Pioneer Diaries
The first few months on the trail
From: Steve Bergen-fs
Subject: beginning the Pioneer journey ...
To: Diaries (ML)
Friday, October 11, 2002 3:53:34 AM
good morning everyone ... yesterday was one of those "horrible, terrible, no good, very bad days" for me ... in case you don't know the reference you can google the words in red above and easily find it .. the book is called Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (web site: http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/family/alexander/author.html)
however, one of the best moments in the day yesterday was running into Pioneer-to-be Donna Propp in the afternoon and crossing paths for 33 seconds outside of her classroom and asking her "how did it go" regarding her pioneer usage of a projector in her classroom ... to give you the background, I had set up Donna the previous afternoon (Wednesday afternoon) along with future Tech Dept Student Staffer Lillian Ying '04 with 1 of the first pioneer projectors that I am purchasing on behalf of The Chapin School (5 more are scheduled to arrive next week) ... Donna had decided to "pioneer" a program called Geometer's Sketchpad in her geometry class and the previous day, three of us (Matthew Horvat, Donna Propp and me) had spent 33 minutes on speaker phone with colleague and friend Doug Guy from Nobles in Boston talking about the his usage of Sketchpad in teaching geometry ... Doug shared his experiences as a Pioneer at Nobles and even gave Matthew and Donna and me several electronic examples that he had created for his own geometry students this fall (we use the same textbook at Chapin and Nobles)
well, Donna's words and enthusiasm about her pioneer usage of sketchpad yesterday were so wonderful that I think we will now formally begin the pioneer program .. 10/11/2002
here are the specifics
1) you will have to agree to meet with me once a week and do occasional homework assignments
2) you will get a projector for your classroom, possibly to share with another colleague or possibly your own
3) you will have to write ONE diary entry per week to Diaries (ML) in which you share in a paragraph something exciting or frustrating that has happened with you in terms of technology that week or in which you describe in a paragraph what you plan to do the next week ... these "pioneer diaries" will
4) you will be given a copy of the summercore primer and there will occasionally be a required reading assignment
5) you will be given the extended loan of a few chapin owned goodies such as a wireless airport access point so that you can be wireless in your own home or apartment if you so choose
6) you will have to agree that your writing to Diaries (ML) will be public and usable by others, perhaps even for marketing reasons or for a grant proposal ... the reason that I have included Vera as one of the cc's in this e-mail is that she may at some point turn this Pioneer Program into a grant proposal the way we did at Nobles (see http://www.nobles.edu/technology/eeford/report.html or see http://www.nobles.edu/technology/special/pioneers.html on the Nobles web pages or see http://www.eeford.org/Pages/projects.html on the eeford web pages) ... the reason that I have include Tina as one of the cc's in this e-mail is that just yesterday she and I were talking about the potential to Chapin in terms of admissions and the critical 8th and 9th grade years at Chapin (see http://www.teachingcompany.com/wittenbergdoor/ if you have time)
and so we begin .. October 11th, 2002 ... a few weeks ahead of time, since up until yesterday, I was planning to wait until November 1st ... you will need to know that like the Pioneers who headed to Oregon in 1848, our supplies will sometimes get stolen or damaged and we might have to share ... things with technology in 2002 are not dissimilar from the covered wagons in 1843 and we in 2002 need the same kind of "plan B mentality" that those pioneers had!
Starting in 1843, a steady progression of emigrants began traveling the Oregon Trail from the Independence, Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon. ...
Lure of the West
The Oregon Country had a magic ring to it in the mid- 1800s. Americans stirred to the fur riches, potentials for missions, and prospects of fertile land.
happy trails ... steve
p.s. to donna ... over the next few days, if you could sit down and write up your first pioneer journal entry and e-mail it to ether Diaries (ML) or just REPLY ALL, that would be most appreciated! Thanks!
From: Steve Bergen-fs
Subject: Let the Pioneer Program (formally) Begin!
To: Diaries (ML)
Friday, November 1, 2002 4:49:11 AM
Good morning everyone (11/1)
As many of you know, today was originally the target date for formally starting the Chapin "pioneer" program. Here is the structure for this faculty training program.
• A meeting per week that lasts 1 mod (18 minutes) with each of you ; the goal is to increase computer skills and to offer suggestions and strategies for integrating technology into the classroom
• A once a week note by to you (starting next week) to the mailing list "Diaries (ML)" in which you as a pioneer share some thoughts in a paragraph about any of several related topics: new skills you've learned, what you've been doing in 1 or more of your classes with technology or with the computer projector, what you're planning to do or any "pioneer" moment you've had (these will be "public" in the sense that eventually they will be compiled and will be used to summarize the program to trustees or administrators or to help get a foundation grant )
• A commitment (eventually) as skills grow to help get involved/be a leader in the web page for your cluster group
I hope this will be a win-win program for you and for The Chapin School. I hope it will be more treat than trick! Let the wagons begin! If time is a problem, it is easy to jump off the wagon for now and jump back on in a number of months! Thanks ... Steve
From: Steve Bergen-fs
Subject: last full week before thanksgiving
To: Diaries (ML)
Monday, November 18, 2002 1:26:25 PM
to pioneers ... sorry that I was not around for 1/2 of last week
I hope that
a) our pioneer meeting is on for this week 11/18-11/22
b) you will send 1 pioneer note this week (and every week) to Diaries (ML) either talking about your use of technology, your plans for technology or even a summary of the pioneer lesson between you and me
c) we have a few more projectors for those of you who want to emulate Pioneer Knuppel, Pioneer Propp, Pioneer Hanson
d) we have airport base stations for those of you who "wanna go wireless" at home; these base stations are Chapin extended loaners for those of you in the pioneer program. Setting things up at home can be a bit of a challenge but is great once it works!
thanks ... happy trails ... steve
From: Steve Bergen-fs
Subject: Re: Pioneer Journal Entry #1
To: Donna Propp-fs
Saturday, November 2, 2002 10:11:33 AM
Donna Propp-fs writes:
Here is my first journal entry. Now it's on to #2.
