Technology Medley

Memorial Day is one of the holidays that elementary students are required to learn about for their social studies SOLs.

As Memorial Day draws to a close, I find myself thinking about the fabulous trip I was able to make last summer to France. Without a doubt, one of the highlights of the trip was a visit to the American Cemetery in Normandy and to the D-Day Landing Beaches.

As we arrived that early July morning, it was drizzling rain, but none of the Americans on the trip with us seemed to notice. There was complete and total silence as the chimes in the memorial there began playing “America the Beautiful” and “God Bless America.” We walked among the thousands of crosses and thought about those brave young men who sacrificed their lives for the cause of freedom, unexpected tears streaming down most of our faces. We watched in wonder as the American flag was raised so far away from our homeland. Later, we would visit the landing beaches and see the cliffs that those brave men had to scale.

Yesterday in church, we recognized those in attendance who had served in the military or in other service professions in which they risk their lives to protect ours. Once again, the unexpected tears began as these ladies and gentlemen lined the aisles to receive certificates of appreciation from our pastors while we sang “America, the Beautiful.”

These brave souls who sacrificed their lives to protect ours….these brave friends who put themselves in harm’s way to protect us daily….these are our true heroes.

No, not that season! This is May, after all. This is the season for those all important standardized tests, and both teachers and students are busy preparing for them. In our case, this preparation has included our very first experiences with online testing. So, in addition to reviewing an entire year’s worth of material, and in some cases, more than one year’s worth, teachers have had to make sure their students were familiar with the online testing formats.

We begin next week, and I feel very confident that everyone involved is ready…maybe a bit anxious, but definitely well prepared and competent. So, to help alleviate some of that anxiety, I have compiled a list of fun sites on the internet to take your minds off of testing for a few minutes.

I found a stress test on the internet, so please begin here to assess how stressed you may be. If, after taking this very scientific test, you determine that you are moderately stressed, check out some of the following links and have fun!

Virtual Bubble Wrap
Go pop some bubbles. You know you want to!

Cute Overload
cute pictures and videos of a variety of animals

JigZone
If you love jigsaw puzzles, this it the site for you

Virtual Paintball
Whack some smilies in this office, or just “decorate” with the paint

The Red Square
Move the red square so it doesn’t touch any of the blue rectangles

Blobs
Think Chinese Checkers with frogs

Free Rice
Practice your vocabulary skills

Net Disaster
Select a web site and then throw cream pies at it…and other goodies

OK, those links should get you started. I’m sure that you have your own favorite sites that you visit once in a while just for fun. Please share them in the comments so all of us can enjoy them!

I added Kerpoof.com to my Delicious bookmarks back in September, but I have only recently begun exploring this fun site. It’s a kid friendly site, and it’s fun for kids of all ages. You can draw, mix and paint with virtual watercolors, create drawings with stamps and backgrounds, and even create videos.

Here’s a link to a simple, silly movie that I just created.

I don’t know about you, but I can get completely lost in a site like this! Those of you with artistic talents will really enjoy playing here, and your students will too. The nice thing is, you do not need to register to play around here, and the files that have been shared have also been approved, so it’s safe for kids.

There is a link for teachers and an archive of newsletters with ideas for using Kerpoof in the classroom.  Check it out!

I suspect that I’m not the only person who feels as if we have been preparing for our first ever elementary online SOL testing forever! I’ve tried to stay positive and encouraging while helping prepare both students and teachers for the big event. Well, exactly 2 weeks from today, we begin with 4th grade English, and I’m feeling a bit stressed. Not sure why, but all of the “what ifs” are floating around in my head today, and I don’t like that!

So, I’ve decided to make a list of all of the positives, because our students are going to be just fine!

First, the teachers and staff:

• We have amazing teachers who have covered an incredible amount of content during this school year.
• They do whatever is necessary to assure that every student has the opportunity to learn and be successful, including volunteering their own time to stay after school and tutor those who need a little additional help.
• Teachers have been using the laptop carts for both student projects and test review.
• Those same teachers find time to review material from earlier in the year, and in many cases, material from previous years that may be tested.
• Many other staff members will be involved with testing, and everyone is more the willing to assist, even when it disrupts their own schedules.
• Several teachers have shared with me that after they had their students take the practice test on the laptops, they felt much more confident about the testing process itself.
• The guidance counselors and assistant principals have spend countless hours entering information and preparing the staff for testing.

Next, the students:

• Most of our children enjoy working on computers and stay better engaged while on the computer than when using paper and pencil.
• Students have had lots of practice using the laptops and seem quite confident in using the touchpad mice now.
• When using the old bubble sheets, it was easy for a child to mark answers on the wrong line and complete an entire section before they realized they were off one line. This won’t happen with the online tests because the students only see one question and set of answer choices at a time.
• Students have practiced the test format with both guidance counselors and with teachers, and they are using the slash the trash tool and the highlighter appropriately on their practice tests.
• Students understand that only the teacher should click the Submit button, and they will depend on their teacher to double check and make sure they have not skipped any questions.
• Historically, most of our students have taken the SOL testing seriously and have done their very best. They will come through again this year!

And finally, the hardware:

• The TestNav software has been installed on all school laptops as well as on the desktops in third, fourth, and fifth grade classrooms.
• We have plenty of computers for an entire grade level to test plus several extras that we can use if necessary.
• We have checked for wireless conflicts in each grade level.
• We have a plan for which computers will be used in each room for each day of testing.
• There will be a technology staff member in each school to troubleshoot any hardware issues that may arise.

So, thanks to the dedication of a wonderful group of teachers and staff, our students will indeed be just fine on “the” tests!

What other positives can you think of to share as we approach these final days before testing begins? Please add them to the comments!