Rancho Computer Lab Blog

Accelerated Reader year to year comparison(again)

2011-06-06T08:50:00.000-07:00

With two weeks left, Rancho students have read at least 9,031 books,or 153,202,733 words, depending on how you want to look at it. Last year on May 26th, i reported out 8,178 books and 152,731,019 words.

Don't forget to go to the Library this summer. Studies show over and over again that kids who don't read over the summer have a harder time starting reading in school again in August...

Talking Fingers Founder speaks at Asilomar

2011-05-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

First Grader parents who volunteer in the lab know how excited the kids have been this year about Read, Write, and Type. It's now their first choice when they arrive at the lab. Besides learning important reading skills, this is also the first year first graders actually had a compelling reason to learn their NUSD logon and password, a skill that they will need throughout their career at NUSD.
Here's a video of Jeannine Herron, one of the persons who designed and produced this program speaking at a Conference last week in Asilomar on her thoughts about reading.

Spring is Extreme Weather time in first grade.

2011-05-25T14:16:00.000-07:00

First Grade, led by Mrs. Thornton's class, starts to learn about weather.In the start of the year, we look at clouds. Then we look at Hurricane formation,Thunderstorms, and Tornadoes. We start tracking local weather, and learn how to read weather Radar. During the year, we look at how the weather and the seasons affects animals around us. Now, at the end of the year, we start tracking Hurricanes and Tornadoes. This year has been, unfortunately for many, a banner year for Tornadoes. This Article might have too many big words for a first grader, but I think a parent could read it to them:

The Facts (and Fiction) of Tornadoes

Lori Mehmen/Associated Press

A funnel cloud touching down in Orchard, Iowa, on June 10, 2008. Lori Mehmen took the photo from outside her front door before seeking shelter.continue reading..

By JOHN COLLINS RUDOLF, JOHN SCHWARTZ, JUSTIN GILLIS, HENRY FOUNTAIN, KENNETH CHANG, DENISE GRADY, and ERICA GOODE

Published: May 25, 2011

Accelerated Reader year to year comparison

2011-05-10T15:02:00.000-07:00

I looked up the end of April's results from last year . It's not an exact comparison, becuause we're on May 10th.
But we've read 7,879 book so far this year, compared to 7,191 the end of April last year. Last year we hit 8,178 books by May 26th. I have a feeling we'll probably surpass that number this year. helped by a big increase in 1st grade participation.

Computers and Attention Order Deficit

2011-05-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

I saw this article on the NY Times site and thought it quit appropriate for posting here:

Fixated by Screens, but Seemingly Nothing Else

By PERRI KLASS, M.D.

The mother had brought in a note from her son’s elementary school teacher: Dear doctor, I think this child needs to be tested for attention deficit disorder.
“She’s worried about how he can’t sit still in school and do his work,” the mother said. “He’s always getting into trouble.”
But then she brightened. “But he can’t have attention deficit, I know that.”
Why? Her son could sit for hours concentrating on video games, it turned out, so she was certain there was nothing wrong with his attention span .Read More

I suppose that's why it's always so quiet in the computer lab when we have free choice.....

Posting again after a long hiatus

2011-02-04T12:47:00.000-08:00

This has been a busy year at Rancho, starting back in August with the launching of a new website for Rancho, going from two to three testing periods of MAP, finishing the rollout of the document cameras and the video projectors, introducing Read, Write and Type to the lower grades, installing Timez Attack on all the lab computers for the third and fourth grades... you get the picture. No time for blogging.. but now the second half of the year is started,Spring is around the corner, and hopefully all systems are now in place, and life will get back to normal...

Springtime in Marin, by Gordon Harrower Coutts

2011-02-04T11:58:00.000-08:00

Play neXtu »

Back From Summer-Welcome home to astronomy fanatics...