--Donna
Pioneer Journal
--Great Success #1: I reintroduced the Geometers’ Sketchpad to my 9’s who remembered it very well from their work with it in seventh grade. My plan was to use the computer on my desk and the projector to tease them by taking them through an exploration that was emailed to me from Steve’s former colleague, Doug, in Boston. The plan worked out much better than expected.
First of all, I didn’t know how much they would recall from two years ago and as it happened, they remembered a great deal. I had intended to be the only person controlling the computer, doing more explaining of what I was doing than soliciting suggestions from them, but since they remembered so much, I was able to not only let them lead my work but I actually got up out of my seat and surrendered control to students in the class. Each volunteer worked for about five minutes with the class directing her actions. The entire class was engaged, throwing out suggestions about what might work and eagerly volunteering to be the next to control the machine. Several girls wanted to know why they couldn’t have their own computers--they wanted to “play” for themselves.
The main thing that made this lesson so engaging was the activity that I was using that was developed by Doug. It led the girls through a series of instructions that eventually showed them that the sum of the measures of the angles of a triangle is 180 degrees (which they already knew but had never proved) and then went on to lead them through what they immediately recognized as the outline of what became the proof of this theorem the next day. By the time I taught that lesson, they had a very powerful understanding of the theorem and we were able to prove it in much less time than it usually takes because they had already worked out the logic of it on the sketchpad.
The only downside is that they keep bugging me about doing more sketchpad activities and I need new ones!
From: Katie Knuppel-fs
Subject: Fwd: Pioneer Diaries
To: Diaries (ML)
Friday, November 8, 2002 10:23:23 AM
Class Two definitely wants to make the varsity team!
We are LCD obsessed!
We begin our day with the morning message projected onto the board and we include images that relate to our day, e.g. pictures of the marathon, images from books that we read.
We use it for vocabulary, e.g. if the girls don't know what a rhododendron looks like, we find it on Google images then project it.
We use it for social studies, e.g. Ms. Russell and I did an interactive Powerpoint presentation to introduce Iroquois Clothing, or to view websites with the girls
We use it for writing, e.g. we did a collaborative writing project using Word. We model editing strategies.
We use it for reading, e.g. we put "watch words" up as they read and then define the words. We mapped out a storyline using Kidspiration and imported graphics from the internet.
We use it for math, e.g. we projected a 100s chart with missing numbers and the girls came up the blackboard to fill it in, (http://www.abcteach.com/Math/hundfillin.htm ). We converted a game called TileMaster to an Appleworks document to teach patterns.
We love it, and we hope we can make the team!!!!!!!
From: Karen Katz-fs
Subject: Pioneering Technology
To: Diaries (ML)
Monday, November 11, 2002 5:09:25 PM
RE: Lower School Computer applications -
I have watched Katie and Caroline in class two successfully wow their students with the LCD projector and neat applications for reading, social studies and math.
Today I got my foot in the water (or should I say, "wheel on the trail") by borrowing the LCD projector for a social studies brainstorming session with Class One girls. What I loved was how fast we were able to "Chart" the ideas. The girls did not get tired or bored waiting for a teacher to write up their ideas. Instead of 10-15 ideas, we had the time to generate 40 ideas! Afterwards, we reviewed the list and quickly categorized them by color coding.
One of the girls asked, can we have a copy of the list? How nice that I was able to say, sure I'll print it up right now!
Karen Katz , Class One
From: Howard Schott-fs
Subject: Pioneering
To: Diaries (ML)
Monday, November 11, 2002 1:57:55 PM
Last week was filled with highs and lows. On the plus side, I've become a complete obsessive about HTML. Also, for the first time, I had students use lap tops during an in-class essay assignment. The results were so much better than essays written by hand that I was shocked.
On the down side -- I lost all of my data. Mysteriously.
From: Erik Hanson-fs
Subject: this week's diary
To: Diaries (ML)
Wednesday, November 20, 2002 8:40:08 AM
So last week I actually did a whole lesson on powerpoint. It was the introduction of two past tenses in Latin. The nice part was that afterwards I was able to post it on the web so that students could refer to it again and review. Even though I was the only one of the 3 latin teachers to present the lesson in this format, the other teachers told their students about the web resource; many students then checked it out.
More remains to be done in coordinating among us teachers about what content is to go on the web to be accessible to students.
p.s. you can check it out for yourself from the main gatornet.chapin.edu page.
From: Erik Hanson-fs
Subject: another week of pioneering
To: Diaries (ML)
Friday, November 8, 2002 7:50:53 PM
Well, I thought that this week might pass without any developments in pioneering, but--as so often happens--I was wrong. Here's how wireless network and projector conspired to enhance a class.
