Laura Laughter Shows How a Smartboard Can Help Her Kindergarteners

Hey, ya'll,

If you have Windows Media Player, feel free to check out this 4 minute movie of Kindergarten teacher Laura Laughter demonstrating how easy it is to use a smartboard with her students. Thanks, Laura!

Mark Arildsen Takes 3rd Place in National Geographic Bee!

Just had to share: USN 7th grader Mark Arildsen Takes 3rd Place in National Geographic Bee! You can view video from the May 23 event, including the final tie-breaking round that brought Mark his final placement, including a $10,000 check for his college savings, here. Congratulations to Mark and his parents, as well as to all the teachers who have helped him learn enough to achieve this high honor (and, most of all, who have helped him to love learning).

Happy SUMMER!

Hey, ya'll,

It's been a bit of a long month for me, sorry for not posting more regularly. The loss of a family member in early April threw me for a bit of a loop. That said, it's been busy in the Lower School Technology for Learning Lab!

Third and fourth graders have been working with Photostory 3 for Windows, a free program that relies on Windows Media Player 10 or better to create .wmv files (Media Player movie files) from still images. I took a discovery approach to this project, very loosely instructing the students to capture files from the Web and save them in their "My Pictures" folder, then import them and manipulate transitions and image effects, add music, and render the files. We shared them with the LCD projector in most classes and I uploaded a couple on our server to give you some idea of how fun this program can be. It can also be a great way to share photos from trips, etc., so if you generate some good vacation pictures be sure to give your child access to them on the computer. You'll be amazed at what they will do with Photostory!

Here are links to a couple movie files from the 3 week experience:

One from Ms. Noel's class
One from Ms. Hunt's class
One from Ms. Dent's and Ms. Moseley's class
One from Ms. Marler's class

2nd graders worked in a very beginning way with PowerPoint to create flipbooks first about themselves and then about the insects they studied. While all didn't get finished, the process was the product. They'll be in much better shape to begin using PowerPoint in earnest come their 3rd grade year. 1st graders and Kindergarteners did some fun work with Boowa and Kwala at uptoten.com.

I wish everyone a great summer and hope that you'll keep up with my goings on at my own personal/professional blog, scottmerrick.net!