2010-08-27T13:32:00.000-07:00

It was a great summer, but now it' back to school.
Over the summer, my son introduced me to subredits.org. It's one of those sites like dig where people recommend web pages for you. Inte science reddit I found this great you tube video showing asteriod discoveries in our solar system over time. From the author of the video:
View of the solar system showing the locations of all the asteroids starting in 1980, as asteroids are discovered they are added to the map and highlighted white so you can pick out the new ones.
The final colour of an asteroids indicates how closely it comes to the inner solar system.
Earth Crossers are Red
Earth Approachers (Perihelion less than 1.3AU) are Yellow
All Others are Green

Rancho Calendar 2010-2011

2010-06-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

RanchoCalendar2011

Read this summer!

2010-06-03T05:13:00.000-07:00

Make a Splash This Summer At

The Marin County Free Library

June 12^th is the Starting Date for the 2010

Summer Reading Program.

Read for at least 20 minutes a day for 20 days and receive

cool prizes.

Grab your library card and swim on over for a summer of storytimes,

programs, and prizes. Beginning June 12th drop by your local branch,

Go to the Marin Free Library Kids site for more info.

The unfolding tragedy in the gulf: spillcam comes to Rancho

2010-05-29T10:16:00.000-07:00

Wheels of Freestyle assembly this week

2010-05-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

This week we had the rare privilege of hosting the Wheels of Freestyle Assembly , thanks to the efforts of the Box Top Committee, chaired by the ever efficient and energetic Mary O'Hara. As you can see, there were some amazing freestyle bikers performing stunts that had the kids yelling and screaming with excitement. They also seemed to get the point of the assembly, as described on their webiste:
The NEW "Go BIG" school assembly is just as the name indicates. A school assembly that teaches youth to "Go BIG" in life! To set BIG goals, BIG dreams and make a BIG commitment to doing it all drug and violence FREE!

A big thanks to all involved!

Close to wrapping up Accelerated Reader for the year...

2010-05-26T13:40:00.000-07:00

Rancho students have now tested on 8,178 books, and read at least 152,731,019 words. Along with learning how to take MAPS tests, learning how to use and Study Island, and so much more....

Keeping up with Mrs. Thornton's first grade class

2010-05-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

The last time I was in Mrs. Thornton's class, we had a very good converstation about Butterflies,and I was asked some questions about butterfly migration. Here's the best site I know about butterfly migration(among many migrations of many animals).The site, Journey North, also has links to the migration news of gray whales,robins, and hummingbirds.
This conversation also gives me the opportunity to remind everyone what a great teaching aid the internet i, given the speed of innovation and research these days. Here's an article, Migrating Thousands of Miles with Nary a Stop(New York Times, registration required) about how advances in transmitters allowed researchers to finally determine the migration routes of birds who travel long distances. It turns out the truth was stranger than anything the researchers had imagined. One bird, the bar-tailed godwit, traveled 7,100 miles in nine days without stopping. Ruby throated hummingbirds leave the Yucatan Peninsula in the evening and arrive in the southern United States the next afternoon.
A great article to share with your children!

more pictures from career day

2010-05-20T09:57:00.000-07:00

Pictures from Career Day

2010-05-20T09:20:00.000-07:00

Acclerated Reading Update

2010-04-30T09:34:00.000-07:00

Total books read: 7,191
Words read:
134,445,164
Book of the week:

Using the internet for current affairs

2010-04-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

When my wife worked for the Apple Multimedia lab in the late 80's, the people who worked there always told me"Only use computers for things you can't do better with an existing tool." That's why I still don't own a kindle; I prefer books. But when it comes to current events, sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, and more often that not that picture is on the internet. Here's an image from the NASA image gallery of the oil slick currently off the Louisiana coast:

20th anniversary of the Hubble Telescope

2010-04-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

To see a full screen image of this image,go to the NASA website. While there, you and your child(ren) should check out some the other images from The Image of the Day Gallery. I know that the kids in Mrs. Thornton's class will get extra points for looking at this picture.

The Academic Coach is guest blogging today....

2010-04-08T09:41:00.000-07:00

4th and 5th Grade GATE Claymation Movies

In six short sessions, our Rancho students directed, filmed, and produced their very first stop-motion film!

The students developed story lines and created clay characters. They then made backdrops and prepared to film. Each movie consists of 80 to 150 photos taken with a digital camera. After all the pictures were taken, students imported them into Windows Movie Maker and added titles and credits.

