Comments for Technology made simple!

Comment on Smith Superstars Science Blog by martinteach

martinteach — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 21:16:25 +0000

Here is an update about the students from TSA that went to State and are going to Nationals in Nashville.
Twenty-two TSA (Technology Student Association) members traveled to Waco to compete at State in a variety of STEM events. There were over 500 schools from all over Texas and our kids had another outstanding showing. Ten LCHS students qualified to go to Nationals and we were awarded Chapter Excellence as well. Full results are below!

Chapter Excellence:

Awarded each year to a single chapter. Chapters are selected by all the others in the state and the Board of Directors. It is TSA’s highest honor. We will also receive recognition for this at Nationals as well.

Animatronics:

2nd Place: Jhangir Awan, Zachary Hebert, Chris Lai, Carl Bennett, and Kevin Esswein

Debating Technological Issues:

1st Place: Drew Heugel & Jolea Nealy

Extemporaneous Speech:

1st Place: Drew Heugel

Future Technology Teacher:

7th Place: Rachel Tankersley

Prepared Presentation:

5th Place: Drew Heugel

Structural Engineering:

6th Place: Thomas Reynolds & Erick Chow

System Control:

4th Place: Jhangir Awan, Carl Bennett, and Kevin Esswein

Transportation Modeling:

8th Place: Erick Chow

Webmaster:

9th Place: Carl Bennett, Chris Lai, Jhangir Awan

Comment on Challenging math problem by martinteach

martinteach — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:20:02 +0000

I have found that challenging problems have to be interesting to the students. I tried the NFL franchise worth problems a while back, and while I thought that it was interesting, I don’t think that our students enjoyed it. However, I just finished an ETA problem with geoboards, geoboard paper to sketch, and iPods with video cameras, and I kept my students busy for 3 days in 25 minute sessions. However, I did take their work home each night to see how much each group completed and how well they understood the content. The last day, I enjoyed the Big Picture questions because I was able to correct some misconceptions.

As far as keeping my student’s organized, I try to keep the groups the same and try not to offer too many activities at once. One good project being worked on seperately at each group is much better than lots of projects with no order.

Comment on Challenging math problem by Kimberly

Kimberly — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 12:54:42 +0000

Wow – that is a challenging problem. I’m trying to incorporate more challenging problems in my centers. Part of the problem is keeping the groups organized.

Comment on Popplet vs Wallwisher by martinteach

martinteach — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:32:32 +0000

I haven’t tried them out here because of the wireless problems with our iPads. However, I thought that they used Flash and if that is the case, it might not work. You can always use this as a brainstorming activity on the Promethean.

Comment on Popplet vs Wallwisher by Kimberly Herbert

Kimberly Herbert — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 01:00:42 +0000

Will Popplet work on Ipads? I’ve had the same problem with getting locked out of Wallwisher even when I used open ID to register.

Comment on Manipulative website that has everything by Kaylee's Education Studio

Kaylee's Education Studio — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:32:54 +0000

Your right, this is a great resource. I’ve used this site with a first grade class and it was so convenient having all of the manipulatives I needed on one site.

Comment on I might break my “no pay” rule for technology in the classroom. by martinteach

martinteach — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:27:28 +0000

Thank you! I am trying to integrate my blog into our day and that has been the easy part. Connecting with teachers has still been a challenge. I know that there are lots of amazing teachers out there!

Comment on I might break my “no pay” rule for technology in the classroom. by Buzz

Buzz — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 08:59:40 +0000

Hey! Thanks for sharing the love for my app!! And great blog by the way…
-Buzz

Comment on Let’s see if we can get some international visitors on our site this year! by martinteach

martinteach — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:57:56 +0000

I love your site. Your class looks so fun! Thanks for our dot. We really appreciate it!

Mrs. E
http://martinteachers.edublogs.org

Comment on Let’s see if we can get some international visitors on our site this year! by martinteach

martinteach — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:54:31 +0000

Tell us about your butterfly garden. I have a funny story to share with you. Our 2nd graders once released butterflies in the garden and we also have Purple Martins. Purple Martins think some types of butterflies are very yummy and ate the butterflies as soon as they were released. But we thought it was a good lesson on the food chain.