My third graders blogged brief thoughts on Washington State's latest high stakes test, the MSP, replacing our WASL. http://tinyurl.com/27zkevc Lots of references to the snacks and doing well, so I guess I did my job just fine - giving them confidence and goodies to take away some of the sting of test anxiety, just like the test prep manuals suggest. Right.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
msp testing, day 2
Kids really concentrating at the outset on the reading test. Will see well how their concentration holds. Test is long, and pretty tough. I don't think the IOWA tests of my youth were this bad - nor were they as hard on us.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
msp testing, day 1
First break time a few minutes away. Snacks await my third graders. Most are finished with the math test. Deathly quiet in here...
Monday, May 17, 2010
High stakes testing starts tomorrow, feeling ill...
Disheartened by stories of colleagues spending not just hours, or days, but weeks - doing schoolwide, daylong test prepping. Thanks NCLB and RTTT.
Doing my best to not succumb to the insanity, to keep the kids relaxed - and even have a little FUN in school. Here goes...
Doing my best to not succumb to the insanity, to keep the kids relaxed - and even have a little FUN in school. Here goes...
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Lincoln Park birders
At the end of a birding outing with Mr. Ahlness - AH auction item from last fall brings in 21 species and good times. Bird of the day: pileated woodpecker
Back from birding with family from school at Lincoln Park. Great day
This was an item from our school auctionlast
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Saturday, April 03, 2010
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Sunday, February 21, 2010
Phone Phun
Been a little distracted the past few days playing with my new Nexus One - the Google Phone. I've never had anything like this before.
My goal at first was to see how much regular computer stuff I could get it to do (like handle 4 email accounts - easy, peasy)...
But the things it does that my computer can't - that's the really amazing, eye-opening part.
My goal at first was to see how much regular computer stuff I could get it to do (like handle 4 email accounts - easy, peasy)...
But the things it does that my computer can't - that's the really amazing, eye-opening part.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Love stinks
Happy Valentine's Day, 2010.
I got this from one of the kids in my third grade classroom, and I just had to laugh. I called him over and showed him the card. "You can't say this!" I insisted.
He shook his head and did not recant.
Other kids and parents took a look, rolled their eyes, and shook their smiling heads.
One more time I count myself lucky to be a teacher.
I got this from one of the kids in my third grade classroom, and I just had to laugh. I called him over and showed him the card. "You can't say this!" I insisted.
He shook his head and did not recant.
Other kids and parents took a look, rolled their eyes, and shook their smiling heads.
One more time I count myself lucky to be a teacher.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Lincoln on Lincoln on Lincoln
Lincoln the cat on Lincoln the XO laptop - a screenshot of the desktop on Lincoln the XO, which is running on an SD card.
Lincoln is the last of my six classroom XO's to be set up in this way. I was unable to get a developer key for it (to load a different operating system), until the helpful volunteers at OLPC actually entered the serial number, etc. into the database - where it should have been all along.
I was told this XO was produced on the second day of production in the first G1G1 run, back in 2007. Still tickin', and moving along faster than the good old days, too.
Lincoln is the last of my six classroom XO's to be set up in this way. I was unable to get a developer key for it (to load a different operating system), until the helpful volunteers at OLPC actually entered the serial number, etc. into the database - where it should have been all along.
I was told this XO was produced on the second day of production in the first G1G1 run, back in 2007. Still tickin', and moving along faster than the good old days, too.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Samish flats sunset
Leaving the Samish flats after a great day of birding with our new scope. A couple thousand dunlin are parked in the mud on the left.
Friday, January 15, 2010
XO Desktop, 2010
A screenshot of the XO I'm working on. Taken, saved, uploaded, named, blogged, tagged, etc, etc - on an XO laptop, easily and quickly. Getting 4 more of these for my classroom, right away. This is so very cool.
Monday, December 14, 2009
XO Laptop Experience in Seattle Classroom
A recent guest post about the XO laptop on OLPC News:
How in the world did I end up with six XO laptops in my third grade classroom? I only bought one, back in the original 2007 G1G1. I remember that day well.
Showing off at Seattle XO 
XO's connecting at NCCE
How in the world did I end up with six XO laptops in my third grade classroom? I only bought one, back in the original 2007 G1G1. I remember that day well.
Showing off at Seattle XO
I was pumped to order one on the first day they were made available, so I was up early. Unbelievably, our cable Internet service was out! Determined, I plugged in a laptop, snagged a neighbor's Internet connection (all in the spirit of international collaboration of course), and ordered one. Thankfully, I was spared from the delivery nightmare suffered by many others - mine arrived just before Christmas, 2007.
I soon found I wanted to connect in person with other XO users, and so attended a couple of meetings of the Seattle XO User group. It was a wonderful group of people, but I felt WAY over my head technically. The group may be reforming soon, as I was happy to read in Re-Starting Pacific Northwest OLPC User Groups.
Anyway, word eventually got out that I was a teacher, and I soon had a couple XO's (Lincoln and Earthday) donated to my classroom. The kids of course couldn't believe their good luck, and expected more any day...
In February of 2008 I was presenting at NCCE in Seattle and brought along my XO's, as folks were pretty interested in them. I ended up at a bar one evening during the conference with my three XO's, meeting up with edtech blogger Wes Fryer and his wife, and principal Glenn Malone and his wife.