Please enjoy their videos! The students had a great time working on the projects.
Catherine Nam

Author's Day at Rancho with Jon Agee March 24th

2010-04-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

This year we had an old favorite author back- Jon Agee, author of such favorites as The Return of Freddy Legrand and The incredible Painting of Felix Closseau. His website is here. The kids loved his drawing lessons he gave in the multipurpose room. Thanks for a great day, Jon!

Yet another Accelerated Reader report

2010-03-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

5, 944 books read. 109,304,715 words read.
Third and fourth grade both at over 90% participation over the last three weeks.

Ranchoburg is here!

2010-03-19T12:29:00.000-07:00

Three quarters of the other grades have already visited Ranchoburg today. Everyone had a good time. All the comments from the kids in the lab were extremely positive. They thought the fifth graders did an awesome job. Kudos to Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Dees,and Mr. McDonald for organizing such an amazing educational experience for all Rancho students.

The day before Ranchoburg

2010-03-18T10:23:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the day that all the hard work of the fifth grade parents and teachers finally pays off. Ranchoburg will be open for business in the Multipurpose Room, and now the other grades can come and see the proud fifth graders acting out everyday colonial life. The militia has been drilling under the watchful eye of Sons of Liberty leader,colonial militia officer, and minuteman captain ,Kevin"bulldog" McDonald. Today, the parents are building the town, and I took a few pictures. As you look at the pictures in the slide show, pay particular attention to the stocks. It's one of the favorite props-everyone wants to pose in them. Not sure why, but there it is..

Third Grade Poems again

2010-03-12T14:46:00.001-08:00

Sun, Moon, and Stars Acrostics

Sun's sunspots can be wider than the earth

Unbelievably hot gases hot gases form millions of circular pools on its

surface

Not the biggest star but a medium-sized star

Moon is earth's one large satellite

Only one moon orbits earth

Other planets have many more moons

Never fully lit or never fully dark always half and half

Stars bright lights gleaming in the night sky

There are stars that wander in pairs known as double stars

A group of billions of stars is called a galaxy.

Really big stars and small stars whiff off layers of gas and start to fade

away

Shooting stars as we call them are actually meteorites

Thinking about science and boys and girls

2010-03-09T14:35:00.000-08:00

As we move through the school year making sure we have taught the children "the standards" so that they will be ready for their next year, we sometimes forget that we are trying to something else; installing a lifetime love of learning and a desire to learn more. It's in that spirit that I offer this video, that has inspired both my boys to learn more about Rockets(Warning-it's nine minutes long and builds slowly-but has an explosive ending):

Fourth grade Poems (2)

2010-03-05T09:07:00.001-08:00

Gabriela

Smart, athletic, fun, tall, strong, funny

Daughter of Martha and Salvador

Sister of Andrea

Enjoyer of swimming, Puzzles, Baking, Drawing, and Reading

Who believes that anybody can reach their goals

Who needs a little bit of love

Who wishes for people to face their fears

Who wishes to be an Olympic swimmer

Fourth grade poems Number 1

2010-03-05T09:01:00.001-08:00

Tony

Cool, Nice, Funny, Athletic, Smart, Awesome

Son of Terry and Mitch, Brother of Chris and Reese

Enjoyer of Fun, Sports, Apples to Apples, and Reading

Who believes that if all the people of the world work together we can Clean the planet

Who needs to move and exercise

Who fears of dying at a young age

Who wishes for world peace and no more war

Third grade poem

2010-03-01T14:36:00.000-08:00

Ms. Garaventa's class is writing poems this week. They come into the lab to type their poem. When they've finished, they get to change the color of the font to any color they want. Now there's choice you can believe in! Here's one of my favorite poems from this year(and remember-Ms. Garaventa only edits for spelling):

If I was a color, I would be orange because I’m hyped and on the go all the time.

If I was a song, I would be a jazz song because I’m cool and sly.

If I was a food, I would be a taco because I’m fiery and nummy

If I was a car, I would be a viper because I’m cool and fast.

If I was an animal, I would be a chimpanzee because I’m wild and funny.

If I was a place, l"d be an art studio because I love to draw.