I often choose whimsical names for the groups I assign for group work in class. For example, when looking for four groups, I sometimes name them John, Paul, George, and Ringo (and nobody want to be in the Ringo group!); or looking for 5 groups I use the boroughs of NYC. It so happens that I have a class of 14 this year, so 7 pairs is sometimes useful. Earlier in the year we did the 7 dwarves, but I thought, "how about the 7 wonders of the ancient world?"
Do you know anyone who can name the 7 wonders of the ancient world? I do. His name is Google. He led me to a good website with a list, a map, and paintings of each one (since only one of them remains to be photographed today). So, before assigning the groups, I projected this website with the map and showed an enlarged copy of each of the paintings. The activity was short-lived, but was instructional and definitely generated enthusiasm for the group work.
Issues: 2
1) I was amazed at how quickly the whole thing came together. I was not planning to use the projector as early as a 20 minutes before class, then I found the website and decided to go with it. I am relieved that I was able to carry out a last minute plan, which I believe often lead to my best teaching.
2) There are a whole host of issues related to the 7 wonders around the question of who made the list and how the list came to be. Showing the paintings prompted the girls to ask this question and a number of other good ones, like how did the artist know what to paint? what do the sites look like now? and others--none of which I was really prepared (time-wise) to get into, especially considering the group work was review for a test the next class period. So I will try next time I do such a presentation to leave some time to explore the questions that it naturally raises.
Erik Hanson
From: Erik Hanson-fs
Subject: Erik's first post
To: Diaries (ML)
Friday, November 1, 2002 2:34:12 PM
So far, I have used the projector in class on two occasions, and this constitutes the totality of my pioneering work in the classroom.
First occasion was in Latin III with tenth graders; we are reading Cicero, and it is pretty much the first unadapted Latin they have seen. I projected a sentence on the screen, then we proceeded to bracket of phrases and clauses, and we also color coded parts of the sentence. We also added comments to words that included lexical information and glosses. I was using MS Word, which easily handled what I wanted to do, but the presentation was somewhat cumbersome. The students enjoyed working this way and understood that it was not necessary or even desirable to work that way every day. I hope to find a better application for achieving a similar effect.
Second occasion was in 8th grade Latin; I used powerpoint to present latin vocabulary words. I would call this one a real success. After we settled a few logistical issues (see below), I was able to put up first the English word and then the English word together with the Latin--all very quickly. I believe that we got through more and stayed on task better because there was no down time while I wrote on the board. Logistics: I put the projector on a student type desk and project onto a white screen; I myself sit on the floor facing the students--this puts me out of their way (so they can see the screen) but allows me to face them as I ask about English derivatives and other such info. I hope to do this one a lot!
From: Donna Propp-fs
Subject: pioneer entry #2
To: Diaries (ML)
Thursday, October 31, 2002 10:03:46 PM
Pioneer Diary Entry #2:
Having the projector in my classroom has completely changed the way I run my statistics class, entirely for the better. This course is being taught differently than most math classes, the girls are using a workbook that guides them through the curriculum and allows them to (essentially) teach themselves the material. My role is often that of a moderator rather than a lecturer, helping to guide the girls through the lesson and leading discussions on what they have learned.
One of the challenges of running the class this way is that the girls need frequent feedback about whether what they are doing is correct, and it is hard for me to circulate and check everyone’s work. The only answer key available is on-line, and before I had the projector, I would periodically sit behind the computer, reading the answers aloud and describing the graphs that they were being asked to draw. Not every girl was ready for the information when I gave it, and some girls had moved beyond that point, only to discover that the work they were doing was based on incorrect work that came before. Once I had the projector in my room, I began projecting the answers on the white board and the girls check themselves as they go along. I can now circulate through the class, insuring that each girl is doing the work and answering questions as they arise. The girls have a great resource for teaching themselves and I am better able to teach those who need additional support.
From: Carolyn Crandall-fs
Subject: We are masters!
To: Diaries (ML)
Wednesday, November 20, 2002 3:04:59 PM
Hi everyone- We(Katie and Carolyn) are addicted. We just learned how to make this cool graph. Anyone who wants to learn how, see us. Happy pioneering! -C&K
From: Donna Propp-fs
Subject: DJP's latest entry
To: Diaries (ML)
Thursday, November 28, 2002 9:51:20 AM
This week I attempted my most ambitious project yet--I started my geometry class on a several-day project in class on Monday, gave them a bit of time on Tuesday to work on it, and told them that they are to complete the rest of it on their own and submit it to me electronically by the time I leave school on Friday.
The most time-consuming part of the project so far was organizing what I wanted them to do. I am using a wonderful reference book, full of GSP activities, and I put together a few of them into one project. Then I had to type up directions, cut and paste all of it into a handout, and finally copy the big packets--all very low tech for a Chapin pioneer!
The computer aspects of the project worked beautifully. The girls were excited to use what they knew from geometry class to construct and then discover new properties of familiar shapes. The only problem with the lesson was that it took more than the five minutes I had allocated for “clean up” to get all of their work saved and the computers put away. Next time I’ll leave more time at the end of the lesson, although I suspect that as we go along, they will become more adept at working with GSP and Gatornet.
From: Karen Katz-fs
Subject: Tech Pioneer Diaries
To: Diaries (ML)
Saturday, November 30, 2002 2:02:36 PM
Today I used the LCD and my laptop for a lesson on the history of the Teddy Bear (for Teddy Bear's 100th birthday). I created a simple power point presentation importing images of the teddy bear from the internet.
