LMS Tech

Welcome to all my new classes!

I’m Mrs. Ilgunas, and I’m excited to introduce you to our LMS Tech Blogs! This blog is our central space for discussions and instructions. The links you see on the right for each period will soon have your names and links to your own blogs.

The “header” (or image at the top of the page) for this blog was designed by a student from last semester’s class. I hope that soon I’ll be featuring your designs in the header. Be ready to work hard and enjoy this class.

Want to know what to expect? Last semester’s kids offer you advice:

Always listen to the steps and always ask for help when you don’t understand.

JUST TRY YOUR BEST.

In order to be successful you’re going to have be focused and listen to every direction the teacher has to say. Don’t be shy to ask any questions of the teacher.

Be creative, and just have fun.

My advice is to have fun with some of your projects, be creative and do your best, and turn in all your work.

The 7th graders need patience.

Some lessons are harder than others and keep trying.

To be successful pay attention to the videos. They are very helpful. Also be creative, don’t copy the video exactly.

Follow Mr. Perez’s directions. Because if you do it your way it will get complicated.

Always save.

Always pay attention in class so you won’t be confused and lastly HAVE FUN!!!!

Good luck next semester! I’ll miss you all!

You are all intelligent, imaginative and lots of fun. 8th graders, I can’t wait to watch you promote!

Image: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1245824

I can’t believe I have only one more week with all of you! To wrap up our last week (and we have a short Friday), see the schedule under the tag cloud.

The tag cloud about was created with Tagul. I used opinion sentences from 2 students in each class, and this is the result! I think it represents your research well.

Monday:

1) Check your email for your grades on the research project.

2) Spend the period reading others’ research blog posts and watching their Animoto videos. Leave a comment for at least 4 students, and more if you want. Your email has the list of who you should leave comments for.

Tuesday:

1) Log into your blog and approve any comments. Email me the names of the kids who did not leave you comments yet.

2) Your last grade chart for me! Check your grades, add them to your spreadsheet in LMS’s Google Docs, create a chart and send it to me with your reflection of how your are doing and your goal for third quarter.

3) Finished early? Work on one part of Lesson 6. See me for instructions.

Wednesday & Thursday

Lesson 6…I’ll explain the criteria. Turn in what you have finished for credit on Thursday.

Friday

Your last day…complete the survey, finish up anything not finished, and you may have free time.

As you finish up, make sure that on your blog I’ll be able to see:

1-Your research blog post with your Animoto and bibliography (resources). Have I edited your post?

2-You Lesson 2 animation on your blog.

If you are finished, here are a few things to choose from:

>Continue working on Flash.

>Create a holiday Flash (snow snowing, lights twinkling) and add it to your blog for credit.

Sample 1 by Ashley: Click here

Sample 2 by Alex: Click here

Sample 3 by Stephany: Click here

>Create a holiday Fireworks design and put it on your blog.

>Create a blog header for me. There are three possible blog headers you could create:

1-For the tech blog: make it  760 x 190 pixels.

2- For my Language Arts class: make it 736 x 200 pixels

3- For my LMU class (I teach teachers to use technology): make it 900 x 180 pixels

Continue your hard work! We’re almost there!

You are almost there. As the Animoto above shows, you have created a blog post from two resources, you all wrote very intelligent posts, your opinions are backed up by your research. Nice work, now make that Animoto!

Directions…

1) Collect your images (7 to 10) and URLs for all the images.

You must keep the URLs in your Google Docs or in Microsoft Word–we’ll put them at the end of your post.

Put all your pictures/images IN YOUR SERVER. It might be easiest to create a folder for them.

Remember, no thumbnails, get the large copy!

2) Decide where your music will come from. From Animoto? From FreePlayMusic? From Garageband?

-Animoto music: You know how to do this, log in, upload your pictures, pick your music.

-FreePlayMusic: This has instrumental music that you can download, you’ll need a 30 second mP3.

-Garageband: You create your own soundtrack on your computer. Make it 30 seconds. Ask for directions!

I have emailed you more detailed directions, you’ll want to look at how to get your completed Animoto onto your blog post!

This is what you will be graded on for your research post.

1) Your research question is your title.

2) Paragraph 1–explain the answer to your question…what did you learn?

• Introductory sentence. Here are some samples to help you get started, but also feel free to use your own…
  • The results of my research indicate…
  • I have found that….
• Write details (3-5 sentences) that explain what you learned, in other words, the answer to your research question. You may want to use phrases like:
  • One of my resources stated…
  • One fact I learned was…
  • Another important idea was…
• An ending sentence to this paragraph. Ideas:
  • In conclusion, the answer to my research question is…
  • The results of my research indicate…

3) Paragraph 2: Your opinion

• This paragraph should start with your opinion about what you learned. Examples:
  • I believe that…
  • In my opinion…
• Give reasons for your opinion, use your research as evidence. You may suggest solutions to the problem, or talk about how a new discovery could affect our world. (2-3 sentences)
• Write a conclusion. Your conclusion for this post should be a question for your audience. Samples:
  • I have given a possible solution to the problem of…… Do you have any other ideas?
  • My belief is that….. Do you agree or disagree?
  • In conclusion, I believe that this technology will…. Can you see any other future implications?

When you are finished, you need to add your bibliography using either Son of Citation Machine or EasyBib

Here’s an experimental Google Image search, it’s called Google Image Swirl. Try it, it’s a different way to search for images. It searches for an image then groups similar results together. This has to be tried at home since LMS blocks Google Images. However, the next one you should be able to use at school.

Google developed its Image Swirl as related to the Google Search “Wonder Wheel.” I have never seen Wonder Wheel, and I think you might like it!

If you search on Google, click on “Show Options.”

Then click on “Wonder Wheel” (look down on the left):

You’ll get search results that are categorized and help you narrow your search. Here’s an example:

See if you like it!

We are starting a research project today. You’ll pick an issue or a new discovery to read about, and post your thoughts about. You will also represent your research with an Animoto video.

Go to the Research Links Page to start.

Image: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1184809

Here’s the slideshow our advanced students contributed to about Internet safety. I never put it online because our filter blocked the images. We’re still working on the images! Besides Animoto, this is another way to present your information using a Google Docs presentation (this link is to our school’s access to Google Docs via Google Apps).