If I was a feeling, I would be happy because I’m a happy person.

If I was a plant, I would be a Venus Fly Trap because I’m hungry all the time.

If I was a climate, I would be hot and sunny because I’m hot and spicy.

If I was a musical instrument, I would be a Spanish guitar because I’m different in many ways.

If I was a shape, I would be a scalene triangle because I am an odd person.

Accelerated Reader

2010-03-01T14:07:00.000-08:00

We are now over 100,000,000 words and 5,300 books read. A special shout out to the fourth grade-99% participation over the last 30 days!

Why you sang to your child before childbirth

2010-02-23T19:02:00.000-08:00

Babies, it turns out, cry in their native tongue. Who knew? It turns out they really are listening those last few months before they venture out into the wide wide world. I played Ewan MacColl's Songs of Robbert Burns. to mine. That's why they cried in Scots.

Fooling around on the net over break...

2010-02-17T19:34:00.000-08:00

My wife's currently reading a book by Paul Theroux, The Great Railway Bazaar. She was just reading the last chapter, on the Trans-Siberian Railroad , when I saw this article in the Guardian about a beautiful site Google Russia just announced. It's a virtual tour of this, one of the most famous railroads of the world. The photographs of Lake Baikal are stunning.

AntiMalware protection at home

2010-02-04T12:15:00.000-08:00

One of the most common questions Parents ask me is "How can I get rid of the spyware my (son, daughter, teenager,mate)has put on my home computer? It takes forever to start, and then I keep getting random popups, and it takes forever to get to the page I want..."
Here's how we get rid of mal ware at home(two teenagers, many computers infected, hours spent until I figured this out)
First, I go to an uninfected computer. In my house,that would be my mac. I insert a pocket (usb) drive. I then search cnet download.com for one of the following programs: Ad-Aware, AVG free edition , or AVAST. I prefer AVAST, but I have friends in the trade that swear by AVG and Ad-Aware also.
When I find the application I want, I click on the download now button, and save the app to the pocket drive. I then eject the pocket drive, take it to the infected computer, and insert it into a vacant usb slot. I then open up My computer, then my pocket drive, launch the application from the pocket drive and follow the instructions on the screen. It's always less than 30 minutes from start to finish.

Accelerated Reader

2010-02-02T10:04:00.000-08:00

I just remembered that I haven't updated the Accelerated Reader Book totals. The students are now at 4,449 books read;85,367,498 words read. Compare this to January 20th:
3,979 books read
77,853,322 words read.
The new total shows slightly fewer words per book; indubitably due to the 5th grade being at Walker Creek last week.

View Walker Creek Ranch Retreat and Conference Center in a larger map

February is Black History Month

2010-02-01T12:00:00.000-08:00

If you're looking for articles about famous African-Americans, Don't forget to look at Enchanted Learning's Website. Thanks to our great PTA, Rancho has a yearly subscription to this wonderful site that has so many resources for our students!
And of course, I always enjoy listening to Doctor Martin Luther King:

A picture for third grade

2010-01-26T14:14:00.000-08:00

Third grade is when many students get their first taste of how beautiful the Universe can be in their study of Astronomy. One of my favorite sites is APOD(Astronomy Picture Of the Day).
This is a picture of the Annular Solar Eclipse of January 15th of this year. I encourage you to go to the site- the picture there is larger and more detailed than the one I've posted here.

For Fourth Grade

2010-01-21T13:13:00.001-08:00

San Francisco in 1906

Testing at Rancho

2010-01-21T11:04:00.000-08:00

As I'm sure many of you know, NUSD is now using the Northwest Evaluation
Association's student assessment tool,Measures of Academic Progress (MAP).
Because students take the test on a computer, it immediately adapts to each individual student's ability, getting easier or harder as students answer each question. The assessment results are available immediately and provide teachers with an accurate and clear picture of what a child knows and needs to know next. It's another useful tool for making sure that all Rancho Students get the personalized study plan that they need.

The test is for grades 2-5. The test is given in the Rancho Computer lab. NWEA's website is here. Information for parents can be found here on their website. The Parent Toolkit will give you more information here. I've also provided a link to the toolkit in the Parent Links on the right side of this page.

