Our Hopes and Dreams

Many students and teachers in our elementary schools participate in an assignment where they have to share a hope or dream they have for the new school year. This year, we created a Voicethread so that we could share these hopes and dreams across the district. It is not too late to participate and we hope that we can collect some comments from other schools across the country as well. Let's work together and see how many hopes and dreams we can collect! If you already have a Voicethread account, you can leave a comment right from this blog post. Teachers, staff, students, and family members (from around the world) are welcome to participate!

Welcome Back!

This is going to be a fantastic school year filled with 21st century learning! Our first 2 professional development days were a great success. It is amazing that we have such a talented staff that is willing to share, collaborate and learn from one another. This blog will continue to showcase all of the hard work of our teachers and students.

The best way to learn from each other is to share what we know. So please use the comment tool on this blog to communicate with your fellow teachers.

Please be sure to check out our SlideRocket presentation from our PD days and don't forget to check out our RSD6EdTech Wiki for any resources and information from those PD days. If you have not already done so, here is a link to the evaluation sheet. Your feedback is very important to us!

Radio Frequency Meets Digital Technology

Students at Warren School experienced how communication is not just through the Internet and that Ham Radio can come through when all else fails. With a simple wire mounted in the school's courtyard, Mr. Fegley, technology teacher at Region 6, introduced students to his lifelong hobby.

W0WD connects with WA1MOG: On June 16, 2011, 20m SSB QSO (...for those of us who are newbies to this oldie, that's Ham radio lingo!) , Fourth Graders from Mrs. Woodington's class at Warren School, Warren, CT, connected with Joe Dolinsky (W0WD) from Minnetonka, Minnesota. Each student using club call sign, WA1MOG asked questions to Joe who offered wonderful words of wisdom with his responses. Joe played back recordings of students so they could understand how short wave amateur radio signals are sent and received using a simple wire dipole antenna. WA1MOG is the club call sign for the Wamogo Amateur Radio Club. Mr. Dan Fegley, W1QK, is the club advisor. Mr. Fegley turned Warren School's library into a launchpad for radio signals. Students were amazed and eager to know more. They were directed to the website for the American Radio Relay League (http://www.arrl.org/) which is the national association for amateur radio located in nearby Newington, CT. Prior to connecting with W0WD, a Morse code contact was made with CO8LY, located in Cuba, with a quick "hello" and "goodbye". Follow links to view videos: http://youtu.be/qZyugO3B-Sc http://youtu.be/VFYHoydAcWs

Warren School Skypes

Classes at Warren School have found a way to instantly and authentically learn with students who are not even listed on their class roster. Skype in education has removed the walls of the classroom and replaced them with a bridge that connects our students with other classes across the country with just a click of a mouse. Mrs. Newton’s kindergarten class in Warren, CT Skyped with Mrs. Dodson’s kindergarten class located more than 500 miles away in Akron, Ohio. Both classes shared their experience with incubating eggs in the classroom. Mrs. D’s class gave us an up close and personal look at their newly hatched baby chicks. Mrs. Newton’s class is looking forward to Skyping with them again once their class chicks hatch next week.
First graders at Warren School had an amazing time connecting with Mr. F’s class which is located almost 1,000 miles away in North Liberty, Iowa. After joining Skype in the Classroom (education.skype.com), we found Mr. F’s project, Skype R US, by browsing through the projects that teachers have shared. After having the opportunity to share the prepared answers to the questionnaire that accompanies the project, the students participated in an impromptu question and answer period. It didn’t take long for the students to relax into this new mode of communication and learning. By the end of their half-hour session together, students gained a wealth of knowledge about each other’s state, community, school, and personal interests.
A Google Map has been created as a way to collaborately chronicle Warren School’s Skype experiences. Mystery Destinations, Poetry and Prezis are upcoming projects that students from Warren School will participate in through Skype in the Classroom. Be on the lookout for highlights of those experiences on our Google Map.

Skype in the Classroom makes it very easy to find teachers ready, willing and able to collaborate on projects and bring classes together from across the globe.

Flat Stanley Goes High-Tech with Google Custom Maps

Flat Stanley is a beloved children’s book written by Jeff Brown in 1964. In 1994, a third grade teacher from Canada, Dale Hubbert, started the Flat Stanley Project and invited other teachers and students from all over the globe participate in this engaging and collaborative activity that promotes global connections through letter writing. In recent years, Flat Stanley has become more tech savvy. Students can upload multimedia and blog posts onto the Flat Stanley website. There is even a Flat Stanley app that allows students to instantly create photos and upload them directly to the website or share them via email. Second graders in Mrs. Maiolo’s class are using the Google Custom Maps tool to track Flat Stanley as he makes his journey around the world. As they learn the places that Stanley visits, they create a place-marker on their google map, upload a corresponding photo, and write a paragraph describing the kind of community that Stanley has visited. Join Mrs. Maiolo’s class as they learn about different communities from all over the world by viewing their Google Custom Map.

View Flat Stanley in a larger map

Motivating Students with Storyjumper and Storybird

Second grade students in Mrs. Battistoni's class have been using Storyjumper.com to create class books as well as individual stories. Since the students have been using this technology tool, Mrs. Battistoni has noticed a significant change in student engagement and motivation during writing instruction. Once reluctant writers now are eager to take their netbook from the cart and login to their student account on Storyjumper. Students in this second grade classroom are encouraged to collaborate and help each other. Remember that teachers do not have to be an expert on the technology tool in order to integrate it effectively! This is a photo of a student with a strength in technology acting as a mentor and helping his classmate troubleshoot a computer problem. Check out their class Storyjumper project! Winter Poems by Mrs. Battistoni's Class


It is so fantastic to see similar results in other classrooms throughout the district. Recently, I was in Miss Towne's fourth grade and the students were completely immersed in their writing when using Storybird.com. Similar to Storyjumper.com, this website allows students to create writing pieces that can be shared in a safe and secure online environment. A storybird is a writing piece where the author (the student) is collaborating with an artist by first choosing the art collection and then writing a story to go along with it. As I was wandering the room, I was so impressed with the quality of writing and creativity of these fourth graders. Watching them help one another and share tech tips with each other was equally impressive.

Google Search Stories for Digital Storytelling

You and your students can now create your very own google search story with the Google Search Story Video Creator on youtube. Maybe some of you remember Google's popular ad from the 2010 Superbowl, a Parisian love story through a series of google searches. Well, Miss Funkhouser's fifth grade students recently used this tool to tell a digital story about a favorite book. First, the students were shown a few exemplars to get an idea of what makes an effective search story. Then, using a graphic organizer, the students planned their own search stories and discussed their ideas with Miss Funkhouser. Using a class youtube account, each student created a search story that portrayed the important elements from a book of their choice. They were sure to include web, image, and map searches to make their story interesting and also picked an appropriate soundtrack to match the tone of the book. Check out some examples below!