When preparing the presentation, I did run into trouble when several pictures I wanted to import translated onto my computer in text form. After a morning session with Steve, I learned that some images, though they look like pictures, are in fact only links to the actual picture. For the future, when downloading pictures from the internet, make sure the picture you need is not a link. If it is, click to the link and see if you can drag the picture, once you get to it, on to your desktop.
I also just got Kidspiration trial loaded on to my laptop. I am eager to try it with the Class One girls for brainstorming ideas together. Takes some time to get the hang of all the bells and whistles though.
From: Howard Schott-fs
Subject: Projector and web site
To: Diaries (ML)
Friday, December 6, 2002 12:41:38 PM
This was an exciting week for me. I used the projector to introduce a writing assignment about Bible art and then viewed a variety of paintings with the students. I have to get used to teaching in the dark, but it was well-received.
Also, I put together a web site for 9th Grade English which seems to be growing daily. I have the syllabus there with hyperlinks to vocab lists and assignments.
http://gatornet.chapin.edu/~english9/
You can get this from the gatornet home page. I don't know how to make the link live.
Howard
From: Katie Knuppel-fs
Subject: diary
To: Diaries (ML)
Friday, December 6, 2002 2:24:56 PM
I have attached some of the fun things that we have been doing on the LCD.
Every morning we have been finding fun images for the girls and we usually have an interesting question to go with it. I attached today's.
I also included a writing project we did called Creature Features. To get the girls started we did one together using the projector. I first went to google images and found a picture of a creature. Then the girls brainstormed ideas about the creature and started to write a paragraph. In this way, the girls can write an example together before they do their own individual Creature Feature. Using the LCD and the computer allowed us to easily compile ideas together and show them methods of editing.
Katie and Carolyn
From: Laura deToledo-fs
Subject: Pioneer Journal
To: Diaries (ML)
Wednesday, December 11, 2002 1:39:46 PM
Yesterday I had one of the most successful Spanish III classes ever.
Tools: LCD , my laptop and Inspiration
My class is reading Don Quijote de la Mancha (Part I) by Miguel de Cervantes. I decided to introduce the characteristics of the Baroque period in Spain by analyzing five paintings of Diego Velazquez, among which was the famous "Las meninas." I found three excellent sites one of which even had a virtual visit , my students were thrilled ! I even used the remote control to magnify details in the paintings or to move the images. Students brainstormed ideas about what they saw in the paintings, and I moved back and forth from the paintings to an Inspiration page. For homework, I asked them to submit by Friday to Turnin-Spanish a paragraph describing (in Spanish) one of the paintings they saw.
From: Sally Dawidoff-fs
Subject: A Webmaster? Moi?
To: Diaries (ML)
Wednesday, December 11, 2002 2:37:45 PM
I have begun learning how to make a web page for English 6. Unbelievable!
Cheers,
Pioneer Sally
From: Karen Katz-fs
Subject: pioneer diaries
To: Diaries (ML)
Wednesday, December 11, 2002 5:27:18 PM
I am working on getting up to speed on the A100 Canon digital camera. My goal is to document projects step-by-step for bulletin board display as well as for student portfolios. It is taking time to get to know the battery usage idiosyncrasies and nuances of this particular camera. I would be happy to share what I have learned so far if anyone is interested. Karen
From: Erik Hanson-fs
Subject: a belated entry
To: Diaries (ML)
Monday, December 16, 2002 7:58:35 AM
Forgive me, Steve: it has been 25 days since my last diary.
Since then, I have been working on several fronts:
I have begun work with iMovie; I have several minutes of footage (some professional, some personal) in iMovie, but it still awaits editing. At least I know how to shoot with a digital camcorder and get it onto a computer.
With Steve's help, we have launched the "Latin 8" website. There is not much there yet, but I do feel confident that I have the know-how to start filling it up with good info. We in the language department are hopeful that having a website for a few courses will help us in putting helpful sites together for more classes.
There we are!
Erik
From: Katie Knuppel-fs
Subject: Fwd: bead presentation
To: Diaries (ML)
Thursday, December 19, 2002 11:14:33 AM
Well, Ann Russell and I put together a short powerpoint presentation on Iroquois beading for our Iroquois clothing expert group. We pulled together images of real beadwork. We talked about the material they used before the Europeans arrived and then discussed how the Iroquois switched to glass beads after the Europeans arrived. We put on maps that we got from Google along with pictures of Venice. Our powerpoint presentation also links with an awesome sight on the Iroquois called Kidszone. This gave us some simple images that are often in their beadwork, e.g. the turtle, the four directions, and the sky dome. The girls learned about what the symbols meant. They were very inspired. For the next two social studies periods, they learned to bead and then beaded the Iroquois clothes they have been making for the past month. Ann and I had some expert help from Haydee so that we, ourselves, could learn how to bead. The finished products are in Room 212A. They are incredible. Please come see them in person. I added photos of some of their work to the ppt.
The one challenge was the Multimedia Room. My classroom was being used by the Food Expert group so we found ourselves up in the library which was very exciting. There were three problems with the room. The chairs are too big and exciting for seven and eight year olds. The room became completely stuffy and hot. The screen is too far up and far away to really allow the girls to explore the images. Our classroom LCD is much better since it is on the board and can be approached and touched.
All in all it was successful. I have attached our ppt if you want to take a look. Please take a look.
