Fly on the Virtual Wall

Today I watched from my office while Ms. Rodriguez taught her class to rez prims on the musical skybox. (See video below)

The Cartoon Challenge (Final Photostory - May 11)

Students began the Cartoon Challenge which requires that they use prims to build a character of their own choosing. As you can see, student teacher Nik Neximus has done an excellent job while I was away! Kudos Nik! I'm hoping some day Nik becomes an art teacher :) (See video below)

Student Teaches Intro to Prims

Nik Neximus will be taking my class while I go to see my family. Today he continued with beginning prim work and taught the students how to take snapshots and then send them to my epal account. I like to have students get a taste of teaching and perhaps encourage them to consider it as a career. It certainly helps their communication skills! Way to go Nik! (See video below)

Trimester Three Begins

A partially new group of students will be working on PESD Island for this final trimester which is disjointed due to state testing and field trips. I like to spend the beginning part of the trimester in the classroom with the kids so that I get to know them well enough to do the class remotely from my office at the district. This time I don't have nearly as many new names to remember since many have decided to either continue or return from a previous trimester. Some will be on my "watch" list as during their first go round they did not live up to my expectations. Just because this is one of the most fun activities, doesn't mean there isn't rigor built in. The first two classes were our Gimp lessons. This week students will be taking their Gimp designed t-shirts and learning how to bring them into Second Life for their avatars to wear. In previous trimesters I did that step but have decided that the students who have been with me for a while now need to learn how to do this for themselves. (See video below)

Map Skills Lead to Exploring New Worlds

Mr. Ross’ 4th graders have been busy doing writing samples but today they were back on the Reaction Grid and learning map skills. They got a chance to explore many of the other wonderful areas which have been created by other schools and teachers. (See video below)

Clean up on Island 5...

Each trimester we have new students on the island because they can sign up for this elective. We get a few who want to continue working on projects as well, so it's difficult during the school year to wipe the slate clean but I still want to give new students that empty canvas I talked about when I began working with students about a year ago. So I save a few samples and make sure I have enough space for new students. This is what PESD Island looks like right now before the third trimester begins. (See video below)

Farm Challenge Continues for Edison

Since the students only get less than 45 minutes three times a week, I didn't expect them to complete the Farm Challenge in one class period. (See video below)