Jac de Haan

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Homepage: http://www.billingsmiddleschool.org/beta


Posts by Jac de Haan

Independent Project Spotlight: Jake

July 31, 2010 - 9:08 am

Posted in 8th grade, Projects | No comments

Recent graduate Jake made a short film about one of his independent projects from DigiArts.  Students Noah and Lexi assisted with the filming. Jake blended low-tech objects (M&M container, string, rings) and high-tech (i-Pod, scavenged speaker) to create the illusion.  His magic left viewers speechless:

7th grade breaks down cyberbullying

June 16, 2010 - 9:13 am

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Posted in 7th Grade, Digital Identity | No comments

7th grade tech students spent the last class of the year defining cyberbullying – types and solutions. This unit ties in with a larger advisory curriculum strand on intentional communities and mutual respect.

Last 6th grade tech of the year :(

June 4, 2010 - 9:25 am

Posted in 6th Grade, Digital Identity | 1 comment

Students share their favorite technology classes and plans for a healthy summer.

Project spotlight: Noah & Digital Arts

June 3, 2010 - 8:04 am

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Posted in 8th grade, Projects | No comments

8th grade student Noah, one of the co-founders of the Billings Digital Arts program, just completed a circuit-bending project using a Speak & Math. He used Reed Ghazala’s book as a reference and did some of the work at local create:space Metrix. Check out the video he posted:

Video game reflection

May 23, 2010 - 12:16 pm

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Posted in 6th Grade, Digital Identity | 1 comment

For the last month, 6th grade students have been chatting with professionals who use technology on a daily basis.  Hopefully you’ve heard some stories about Michael’s (Google engineer) dog-friendly workplace or Emily’s (Cheezburger Network) love of music and reading when in middle school.  If not, please ask your student, or visit the tech blog to [...]

Tech in the News updates

May 23, 2010 - 8:48 am

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Posted in 7th Grade, Digital Identity | 1 comment

The last few weeks we’ve been following the upcoming iPhone, Facebook privacy updates, and a lawsuit against Google for Street View information.

Guest speaker: Gabe Newell of Valve

May 21, 2010 - 9:56 am

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Posted in 6th Grade | Comments Off

Gabe Newell sat down with technology students today to speak about his rise from self-identified nerd to founder and CEO of Valve Software, a gaming and entertainment company with many successful titles including Left for Dead and Half Life. Gabe showed us the first games he used to play with computers, punchcards and text-based strategy [...]

Bike to School 2010

May 21, 2010 - 7:42 am

Posted in Projects | Comments Off

Imagine combining  a series of simple machines (lever, wheel & axle, screw, plane) that would allow you to travel faster than a human can run with less effort involved. And what if this new technology had close to no impact on the environment once it is built? Well, the future is here! 13  students (13%) [...]

Guest speaker: Michael from Google

May 17, 2010 - 7:44 pm

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Posted in 6th Grade | Comments Off

Class 6B were lucky enough to spend a class period with Michael, an engineer from Google who works on the Gmail team.  Michael used Google Maps to show a street-view of his middle school in Alabama, and talked about how his life choices resulted in East and West Coast employment through his interest in technology. [...]

Summer technology opportunities

May 12, 2010 - 8:55 pm

Posted in 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th grade, Reference | Comments Off

Summer is fast approaching and students have been asking about technology and computing opportunities around town.  Of course summer is a time to get away from a screen and explore a world of sunshine…that said, here are some offerings to compliment fresh air and exercise: Lego Robotics @ Billings: Billings Middle School has our very [...]