technology with intention
8th grade
Tech class happenings from the 8th grade, including AML (Applied Mathematics Lab) and IHS (Integrated Human Sciences).
Spreadsheets and Snowshoeing and Scratch, Oh MY!
0Wow, sorry it’s been so long between posts. Between the Winter program, snow days, and Christmas break, we’ve been extremely busy!
The 6th graders have been working hard on learning the program Scratch, developed by MIT Media Lab. This is their first classroom experience with programming, and many of them are taking off and really enjoying it! So far, they have completed two of the four sets of challenges, and by the end of the unit, they will be able to use the program to create video games, animations and more!
7th grade has been working to develop their skills with spreadsheets, and are currently making their own “battleship” game with Microsoft Excel. This week we worked on using the “if” function with numbers and text. Pretty soon, we’ll be able to match up and play our games.
8th Grade has taken a little bit of a hiatus from the tech lab since they snowshoe on their day of tech class, but pretty soon we will be working to develop a survey for the entire school on uses of different technologies both in and out of the classroom. They started by thinking about how they effectively use technology at school and the different ways teachers at Billings use tech in the classroom to enhance learning.
Are YOU on Facebook?
78 days
Last week the 8th grade spent some time reading, thinking and writing about Facebook. We started off by taking a quick poll of who does and does not have a Facebook account. Roughly half the 8th grade class has a Facebook account. Opinions varied in terms of usage of Facebook. Some students said they use it to connect with friends who live in other cities and states, some said they use it to keep up with local and long distance friends and family, and others said they did not see the point in Facebook when it was easier just to pick up the phone and call. It was a fascinating discussion, especially when a common assumption by adults (and often other teens) is that everyone has a Facebook account.
R.I.P Steve Jobs
The Tech world was struck last week by the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Both the 6th grade and the 8th grade took the opportunity to reflect on the development of the company, what the company is known for, and how products have changed over time.
Members of the classes included these products in a list of what Apple is known for:
- iPad
- iPod Classic/Touch/Nano/Mini/Shuffle
- iPhone
- Macbook Pro/Air
- iMac
- Pixar
- iTunes
- App Store
We researched different Apple products, including the original Macintosh from 1984, the first iMac, the Apple II series, and discovered a lesser known Apple product the Bandai Pippin. We also played around on the way back machine and looked at what apple.com looked like in 1998!
Welcome Back!
A lot has been happening in the tech lab since school started! We’ve been busy reviewing lab expectations and getting back into the swing of the school year.
7th graders worked in groups to define technology terms in their own words. Definitions included “a network of information that most computers can access” and “the giant digital information superhighway” for Internet; and “a program that lets you connect to the Internet” with examples of Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Mozilla Firefox for Web Browser. Other terms we defined included WWW/Web, Cloud, Web Address/URL, Program, Search Engine and Address bar.
6th grade has been spending time reviewing Internet use expectations and understanding passwords. In what has become a Billings tradition, 6th grade heard the story of Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington and his experience when many of his online accounts were hacked as a result of poor password choice. The class worked together to come up with different passwords based on everyday words. Kangaroo became k@N6aro0, computer became c0Mpu+3r and technology became T3cHn0\o6Y. We decided that good passwords include lower and UPPER case letters, numbers and symbols.
8th graders were introduced to the Hurt Square and were presented with various scenarios to rank on the square. We decided that sometimes actions online are less hurtful and more annoying, but they still have an impact in our lives.
What is “PLAY”?
187 days
What happens when you give 67 middle school students access to a camera, a question and no adult supervision?
Billings students receive an Eco-code award!
235 days
A few weeks ago, Ronan, Rebecca and Peter got together to reflect on the ways we are trying to be environmentally responsible as a school. This conversation turned into a rap, and other students contributed their voices. The result was sent off to the wonderful people at the National Wildlife Federation as an entry for their annual Eco-Schools USA celebration.
Congratulations go out to all the schools that entered – it is heartening to think that there are so many students in the world that are taking responsibility for the future and present of our planet.
Learn more about the contest on the National Wildlife Federation’s blog.