Katie
From: Erik Hanson-fs
Subject: vacation entry
To: Diaries (ML)
Monday, January 6, 2003 10:31:22 AM
Dear diary
It was great to be able to pick up email at home twice over vacation so that there was not a huge stack of emails on my desktop upon arrival.
Over vacation, I made some strides working with imovie and some movies of Will with my brand new digital camcorder. All are welcome to come and see him flopping around on an air mattress (guaranteed to brighten your day). Now I feel ready to take on some old footage of Classics club skits and have the confidence to shoot new classroom footage in this format.
Erik
From: Steve Bergen-fs
Subject: pioneer reminders and update
To: Diaries (ML)
Sunday, January 12, 2003 9:08:56 AM
reminders ....
1) the mailing list above goes to the mailbox of just the people involved in the Pioneer program
2) each person on the Diaries (ML) has an obligation to write ONE note per week summarizing briefly what she or he has been doing or learning or will be doing in terms of any aspect of the pioneer program ... this can and should be BRIEF and INFORMAL but must happen ONCE per WEEK .. I believe the best way to make this happen is to begin each pioneer session asking you to do so if you have not written in the past 7 days
3) the writing you do also goes to a conference which will eventually be readable by others via the FacStaff Private area ... as we meet for the second week of January, I am going to talk to everyone this week about the next phase(s) of the Pioneer program, both this Spring and into Fall 2003
4) currently there are 5 pioneer projectors out there in the hands of Donna P, Erik H, Laura D, Katie K, Howard S ... while each pioneer should be using the projector when appropriate, I currently have no idea how much usage the projectors are getting ... if it is possible in your weekly notes to mention this, that would be appreciated
5) after Spring vacation, I need to switch hats and focus on the computer classes in the 9th grade ... accordingly Betsy will take over the weekly Pioneer sessions
6) since the week before Spring vacation is EXAM time, I will come up with a Pioneer Exam that I will distribute and post .. I hope you know in advance that it is NOT a serious thing, but might stimulate some useful weekly pioneer focus
happy trails and thanks for reading ... steve
From: Donna Propp-fs
Subject: I'm duly chastised
To: Diaries (ML)
Sunday, January 12, 2003 9:50:16 AM
Okay, I'll take my flogging with a wet noodle. I suppose I saw that coming, and I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up with my entries. For whatever it's worth, part of the reason is worth mentioning in this forum. Last time I wrote an entry, my computer crashed out of FirstClass, taking my diary entry with it. I forget the circumstances of the day, but I know I was frustrated and didn't have time to rewrite it, and that was the feeling that stuck with me afterward when I thought of writing an entry. I suppose this is a major obstacle that this whole program is trying to overcome, the fact that every computer user in the school (and beyond!) approaches his or her computer on any given day with years of history of computer frustration. We who have signed on to this pioneer program are (presumably) among the more willing to overcome this, but if we let these moments beat us down, just think how hard it must be for other more computer-frustrated people to get involved. I'm not sure where I'm going with this ramble, certainly I'm only stating the obvious, but since it came up, I thought I'd acknowledge it.
And as far as my use of the technology? I came back from vacation and slipped back into old patterns, namely those from before this year. I forgot about all of the things I was doing with the computer and LCD projector in the fall, and forgot to plan them into my program. Now that I've been reminded, I look forward to integrating them into my courses, as I was doing fairly often last fall. More on my successes and failure to follow.
Pioneer Propp
From: Katie Knuppel-fs
Subject: pioneer diaries
To: Diaries (ML)
Sunday, January 12, 2003 1:41:45 PM
Last week I was working on a project for the MLK Jr. Prayers program this coming week. We are having the Class One and Two girls draw pictures in response to MLK Jr. life, and we want to display these pictures on the screen while the whole LS sings. We wanted to display 100 pictures in a slideshow format. We were willing to scan them all in but also realized this would take a lot of time-possibly 6 hours. So I decided with Mary Beth to try taking digital photographs of the drawings and see how that worked. The image turned out pretty well and we loaded it up into iPhoto which has an automatic slideshow function. It took me only 20 minutes to take photos of 13 drawings, load those, and then crop. I am sure that the next 13 will take less time since I am now a pro. So it turns out that my PLAN B is better and more efficient than my PLAN A. I love PLAN B!!!!!
You will see the results this coming Friday! But I will give you a sneak peak since the girls' drawings are so inspirational.
From: Erik Hanson-fs
Subject: brief one
To: Diaries (ML)
Sunday, January 12, 2003 9:09:36 PM
Dear Diary
It has been a slow week of pioneering; one actual event and much mulling
Actual event: I am reading a new author with my 10th graders (Juvenal); I like them to have a clean text, but it helps them to have another--preferably large print--to take notes on and to practice scansion. So, following steve's lead from earlier, I googled Juvenal, found a text, downloaded, and formatted to my specs the first few lines, which I then copied on paper for my students. I don't know if this is technically pioneering, but I thought it was pretty helpful.
Mulling: Steve told me at our last meeting what I already knew: I need to get to work on my website; I've been sort of putting it off, and I don't know why--although there are a few other things competing for my time; I was happy to see Katie's success with posting dig pics of student work, as I had been wondering if that would work. I think I will do that next time we do a project in Latin
til next week
Erik
From: Karen Katz-fs
Subject: digital camera
To: Diaries (ML)
Sunday, January 12, 2003 11:56:28 PM
As you all may remember, my pioneer focus has been to get proficient with the PowerShot A100.
