Finally, a Friday night at home! I was spending a little “quality time” with my precious laptop when I came across a blog that mentions…..can you believe it……us???? Not just one, either!!! Here are the links:
http://simplethoughts-complexmind.blogspot.com/2008/04/blogging-as-part-of-curriculum-for-5th.html
http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/silence/archives/2008/04/blogging_added_1.shtml
Okay, well maybe it’s not that big of a deal, but it is pretty cool!
Speaking of pretty cool…..
The Science Fair!!! I am absolutely amazed at the progress you all are making! Quite honestly, I expected disaster to strike! (It may still strike!) Preparing for the Science Fair is always challenging, but doing it while using such Web 2.0 tools as wikis….that’s just plain ‘ol asking for it! I think that it may even be (gasp) easier!!!
Parents and other visitors, check out the Science Fair Wiki. You can see your child’s progress on the project, look at other helpful links, and generally be impressed at your kid’s scientific prowess.
What’s a wiki? A type of website that allows multiple users to update content. It’s a great tool for collaboration. The kids act like they’ve been using them all their lives!
That was a basic definition. Watch this video from the folks at CommonCraft. (Love their videos – Why didn’t I think of that?) If you’re watching from school, watch the versions posted on TeacherTube. YouTube ones will be blocked at school.
Later note: Below is the YouTube version of the video. For some reason, after Edublogs upgraded to the latest WordPress version, the TeacherTube embed code doesn’t work. I’ll keep working on it so that it can be viewed at school. JE 5/26/08
This is the link to go directly to TeacherTube and watch it, if you’re trying to view the video at school.
http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=c04c7bfc822caf7c7459
Other info:
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Jeff Bobo is coming this week to do a feature on the blogging project.
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We have another college student coming to observe us in action this week.
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Hypothesis due date will be pushed back until April 29th because of the EMS presentation.
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Procedure due date is still this Friday
Mrs. Miller left us! I guess graduation is a good enough reason! We wish her best of everything in the future.
Friday will be our Arbor Day ceremony. We’ll plant a tree (graciously donated by Martin’s Greenhouse), and we’ll announce the winners of our 5th grade Arbor Day poster contest. State Commissioner of Agriculture, Ken Givens, will be present for the ceremony.
More later….