technology with intention
Projects
Tech-related projects from integrated subjects, digital arts and independent study.
Thank you world
782 days
by Jac de Haan
in Projects
To all the teachers, students, alumni, parents, trustees and supporters of education everywhere, thank you for supporting technology in the classroom and for recognizing our efforts!
EduBlog nomination impacts our digital community
782 days
There was a lot of excitement this week around the EduBlog “Best Class Blog” nomination that the Billings Middle School Tech Blog received. Students, alumni, faculty and board members all sprung into action – leveraging social networks (both real-world and digital) to spread the word.
Did the nomination have an affect on our web traffic? Absolutely! We received visitors from 25 countries, as far away as the Philippines and New Zealand. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to learn about technology integration at our school!
Secret Experiment: Pen Cap Subs
784 days
The 7th grade students have been working on a synthesis of this year’s learning from Science, Tech and Language Arts. The results – some amazing short films that explain scientific concepts. Below is a secret experiment by Augie, Aaron and Nicholas:
TechLab Tuesday
784 days
TechLab Tuesday is back! 6th grade students took an hour out of their day to disassemble some broken electronics and learn about all the complexity within daily objects. One group attacked a printer, another explored a laser disc player!
Scratch Lab Lunches
791 days
As the weather turns colder (22 Degrees F this morning!) some students are opting to eat lunch indoors. A group of 6th graders have organized a Scratch Lab Lunch series – Tuesdays upstairs. Today was our largest showing yet…5 students worked on various personal projects.
One team conceived and executed a brand new game, available to play below. Coding by Ben, artistic direction by Milo, and creative suggestions by Truman. This game was built in about 30 minutes…there is still a little debugging to do. Enjoy!
Objective: move the cows to the mothership
Directions: use the arrow keys to navigate and the space bar to deploy your tractor beam.
Lab Report Films – iCLAST
797 days
All Billings Middle School 7th grade students are enrolled in a year long integrated class of language arts, science and technology (iCLAST).
In December, students will be working in groups of 3 to create a photo video that documents our favorite Science labs of the year so far. We’ll be using collaborative document editing to create the perfect lab report that covers the Scientific Method. We’ll use that report to write a narrative with a specific audience in mind, learn to use the digital cameras and tripods to photograph the experiment, introduce ourselves to PhotoStory so that we can stitch the photos together on the computer, and then record our voices over the photos.
- orange text – tech skills
- blue text – language arts skills
- green text – science skills
Documenting community
798 days
One 8th grade class is photographically documenting the meaning of the word “community.” After an introduction to some well known photographers, students used our new interactive white board to sort thumbnail images into a Venn diagram (shown below). We differentiated between artists that convey their theme purely through subject and composition v. those that use treatments after shooting to express themes.
Students then took to the streets to capture the Green Lake community. Once back in the lab, most chose to use a Hockney-esque treatment to convey their theme.
Sometimes you just need no technology
802 days
by Jac de Haan
in Projects
Children need nature for the development of their senses, and, therefore, for learning and creativity.
Richard Louv
Last Child in the Woods, p. 55
Scratch your brain
823 days
The 6th grade makes magic happen with an introduction to Scratch – a free introduction to programming from MIT. This amazing program lets users create animations and games without writing code.
The interface is much like a play or musical. Every actor (sprite) needs a script to follow, a costume to wear and a stage to stand on. Our first day was mostly play, but in the near future we’ll use this software to learn about coordinates (math), boolean search terms (research) and logic statements (life!).
Students are encouraged to help their parents install the program so the fun can continue at home!
Click and hold your mouse to check out this Scratch art project by current 8th grade student Gabe.
8th graders take over the lab!
868 days
by Jac de Haan
in Projects
8th grade Spanish students came up to the Tech Lab today and jumped right into effective use of technology to support learning. Anne’s class used online resources to study for an upcoming quiz. One group of students tested the new school laptops, that will be available for study halls and in-class learning. Thanks 8th grade!