I spent considerable time this week exploring the software and practicing with the camera. I am making progress but continue to be amazed how much time it gobbles up. (Each time I pick up the camera I find I have forgotten half of what I discovered the last time)
It seems that each time I have taken the camera out to use it for a real purpose, I hit a snag and don't get the pictures I need. (Grrrh) I am making progress on it but seem to work in fits and starts.
After seeing Katie use iPhoto on Friday, I eagerly attempted to use the program myself. I spent an hour+ trying to find it in the software and tried out every possible option on the program. I finally got the bright idea to check out Apple.com and then learned that I needed OS X for iPhoto. Ha! How simple. The struggle was worth the effort anyway (I tell myself) My next step is to upgrade the software on my laptop. The goal will be to have my students take digital pictures of the people we interview for our school study and then combine them in a iPhoto show and or a PowerPoint presentation.
Karen.
From: Patricia Norchi-fs
Subject: music technology/composition
To: Diaries (ML)
Monday, January 13, 2003 4:08:40 PM
Dear Diary-I am officially an active pioneer!! I have been exploring a new music software which will be implemented in my 8/9 performing arts composition unit this term. The students will discover endless channels for composing. At the moment, I am familiarizing myself with the software. This past week, I have created documents with text and music graphics. Perhaps next week I will email you a melodic motif on traditional staff notation using the software!! -Pioneer Patricia
From: Sally Dawidoff-fs
Subject: Update
To: Diaries (ML)
Monday, January 13, 2003 4:30:47 PM
I am still learning skills in preparation for creating a Web site. I now know how to import a Word document and make it "hot." For example, the future Web site for English 6 can remind students to refer to their English 6 guidelines. If a student clicks on the phrase "English 6 Guidelines," she will see the actual guidelines.
In other news, today a MS teacher was having trouble accessing the server needed for "dumping" MS comments, due to a memory problem (the computer's memory). She asked me for help, and I solved the problem. ("Let me help, Miss! I'm a tech pioneer!")
--S.D.
From: Steve Bergen-fs
Subject: thanks
To: Diaries (ML)
Katie Knuppel-fs
Monday, January 13, 2003 5:35:41 PM
thanks EVERYONE for your recent update notes .. they are fun to read and create a little community WITHIN a community
the head candidate today this afternoon (Monday) talked about how one way to break down the separation from lower school to middle school to upper school was for people to share and communicate more about what they do
to some extent, reading about your pioneer entries functions a bit in this regard ... thank you! steve
p.s. if anyone with a projector can share with Katie Knuppel (in person or via e-mail) how to magnify text in terms of what buttons on the remote to push, that would be one more example of this communication
From: Erik Hanson-fs
Subject: pioneer complaint
To: Diaries (ML)
Monday, January 13, 2003 11:16:07 PM
I am jealous of you pioneers who have a p (pioneers propp, patricia, perhaps others) who have such nice, alliterative handles.
racking my brain, but i cannot come up with pioneer synonyms with e or h.
Green with envy
pioneerik
From: Patricia Norchi-fs
Subject: music tech
To: Diaries (ML)
Tuesday, January 14, 2003 9:26:16 AM
Dear Diaries: Attached is an excerpt I created using Finale Notepad software that will be used with my 8/9 class. -Pioneer Patricia
From: Sally Dawidoff-fs
Subject: Re: pioneer complaint
To: Erik Hanson-fs
Cc: Diaries (ML)
Tuesday, January 14, 2003 2:34:23 PM
Explorer Erik?
From: Sally Dawidoff-fs
Subject: P.S.
To: Diaries (ML)
Tuesday, January 14, 2003 2:51:19 PM
P.S. Howard showed me how to put my grades into Easy Grade Pro. I told it how to weight different assignments, and it did my averaging.
Changed my life.
From: Howard Schott-fs
Subject: Re: P.S.
To: Diaries (ML)
Tuesday, January 14, 2003 3:01:57 PM
In response to Sally's e-mail about EasyGrade Pro, I am happy to help anyone get started with this program. Until you begin working with it, you have no idea how amazing it can be. Starting today, I've been playing around with Excel, cataloging vocabulary words. Hopefully, I will have a master list of all the words from each class that I will be able to sort by a variety of ways, especially word origins.
From: Carolyn Crandall-fs
Subject: Pioneer Journal
To: Diaries (ML)
Tuesday, January 14, 2003 4:54:51 PM
Right before break I was using the digital video camera in my classroom and learning how to transfer that footage to an iMovie. It was fun learning about the editing process, incorporating sound and text, etc. Steve then showed me how to add clips from that iMovie to a web page design. Katie Knuppel and I are going to work on designing a Class Two web page. Besides that exciting project, Class Two loves the LCD projectors! We use them everyday for Reading (Kidspiration), Social Studies (PowerPoint presentations), Math (graphing with excel), Writing Workshop (collaborative writing with students using Apple Works or Microsoft Word), Morning Message (Power Point) and Prayers presentations (iPhoto). I have been very impressed with all of your projects. Happy trails. -Carolyn
From: Laura deToledo-fs
Subject: Frustrated "tele-conferencer"
To: Diaries (ML)
Wednesday, January 15, 2003 2:59:44 PM
I have just had a great frustration!. In my last meeting with Esteban he taught me how to use the new video conference equipment. I was in the faculty lounge 5 minutes ago and the tele conference phone started ringing, I was the only one there. When I approached the equipment looking for the remote control my face even appeared for 5 seconds in the screen! I imagined they saw me trying to reply, but I just could not figure out how to!. I won't be there this afternoon for the real thing, but I will definitely try to play the lottery next time.
