Technology Class

Papa ‘ehā students are learning the tricks and tools and ins and outs for MS Powerpoint 2008. This is in preparation of their digital progressfolios. There is a wonderful website available to our KS ʻohana called Atomic Learning. There are hundreds of videos on Atomic Learning for learning most programs available to us. Here is a link for MS Powerpoint How Tos that might be useful to you. If it asks you for a username and password I will be happy to share it with you. The username is ksbe and the password is a yummy fruit that is yellow on the inside, it has a crown on it, and its skin is a bit pokey and is yellow orange when ripe. Remember, click HERE for the link.

screen shot of Atomic Learning offerings in ppt

Today was day 2 of our Skype adventure.  We were fortunate to connect with Darren Cooper, a Maori who resides in Aukland and attended Kamehameha Schools Kapālama as an exchange student in 1987. Eight 4th graders and their teachers, Kumu Kala and Kumu Silva, were able to ask Mr. Cooper questions that will help them with their research project.

I am so grateful to the IT department at KS for allowing us this opportunity to use SKYPE to kōkua our keiki to communicate and collaborate for their research project. Native peoples talking with one another, thousands of miles between us not a hindrance in sharing aloha for one another. Mahalo nui.

Mahalo nui to our wonderful PTO for funding a full year subscription to ixl.com.

Students can access ixl.com from home and parents can see their childrenʻs progress! What a great way to support your keikiʻs growth in math.

Practice makes perfect, and IXL makes math practice fun. With unlimited math questions in more than 1,000 topics, students improve their skills and confidence and always have new challenges to meet.

Here are students from 1A have a good time on ixl!

Papa ʻehā had an awesome Skype with Andrew and Andrea LePendu who live in Punaauia, Tahiti! Those whose Island Groups research project focuses on French Polynesia got to ask them questions pertinent to their research. The LePendus were quite impressed with the great questions papa ʻehā students ask them. Maururu, Merci Uncle Andrew and Aunty Andrea!!! All the way from Punaauia!!!

When looking for and USING images for your Pacific Island Project here are some guidelines when using our computers at school:

1. Go to googles.com
2. Select “images”
3. Type in what image you are looking for: tonga dance…marquesas islands
4. Go to “see full size image”
5. Drag it to the desktop
6. Copy the URL of that image
7. Open up an MS Word document
8. To PROPERLY put your image onto your Word doc go to: Insert: Picture: from file. Look for your picture on the DESKTOP
9. Go to Add a text box and paste in your url. SIZE AND CENTER APPROPRIATELY!
10. Go to print. select “Copies and Pages” click on color mode and change from black and white to color. PRINT. Get your image out of the printer to check before proceeding to 11.
11. Trash your image that is on the desktop (keep your desktop neat and clean)
12. no need to save your document since you already printed out your image!

Our papa ʻekahi went to an excursion to HVNP and boy, did they have a great time. They also learned lots of wonderful things!

Mrs. Fortuna and Mrs. Moore had each first grader choose one or two pictures and write about it. Then in technology class, using Powerpoint, the students imported their photos and wrote their sentences. All pages were compiled into a wonderful book and copies were sent home with each child.

The book was so great that we decided to put it on the internet and make it available to everybody! Enjoy!

Please, ʻohana members, sign up for a free account on Voicethread.com and leave a comment on your keikiʻs page. They are going to LOVE hearing the wonderful things you have to say about their huakaʻi and their good work!

Wow! We have brand new iMacs in the lab (and in all K-2 classrooms, plus new laptops in grade 3). What a welcomed change. And there is more! Yes, there is!  Dani and Kirk (IT personnel on our campus) and the maintenance/grounds/cleaning crew worked really hard to reconfigure the tables so now, instead of rows that were difficult and time consuming to maneuver through, I now have tables and iMacs along the perimeter of the class, making it much easier for me to help more students quicker.

I can feel the change already…the students are much more focused on their tasks and I  can scan and assist and praise and encourage more students more effectively more often!

Right side of the room

Left side of the room

Third grade is sitting before me, having a grand time with Scary Spuds. On the last rotation students created a scary spud, printed it out and then described their scary spud in a word document and printed that out. This rotation they gave their partner their description and then their partner had to re-create their scary spud! If it didn’t come out correctly edits needed to be made to the directions. If it came out perfect, then it was on to the next partner! Two things going on: writing good descriptions and comprehending descriptions in an effort to re-create.

Kiara and Justyn did a great job!

Hard at work!

Saesha and ChasenJay comparing scary spuds

'Aukai and Nafetalai having fun!

Fifth grade students made their magazine covers using a wonderful website called Big Huge Labs. They chose one of their favorite things to do at school and created a title for their faux magazine and made up titles for possible articles! Hopefully they will get to write some articles and publish a REAL magazine by the end of the school year!