XO's connecting at NCCE
Glenn had bought an XO as a Christmas present for his wife Tami (ahem, grin), and they decided then and there to loan Tami to my classroom for the rest of the school year. So for half of that school year, we had 4 XO's in class.
Over the summer somebody left a comment on my blog, saying they loved hearing how my kids were using them, and would I like one more? Jude arrived in the mail from Colorado shortly thereafter.
Just before Thanksgiving, 2008, our fifth XO was donated to us by someone who worked in the administration of a local university - a friend of a neighbor who knew about my XO adventures in the classroom. I named it Arbor Heights, in honor of my school, which was at that time threatened with closure. So we had 5 XO's for the 08-09 school year. Our school stayed open, by the way.
As the 09-10 school year started up, I was contacted by a local person who had been following my blog and had read about my kids using the XO's. Dorothy was donated in person, which was a first. Until that moment, I had never actually met, or had the chance to shake a hand and say thank you in person to any of the donors.
These donors were G2 purchasers, in a sense, giving both of their XO laptops to kids. All of the donations had a couple of things in common. They were not being used, and their owners wanted them to go to somebody, kids preferably, who would use them. To those generous folks, I say thanks once again. And yes, they are being used by kids!
So is there a lesson to be learned here? Well, I've learned that sometimes it pays to share your learning and adventuring with others, and sometimes it pays to take a chance. I loved the concept of OLPC when I first heard about it, and I thought having one in my classroom might be a good learning experience. Seemed just about right for 8 and 9 year olds.
I look forward to sharing that part of the story.
Mark Ahlness writes about his experiences at Room Twelve
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Turkey Courage
Today our President pardoned a turkey on Thanksgiving. Courage was not alone. A bunch of third graders in Seattle spent some time working out solutions to help several other turkeys avoid being served for Thanksgiving dinner. Here's how some of their blog posts started out...
Meanwhile, here's the story of Courage, one very lucky turkey (interesting and hopeful that my students' escape stories relied on ingenuity and scrappiness, and not just blind luck):
What makes me doubly happy here is that my third graders' stories have legs - legs that will carry them far beyond two weeks on the family refrigerator. Their blogs are there for everyone, pretty much forever....
Happy Thanksgiving!
- One day in Boston, Massachusetts a turkey was running around the back of the Ritz Hotel. His name was Bob....
- One day in the forest there was a baby turkey. Her name was Sunset. She was the most sweet turkey in the world. But her parents were afraid to go out of the forest cause Sunset was born around Thanksgiving....
- Hank Hill is a turkey. That’s me, I’m Hank. I live in a cottage with Goldilocks...
- The turkey’s name was Natalie. She was the happiest turkey alive....
- It all started at Joe’s Farm with Farmer Joe and his last turkey....
Students in room 12 have been using their imaginations and their writing skills to serve up a little Thanksgiving fun here. Their stories are in response to "Pretend you are a turkey. How will you escape being served for Thanksgiving dinner?"
Click on Turkey Escape, 2009, and scroll down to read over 20 great stories!
Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving, everyone! - Mr. A.
Meanwhile, here's the story of Courage, one very lucky turkey (interesting and hopeful that my students' escape stories relied on ingenuity and scrappiness, and not just blind luck):
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
What makes me doubly happy here is that my third graders' stories have legs - legs that will carry them far beyond two weeks on the family refrigerator. Their blogs are there for everyone, pretty much forever....
Happy Thanksgiving!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Thank goodness, one more time
Seems like the tougher things get, the more frequently the obstacles come flying at me - the more often I find myself saying, "thank goodness for the kids." Been saying it a lot lately.
My birthday was last week, and there was no school, as usual, in honor of it (November 11th) - ha. My third graders came up with a wonderful card and a bag of sweets that took my breath away. We were all pretty happy. Thanks, everyone!
Later that day one of my students presented me with a handcrafted birdfeeder, made out of recycled materials and a lot of ingenuity. Of course I put it out when I got home. Thanks, Eilis! By the way, the birds liked it, too.
My birthday was last week, and there was no school, as usual, in honor of it (November 11th) - ha. My third graders came up with a wonderful card and a bag of sweets that took my breath away. We were all pretty happy. Thanks, everyone!
Later that day one of my students presented me with a handcrafted birdfeeder, made out of recycled materials and a lot of ingenuity. Of course I put it out when I got home. Thanks, Eilis! By the way, the birds liked it, too.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
New Internet Task Force
There has been a flurry of activity lately on a couple of edtech email lists, wwwedu (Andy Carvin's long running list), and ednet2 (which I recently began moderating) that is making me nuts. Words are gushing forth once again about internet filtering and internet safety. More books are written, studies done, and committees are formed. There are government agencies and task forces popping up every day.
They are all based on fear.
Every single email post and response fans the flames of that fear. Most all of the people talking have good intentions, but I am so tired of nobody seeming to get that they are making things worse.
I suggest the formation of a new government task force:
The Internet Potential and Promise Task Force
Put a few billion behind something like that, and let's see if we don't end up with a better result.
They are all based on fear.
Every single email post and response fans the flames of that fear. Most all of the people talking have good intentions, but I am so tired of nobody seeming to get that they are making things worse.
I suggest the formation of a new government task force:
The Internet Potential and Promise Task Force
Put a few billion behind something like that, and let's see if we don't end up with a better result.
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