The Martian Chronicles

Since we've been reading a short story from Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles," I thought it might be interesting to get a glimpse of the actual surface of this enigmatic planet. 

A Conversation with Ray Bradbury

Next up: "The Naming of Names" by Ray Bradbury

Interview With Julia Alvarez

We've been reading "Names/Nombres" by Julia Alvarez. 

Student Essay Winners

Earlier in the semester, our technology department shared this video (entitled "A Day Made of Glass") with our school corporation.  In this intriguing video, students witnessed a plethora of innovative ways technology was changing the face of the future.  We watched it together in my language arts classes, and I was amazed not only by the material presented, but by the insights students then shared.  Because the technology department had also challenged students to write an essay for a competition, I encouraged them to put their ideas and opinions into writing.

Boy, did they ever!

I selected a handful of my favorites to submit to the contest, and three of my students ultimately tied for the win!  In addition, several more earned honorable mentions.  As a reward, I am publishing the three winning essays on my blog, along with sharing the names of the runners-up from my classes.  I appreciate the technology department for being willing to inspire our students, and I applaud my students for generating such unique essays.

Winners:

Becca, Period 6

Maggie, Period 6

Rebekah, Period 6

Honorable Mentions:

Madison, Period 6

Kelsey, Period 6

Hallee, Period 1

Hailey, Period 2

Becca's Essay
These inventions seem amazing!  Everyday life would be much more sufficient and easier.  The ideas are incredible!  The flexible display glass really caught my attention.  To be able to carry around something so minute, but for it to hold so much data is remarkable.  I would love to have one.  I could do my homework, display pictures, and many other things, with just a microscopic, portable device.

These inventions would work terrifically in a classroom.  The portable display glass could replace all of our books and anything we do online.  Even the LCD television glass would work.  You could replace the chalk and white boards with them.  It would also make the class much more interactive.  The work surface display glass would make grading papers and looking up grades easier for teachers as well.

I can see these devices being very useful in the future.  Life will be so much easier.  I can't wait for the near future and hope to see these inventions in it!

Maggie's Essay
This idea of glass is very intriguing, and most people probably had no idea anything like this even existed.  I had no idea that something as simple and basic as glass could hold so much use.  People wouldn't even remember what it was like before glass electronics.

What intrigued me most was the flexible display glass.  You could design your own home that way.  There could be electronic blueprints, and you could view them at different angles.  When I saw it, I had to do a double-take.  Did I really just see that?  I had to do that with about everything in this video, though.  Just about all of these things could have some use in a lot of situations.

In school, people could build computers made of glass into the desks.  That would save space and time.  The boards might also be made of glass some day.   I could believe that eventually, they may have glass electronic music stands, in which the music is programmed in for you.  These are just a few examples.  There are many ways that this could become our future in school, and in life.

Rebekah's Essay
The whole idea is pretty unique.  To think that less than twenty years ago cell phones were just coming out to the general population and now people are making glass technology.  Thomas Edison would be astonished by what we have accomplished!

My favorite part about "A Day Made of Glass" was the portable display glass.  It would be handy, so you didn't have to lug around five textbooks.  Also, you could carry around a  year's worth of A.R. books in it.  The flexible display glass was also an intriguing idea.  It would be cool to have something like that when you do group projects.

Photogenic glass would be more reliable than the wall clocks because all classrooms would have the same time, unlike the clocks that are always off a couple of minutes or, in Mrs. Smith's case, an hour.  I cannot wait for this day in age to come around and help humanity take another leap into the future.

Technology in Advertising

Whew!  That first nine-weeks grading period really flew by us.  It's hard to believe I haven't updated this blog since that initial week of school.  Then again, I've been busy adjusting to the many wonderful aspects of middle school, as well as planning ways to integrate technology throughout the rest of the school year.

Of course, I wanted to share my major technology project from this past grading period.  In my Language Arts Applications classes, we just completed a unit on advertising.  Thanks to ReadWriteThink (a fantastic educational website), I was able to jump-start my unit by focusing on pathos, ethos, and logos within advertising.  Students then used this newly acquired knowledge to create their own cereals.  In addition to designing cereal boxes, they ultimately produced their own cereal commercials using Animoto (a video-based website that is very user-friendly and innovative).  As a teacher, it was so rewarding to watch these products come alive through the imagination, creativity, and ingenuity of the students.  Everyone generated such unique cereals!

Since advertising is--by its very nature--quite competitive, I couldn't conclude this unit without a little contest.  Not only did we display the cereal boxes prominently in my room, but we also viewed all the commercials together in class.  We found ample examples of pathos, ethos, and logos.  We discussed the various attributes of each cereal.  Lastly, we voted on which boxes and commercials the students felt best persuaded them to buy the cereal product. 

Here are the winners from my two participating classes:

Cereal Box Winners

Mackinzee, Period 7

 

 

Bridget, Period 8

 

Cereal Commercial Winners

Natalie, Period 7

Jonathan, Period 7

 

 

Mandy, Period 8

 

Congrats to these students on their success and to all my students for their hard work during this unit.  I truly wish I could share them all, and I hope the students enjoyed this unit as much as I did.

Mrs. Smith

Meet Will

Hello and welcome back to my blog!  Although it's been silent for quite awhile, I have many thrilling  things planned for this year.  After nine years at the high school, I will now be teaching seventh grade language arts, and I am so excited to begin this new journey at the middle school.  Since such transitions provide natural segues within education, I am also committed to incorporating innovative technology into my lessons this year. 

Enter this blog and its renewed purpose!

First up, I want to share a new feature of my online classroom: my Voki-created wizard, Will!  In fact, I will just let him briefly explain his own role:




Well, there you have it!  My old blog has been revived and will now serve as a meeting place for the many modern marvels I plan to utilize in my new middle school classroom.  Please visit often to see what my students and I are up to during the 2013-2014 school year. 

A Fictional Viral Outbreak

FICTION ALERT! FICTION ALERT! FICTION ALERT! FICTION ALERT!FICTION ALERT! FICTION ALERT! FICTION ALERT! FICTION ALERT!

This week, our school has embarked on an educational collaboration utilizing the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Coalition. We are operating under the fictional guise that an unidentified viral epidemic has broken out in our area. As a result, it is up to our students to work together to identify, quantify, and attack this particular virus. Many classes are working together to create a truly unified learning experience.

Remember: this is not for real! Our intent is purely educational, with a little fun thrown in as well. It is our hope that this program will be embraced in the manner it is intended.

In my class, students will be blogging about their experiences (again, completely fictional ones!) as they attempt to help others overcome and survive this viral outbreak. Each student will maintain a survival log on his/her own blog, which will then be linked to my blog. Readers will be able to track this outbreak as it spreads, as well as keep up with each student's progress and survival.

Who will uncover the secrets to survival? Who will find their bravery, knowledge, and very survival skills put to the test? Keep up with our blogs to find out!

Today, it begins (but not for real, only for educational fun!). Watch for Period 1 and Period 5 blogs coming very, very soon. Let the adventures begin!

P.S. For more information on this exciting learning opportunity, please visit our school's wiki page: http://viraloutbreak.wikispaces.com/