Billings Middle School Eco-School Eco-Code
260 days
As a proud member of the National Wildlife Foundation’s Eco-School partnership, Billings students took some time to reflect on some of the ways we try to be environmentally conscious as a school. From recycling to switching off lights to spending time outside, all of our actions fall into the 8 pathways to sustainability.
Ronan, Peter and Rebecca took the time to organize our thoughts into a song, and they were joined by Eli, Abe, Mason, Tati, Kyri, Rowan, Isabelle M, Isabelle B, Ben C and Ben B to record.
Here is our result: Eco-Code
And the lyrics:
Hey it’s Billings,
School environmental,
Earth day all year round,
Now roll the instrumental…
Perfect lawn, our school don’t need it,
Catch roof run-off and reuse it,
In the lunchroom we compost,
reduce the waste, recycle the most.
Energy is what comes when you recycle
Don’t waste this world, it’s just a cycle.
Playing at the park,
Watering the rain garden,
Having some fun too,
These are all the things we do.
Take a ride, on the Spud,
a bio-diesel bus that we all love,
Takes us places we can’t walk,
Trucking graceful, like a hawk.
Get on a bike reinvent your life,
Save the world, fight the good fight,
Feeling good on your commute,
Do the math, it all computes.
Green hour, gain some power,
Play outside for one or two hours,
Get unplugged and have some fun,
Feel the rain, soak up the sun.
All our actions are connected,
The Earth is precious, help protect it.
Take a moment to reflect
On your life, please show respect.
Playing at the park,
Watering the rain garden,
Having some fun too,
These are all the things we do.
Digital identity close to home
270 days
8th grade students examined two stories of digital identity occurring this week in Washington state:
Story 1: Two tweens charged with cyberstalking in Facebook incident
An 11-year old and 12-year old are accused of using an ex-friend’s Facebook account to post mean and sexual images and messages. This is a clear instance of posing, which we’ve previously studied as a form of cyberbullying. The 12-year-old student went before a judge today and pled not guilty.
Story 2: A superstar teen loses chance to be featured by the Seattle Times because of distateful tweets
A Seattle journalist was writing an article about a teen who is heading to college after beating the odds and moving to the US from a refugee camp. As part of his research, he took a look at the teen’s Twitter account, which contained lewd language and drug related posts. As a direct result of the tweets, the journalist has decided not to write the story.
8th graders spent time debating the conflict between the teen’s positive actions and negative digital identity. Which is a more accurate depiction of the teen? Do we all have negative aspects of our life that aren’t meant to be recorded forever? What are healthy ways to explore identity without putting everything online?
Playstation Network hacked
276 days
7th and 8th grade students this week are examining the timeline associated with a recent hacking of Sony’s Playstation Network. The story is evolving daily, as Sony releases information about the incident which may have caused over 77 million customer accounts to be compromised.
As a result of the hack, there is a class-action lawsuit filed against Sony and the U.S. government wants answers too.
Sony’s stock price has dropped as a result of the intrusion, and on Monday they announced that another 25 million older accounts have been hacked as well.
While some students felt this story didn’t pertain to them personally because they don’t have a Playstation Network account, we quickly realized that there are many online locations that have similar databases of customer information.
Here is a list of places that students shop online, places that keep records of our address, name, birthday, credit card numbers, phone numbers, etc:
- iTunes music store
- Amazon.com
- XBOX Live
- eBay
- anywhere online that we shop!
Every time we buy from an online location, we are trading the convenience of instant gratification for the risk of losing control of our personal information. Sony is an incredibly unfortunate example.
Since the database breach occurred, Sony had to switch off their Playstation Network until they can fix the security issues. This means that millions of people can’t play games online with friends or buy new games. This results in millions of lost revenue dollars for the company and many angry customers.
Will this problem cause Playstation to lose the console battle with Microsoft? Will people be able to trust Sony with their personal information after such a news story?
Digital identity quotes
287 days
The 8th grade recently deployed an annual digital identity survey of Billings Middle School students. We are still analyzing the data, but here are some interesting quotes that were submitted:
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