Panda Path Power to Learn

iPods go home

2010-05-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

Students were able to take the ipod touch home if their parents had come to a meeting to learn how to take care of them. Two ipod-touches went home from every class. Parents came to pick up the ipod after school and would bring it back in the morning. Here Angel tells us about taking one home.

2010-05-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

Although the grant was written by 4 teachers it was decided that all 6 classrooms would participate. This year our school had 120 students and they all got a chance to interact with the iPods, Flip cameras and Mac Books. Without a doubt the biggest hit has been the iPod-touch and the apps that were purchased. The iPods were used either in small group instruction or as a center. Students became very proficient using the ipod-touches. They found the app they were looking for quickly and maneuvered well through all the screens. Often I would find students coaching others on how to use the app as well as where to find it on the iPod. Students also loved taking the iPods home and sharing them with their family. I am proud to say we didn't lose a single iPod. Parents would come to school to pick up and drop off the iPods. Next year, we will start earlier in the year with our technology and have students work more on the Mac books.What an amazing learning experience we have had this year!

Waiting to Write...

2010-05-04T06:58:00.000-07:00

Waiting to write on laptop is fun for our students. They concentrate intently as they watching their words come to life. Backspacing and shifting is part of the learning too!

Student Writing on Saving the Environment

2010-05-04T06:51:00.000-07:00

The students have recently requested to use the laptop to write on saving the environment. They understand that recycling helps keep the environment clean and saves animal homes, and animal life.

Ipods at Work

2010-05-04T06:45:00.000-07:00

We can see students sharing and having fun with Ipods. They were listening to their favorite stories.

There is no I in the Ipod Center

2010-04-29T13:56:00.000-07:00

Even though my students use head phones, it has never been an isolated activity.They always share their experiences with others.You can hear them ask each other what are you listening to, oh, that is not a good one, I like ...., how did you get there? They are constantly using problem solving skills to help each other navigate through the apps. They sing in a new language which they are learning. Hearing them sing aloud tells me they love the Ipods!

I think we can change the name to Wepods!

2010-04-29T13:44:00.000-07:00

Wow! We have wonderful photographers in Panda Path. Using the Flip Cameras, the students for Ms. Donalson and Ms. Sanchez' class are able to video tape all events in the school. This picture was taken during our Spring Fling Festival.

2010-04-29T13:29:00.000-07:00

Students learn while they play, intently focused on the task at hand.

2010-04-29T13:27:00.000-07:00

The iPods have been going home since the beginning of march. I am happy to report that NOT ONE iPod has been lost or damaged!! Our system is working!! Teachers have created a calendar with students names . The calendar is sent home so parents know which day they get to take the iPod home. Two iPods from each classroom go home Monday through Thursday. Parents come to pick up the iPod that night and bring it back the next morning. Our ADA has been very helpful in making in keeping track of all everything. A success!!

Parent Meeting-iPods go home

2010-02-27T11:05:00.000-08:00

Can I take one home? Since we began using iPods at our campus students have expressed an interest in being able to take one home. Since our students are only 4 years old we decided that if an iPod was to go home, it would have to be picked up an dropped of by the parent. On February 17th Panda Path held both a morning and evening a meeting for parents to learn find out how to get the opportunity to take an iPod home for the evening. Over 45 parents came to our meeting. They all signed a contract agreeding to be responsible for the iPod. A short presentation was made to the parents about how to care for the iPod. Beginning on March 1st the iPods will begin going home. We know the students will be thrilled to have a chance to work with them at home.

2009-12-16T14:29:00.000-08:00

Although there are thousands of apps on itunes, there are not many apps that are both appropriate and follow our curriculum. I have sent many hours looking for apps that students can use. It was well worth the effort when I see the students and the ipods. The apps are organized on the ipods by content area or because they are similiar. There is a page for letter recognition, songs, math, puzzles, misc etc. This helps teachers guide students to a page during the different instructional periods. They are a hit!!

2009-11-23T20:10:00.001-08:00

video comment on digital storytelling training

2009-11-05T11:24:00.000-08:00

2009-10-25T09:34:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt at using imovie. Ms Donalson filmed her pumpkin lesson using the flip video camer. We decided to try and down load it to the ipods. Since it was 24 minutes long I wanted to see how difficult it would be to edit it on imovie. Can't say it was complicated, but I will admit that it took me four hours one night to get a final product. The final product included adding music and titles. I was excited about how it turned out and couldn't wait to take it to school do down load it to the ipods. This would be the first video students would watch on the ipod. They took it like fish to water! Ms. Donalson has promised to film them watching the video and post it.
Posting the video on the blog was not as easy as the other videos I posted since it was larger that 100MG and it wouldn't load. I went to the Apple store and had a tutoring session. We tried saving it as "tiny" but that was to fuzzy so we tried "mobile". That is what you see below. Next step is to have the teachers try using imovie and of course my ultimate goal is to have the kids use imovie.

Flipvideos in classrooms

2009-10-12T07:56:00.000-07:00

Teachers are using their flipvideo cameras in the classrooms to record students working in different centers. Ms. Donalson was able to record a student at the reading center. This was taken only a few weeks into the new school year. The video demonstrates how quickly students begin to demonstrate reading behaviors. We love our flipcameras!!

2009-10-11T06:32:00.000-07:00

The flipvideo cameras have allowed us to easily capture what we are going at Panda Path. They were very easy to learn how to operate. This is the first time I post a video to the web. After a few false starts I was able to figure it out. I also plan to down load this video to the ipods for students to view.

Animal homes

2009-10-08T13:23:00.000-07:00

Kids are learning about some animal homes. They are exploring the environment around the school to find some creatures like ants, birds. Using the flip cameras the students enjoy this field investigation. They took a video about trees, ants, plants. The next step is to learn how to use the macBook to observe their wonderful job.

macs are fun!

2009-09-24T19:08:00.000-07:00

It was a good session after school today, the macs are great, I see everyone has left Twitter-style snippets here so I'm going to save the rambling for a n o t h e r p a g e .

Glad to be here, looking forward to this year, very encouraging to have others around with this level of enthusiasm!

We Are Excited!!!

2009-08-27T06:08:00.000-07:00

We are so excited to begin our journey in using technology as a learning tool with our students, parents, and our community. We will make this trip together.

Hello!!!

2009-08-26T13:56:00.001-07:00

We are very excited to have this portal to communicate all our experiences about technology. Enjoy it!!!

2009-08-25T21:25:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our Blog!
Join us in our journey of learning!