Teacher Feature: Mr. Boll

Currently, Mr Boll is using Wikispaces to implement a "Writing Lab" for his 7th Grade Students. Wikispaces is a user friendly environment which allows a Teacher to set up an online learning/collaboration environment.

With a little help from Mr. Driver, Mr. Boll was able to set up his writing lab in just a couple of days. Since then, it has been paying enormous dividends in the classroom.

Mr. Boll Says, "Using the wiki allows me to easily interact with each student's writing every day. I can look at each student's writing while they are in process and guide them toward a strong finished product. This takes time, but I have not found this level of assistance to be possible with a paper and pencil. The wiki allows me to differntiate my instruction for each student. For some students, I guide them toward 5 paragraph essay writing. For some, I am looking for much less. I think it increases student motivation. The students like choosing fonts and placing pictures in their writing. I am getting more writing from more of my students."

If you would like to visit Mr. Boll's Writing Lab, please go to:

bollsclass.wikispaces.com

Congratulations to Mr. Boll, for recognizing an opportunity to utilize technology to increase student engagement and achievement.

If you would like to implement a project similar to Mr. Boll's Writing Lab, please contact Mr. Driver.

Teacher Feature: Argall/Martinez

Recently, in Mr. Argall's 8th Grade Social Studies Class, the students read the book Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson. Ms. Martinez (Special Ed Co-Teacher) and Mr. Argall felt the content was above the reading level of several students in the class, so they obtained the audio version of the book (mp3 files). CD-ROM discs were duplicated and distributed to these specific students.

As an alternative, Ms. Martinez explored the option of PODCASTING with Mr. Driver. Podcasting simply refers to distributing audio files via the Internet.

As a result of this need, we have created a Wilkinsburg PodCasting site at:
WSDpodCasts

Congratulations to Mr. Argall and Ms. Martinez, for recognizing a need among a subset of their students, and taking the necessary steps to close the gap.

If you have a need to use PodCasting to reach some of your students, please contact Mr. Driver.

Teacher Feature: Uhlinger

Mr. Uhlinger has created a teriffic example of using Edline to showcase student work. Last week, Mr. Uhlinger's Scholars Class acted out a dramatic performance of Locked in the Closet. In order to share the performance with the kids, and allow them to share this performance with their parents, Mr. Uhlinger embedded videos of the performances in his Edline page.

To view this wonderful example of Teacher-Student-Parent communication, please click on the link below:

http://www.edline.net/pages/Wilkinsburg_MS/Classes/1011_M889001

If you have a 21st Century activity you would like to have featured on Teacher Feature, or if you would like help developing your 21st Century communication skills, please contact Mr. Driver.

Teacher Feature!

Mr Schark has created a fun and exciting activity for the Holidays using Glogster. Students are encouraged to create a Virtual Poster which highlights 2 concepts covered in Geometry this year. This project effectively reinforces concepts from the first few units of Geometry, while engaging students and developing 21st century computing skills. I've included a link to Mr. Schark's sample Glog, as well as his instruction sheet which articulates the project to his students.

Congratulations, Mr Schark, for creating an engaging and enlightening activity. If you have a 21st Century activity you would like to have featured on Teacher Feature, or if you would like help creating a 21st Century activity like this, please contact Mr. Driver.

To check out Mr. Schark's sample Glog, go to:
Sample GLOG
Mr. Schark's instructions for students are here:
Wrksht - Online Glogster Project

Middle School Math!!!

Posting 2nd 9-weeks Grades to EDLINE

So...you you want to post grades for your students for the second 9-weeks.

It is easy, but is a little different than what we did the first 9-weeks. Here are step-by-step instructions. You will see that the first couple of steps are new...then everything else is the same as before.

First go to Grade Quick and update grades for ALL your classes.
Make sure you have chosen to "Show Term 2".
Once you have done this...

Click on the "Reports" icon, then...
> Edline Reports > Single Term Only

then...click on the small globe (send to edline)
Choose "send several files"
Select all classes you wish to update, click ok
Selact all students, click ok
Choose a new file location, like "2nd 9-weeks", and click "Send This Report"

This will create a new folder on your Edline page with the second 9-weeks grades in it.
These simple steps will send an updated report for ALL your students in ALL your classes.

The archive of the first 9-weeks will be left intact.

Please let me know if you have any questions....

Completing the Square (Math TV)

Presented by MathTV.com