier to finish the work.
By Keyla on
3/16/2010
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