(Esteban, I don't know if they were the same people that will be contacting us later today, but if they were, they surely were trying it earlier, the phone would not stop ringing)
Lauraneer?
From: Katie Knuppel-fs
Subject: Memory and Safari
To: Diaries (ML)
Wednesday, January 15, 2003 3:20:00 PM
Carolyn and I installed more memory into our computers ourselves. We purchased memory out of our own pocket and then Neil supervised us as we took our computers apart and put it the extra megabytes. I also suggest Safari (It's even faster than Explorer) for those who are on Mac OS X. You can go to the apple store and download the trial for free.
From: Howard Schott-fs
Subject: Safari
To: Diaries (ML)
Thursday, January 16, 2003 9:27:59 AM
Katie -- I have quickly converted to Safari as my web browser. One question: Do you have any idea about how to copy all of my bookmarks from Explorer into Safari? Howard
From: Erik Hanson-fs
Subject: weekly entry (weakly)
To: Diaries (ML)
Friday, January 17, 2003 9:03:15 AM
Dear diary
another slow week of pioneering; after several other project die down, I will get to play/practice/mastery of the Latin 8 website.
I did do a powerpoint presentation to the Class 10 homeroom about our 3-day sleep away trip to Frost Valley. The clever part was color coding the background color for the rules: I made "do" rules green and "don't" rules red. I is a good way of presenting information verbally and visually at the same time; we'll see if it sticks.
PioneErik
From: Andres Party-fs
Subject: recording audio
To: Diaries (ML)
Friday, January 17, 2003 4:20:14 PM
Today Laura and I met with Steve and he taught us how to record our voice using ULTRA RECORDER, save it, compress it and enter it as a link in the Spanish trial webpage. We are just trying it for now: gatornet.chapin.edu/~spanish.
Andres
From: Sally Dawidoff-fs
Subject: Update
To: Diaries (ML)
Friday, January 17, 2003 5:42:46 PM
This week, I learned more html.
My homework will be to work on my site on my own.
--Webmaster Sal
From: Donna Propp-fs
Subject: little news to report
To: Diaries (ML)
Monday, January 20, 2003 9:15:08 AM
Dear Diary,
The week the highlight of being a pioneer had been seeing what other people are doing on the computer. I just opened Patricia's worksheet and I had an immediate flashback to my years of taking music theory and composition and writing everything out by hand. Who knows how far I might have taken my interests if I had had the means of putting my ideas on paper so easily? I also listened to Andres' voice links and am please to report that I understood five out of his six greetings, despite never having studied Spanish. It will be good to have a Spanish speaker as we go further west!
However, my own efforts to move myself forward have been less inspiring. Steve and I looked at spreadsheets this week with an eye toward using them in my statistics class, but the uses he showed me would have been a step backward from where I am now with the graphing calculator. I'm confident that we can find a good use for them in the math curriculum, but that was the wrong place to start. Similarly, I'm still struggling to find a meaningful use for a web page. The one on which I'm working will be for the geometry projects that the girls complete during the third term, but so far I don't see it being much more than the handout that I always give copied onto the internet. Sure, I'll put in a few links to sights that might have good information for them, a bit helpful for sure, but not the great leap into the brave new world that I (and Steve, no doubt) was hoping to see. Even thinking about the great uses by Patricia and Andres mentioned above, I must confess that I loved writing music in longhand (it gave me time to hear it in my head) and I can't think of any uses of voice recording in math.
Do I sound too cynical again? I'm not ready to abandon the wagon train and come back east--I'm still aboard. I'm just having a harder time adapting to life on the open road than some of my heartier companion and I'm not convinced that the new life that I'll find at the other end will be measurably better than the one I left behind. But on I go. I won't abandon you if you won't leave me by the side of the road because of my negativity.
--Pioneer Propp
(By the way, I've noticed that in an email, when I type information into the "subject" and "to" lines out of order, I lose the ability to send my email by merely clicking on the "send" button. Does anyone know why this happens and how to get it back? I can always use "command-e" to send it by keystroke, but I'd like to know why I'm losing the buttons.)
From: Katie Knuppel-fs
Subject: web page
To: Diaries (ML)
Monday, January 20, 2003 3:44:36 PM
Carolyn and I had a session with Steve to learn how to make our Class Two Webpage possible.
I have been working on the website for Class Two and it's going well. The possibilities are endless. Our two main goals are to keep parents informed about the classroom and to enrich our program.
The privacy issue is frustrating since we cannot put any digital photographs or signed student work. I am wondering whether we could create an entry password to prevent any strangers (a.k.a. weirdos) from perusing the site.
All in all, I have found the process pretty simple using the template from Steve and FirstClass. I have relied mostly on Microsoft Word to create the pages and then I save my Word docs as web pages.
I would like to launch the site asap and see whether we can keep it current. That will be the true test. We also wonder-Will the parents use it? Will the girls use it?
When we do launch it, we will have the parents email their feedback and comments to classtwo@chapin.edu. I want to create an email button on the site for students and parents. Of course, we need to be clear that it is for website email only.
Nonetheless, I am already envisioning parent conference sign ups via the Classtwo webpage which would certainly make Ruby Ludwig's job a lot easier.
Please check it out and let me know if you have any problems or see any errors. [ http://gatornet.chapin.edu/~Classtwo/ ] http://gatornet.chapin.edu/~Classtwo/
Thanks, Katie
From: Katie Knuppel-fs
Subject: we're live
To: Diaries (ML)
Wednesday, January 22, 2003 5:24:52 PM
Class Two is live!! Our website is up, and we sent home a note to parents announcing the launch. Check it out!!! We would love to help anyone else interested it doing this.
Katie and Carolyn
From: Andres Party-fs
Subject: audio recording
To: Diaries (ML)
Monday, January 27, 2003 10:33:07 AM
I met with Steve on Friday, and he installed the software ULTRA RECORDED in my laptop, so that I can create activities (listening exercises), compress them, and then put them in the webpage.
Andres
From: Katie Knuppel-fs
Subject: obsessed
To: Diaries (ML)
Monday, January 27, 2003 2:36:05 PM
Andres, we learned about Ultra Recorder too!!!
We have had a lot of success with the website. The girls love it and we have heard from many parents as well. The updates haven't been hard to do so it does not feel very overwhelming.
Carolyn just did a plan book on Excel so we now can do all of our planning on the laptops!!! She said it kept her up at night. So cool. I am attaching it for you to look at.
Katie and Carolyn
From: Sally Dawidoff-fs
Subject: Propp Entry
To: Diaries (ML)
Thursday, January 30, 2003 2:45:05 PM
Press on, Pioneer Propp!
From: Erik Hanson-fs
Subject: progress on the web page
To: Diaries (ML)
Friday, January 31, 2003 9:20:55 AM
Dear diary
this week I finally had the time to fiddle with the Latin 8 web site; I and my colleagues (you know who you are) cleaned it up enough and put enough useful information there that I am going to tell my students about it now. I am going to try not printing out and copying an assignment sheet for them; rather, I will just let them go to it on the internet. It is still pretty simple, but it works! If you'd like to see what we're doing go to http://gatornet.chapin.edu/~latin8
thanks to steve for holding my hand long enough to get the process started
we'll see what the next week brings.
Erik
From: Howard Schott-fs
Subject: Re: progress on the web page
To: Diaries (ML)
Friday, January 31, 2003 9:49:42 AM
Nice job on the web page, Erik. As I mentioned, I have a well-organized HTML book to lend you. It's especially helpful when it comes to working with images. Here are a few sites that have free art and backgrounds.
http://www.macmotiva.rocks.it/
http://www.grsites.com/webgraphics/
http://www.ip.pt/webground/main.html
On a personal note, my big achievement this week was helping a student use the projector and my lap top to play a video she had created in class. She kept saying, "This is so cool, Mr. Schott." I'll leave it at that.
From: Andres Party-fs
Subject: Friday 31st entry
To: Diaries (ML):
Sunday, February 2, 2003 10:47:22 PM
Laura and I met with Steve on Friday. We have been working on the Spanish and French websites. There will be 2 different websites. Each one will have a link by level (French 5, French 6, etc.), and the cluster of each level will start, little by little, posting information, links and activities.
Andres
conf-pioneers-sb
From: Donna Propp-fs
Subject: new kind of extra credit
To: Diaries (ML)
Monday, February 3, 2003 7:14:41 AM
Last week, the students in my A.P. Statistics class did abysmally on their test on probability. I wasn't shocked, it is always the topic students find hardest (at any level) but I was concerned that the girls didn't get an adequate foundation in the content and that they would be so discouraged by their grades that an early bout of senioritis would set in and they would turn off to the course.
Ah ha! I great idea! Our textbook's web site has a number of resources for both students and faculty, and I decided to take advantage of that by allowing them to take the on-line quiz for that chapter at home, with some fraction of their score (there are ten multiple choice questions) being added on to their test grade. Because the quiz is necessarily open-book, this insures that they get a bit more practice with the material and encourages them to feel that the power to improve their grades is in their hands. As of this morning, six out of eight girls gave it a try, with a few of them getting perfect scores.
I'm so pleased with this idea that I think I might incorporate it into my class in the future. Another use of technology that I would not have considered trying before this year.
...look at that, a positive entry from me!
--Pioneer Propp
From: Laura deToledo-fs
Subject: Lab sessions
To: Diaries (ML)
Monday, February 3, 2003 11:55:45 AM
Hola everyone!
Andres and I are very excited about our Foreign Language Site (Classics, French and Spanish), as well as our pioneer experience of extending the instruction to our F. Lang colleagues on how to work on the WebSite. On Friday, we had our first Department Session with three of our colleagues after School that went on until 4:30. Everybody was extremely excited and by the end of the day they were ready to work on their on. We are going to work by courses. The majority of them have clusters of two or three teachers that will collaborate on each one of the sites for each course. Today, I am going to go over what we did on Friday with one of the teachers that came that day, as a way for her to do everything herself one, two on three more times. Erik and Andres are also working with Beatrice for the Classics Site. I will keep you inform about our development.
Laura
From: Katie Knuppel-fs
Subject: website
To: Diaries (ML)
Monday, February 3, 2003 5:06:24 PM
I have been working on the website, and I find the updating to be manageable and satisfying.
Check out our New Amsterdam Ads and our powerpoint lesson on Dutch painting!!
I also learned how to make a table and added that to our spelling page!!!!
Our parent and student feedback has been very positive.
Katie