All grade 2-5 students were tested in the fall. We'll be testing again the first two weeks in February. The kids seem to enjoy the testing as a break from everyday work.

First post of new year::Continued Progress in Accelerated Reader

2010-01-20T09:04:00.000-08:00

A new year, new things happening at Rancho

The first document camera/video projector/laptop has been deployed in a classroom.
I'm finding it's more complex to do this than I thought. More later.

The Librarian got a brand new computer for check out. The old one was terribly slow, incredibly old, and crashed frequently. Hopefully the new computer will make check out/ check in much easier and speedier.

Rancho students continue to read as if there were no tomorrow. Today's Totals:

3,979 books read
77,853,322 words read.
99% participation in grades 2-5.

Site of the week

2009-11-13T14:14:00.000-08:00

This week, we're looking at the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives. This is a great interactive site for teaching your student math concepts that she might be having a hard time grasping. To me and to many math teachers, this site demonstrates what computers best educational use is: teaching difficult math concepts in a way that would be difficult or impossible with physical manipulatives.
This site requires that you have Java installed. Start out with the geometry section, and try rotating the Platonic solids, try your hand at tessellations,, or pretend you've just read Mind Storms bySeymour Papert and do Turtle Geometry

Acclerated Reading Update

2009-11-13T13:49:00.000-08:00

Last time I reported on Accelerated Reader, I said"Today, Oct. 29th, we're at 1,507 books and 32, 684,304 words." Well, today, we're at 2,167 books read, and 43,480,623 words read.
Participation in grades 2,3, and 4 is 100%. We're clearly out to break last year's record number of books read.

Free H1N1 Vaccination Clinics Nov 14th ,19th, Dec, 15th

2009-11-13T09:06:00.000-08:00

FREE H1N1 Flu Vaccination Clinics
Saturday, November 14th from 9 am to 4 pm (while vaccine supplies last)
Marin Health and Wellness Center
3240 Kerner Boulevard in San Rafael

Wednesday, November 18th from 3 pm to 7 pm (while vaccine supplies last)
West Marin Elementary School
11550 Highway 1 in Point Reyes Station

Thursday, November 19th from 3 pm to 7 pm (while vaccine supplies last)
Manzanita Recreation Center
630 Drake Avenue in Marin City

Saturday, December 5th from 9 am to 4 pm (while vaccine supplies last)
Location to be determined ASAP
Novato

These clinics are for HIGH RISK Marin County residents ONLY:
pregnant women
those who live with or care for infants (under six months of age)
healthcare and emergency medical services personnel
children and young adults (age six months through 24 years)
adults (age 25 to 64) with medical conditions that might increase risk
(such as asthma, heart disease, diabetes, or immunosuppression)

Please Note: Adults age 65 and over do NOT qualify as high risk; public health experts have
determined that adults 65 and over—even with medical conditions--- are less likely to become
infected with the H1N1 flu. Adults 65 and over may receive the vaccine in the future.

***** Only H1N1 vaccinations will be available at these clinics; no seasonal flu shots. *****

FOR MORE INFORMATION about H1N1 flu or flu vaccinations:

Visit our website at www.marinflu.org OR call the H1N1 flu “warm line” at 473-6823
(leave a message and it will be returned as soon as possible).

If you are a person with a disability and require this document in an alternate format (example: Braille, Large Print, Audiotape, CD-ROM), you may request an alternate format by calling (415) 473-4381 (voice/TTY) , the California Relay Service at 711, or by e-mail at disabilityaccess@co.marin.ca.us.

Web site of the Week

2009-11-06T12:15:00.000-08:00

This week, I added a new gadget to the Blog- the Links for Parents side bar. I'll be adding sites here every week that your children are using at school or sites that I think are particularly noteworthy. This week I want to talk about the best Periodic Table I have seen yet, The Visual Elements Periodic Table. It requires Flash and Quicktime. For every element, it has the where, when, and who of its discovery; and a brief description of its properties. Used together with
WebElements and the chem4kids periodic table, you have all the information you need for a good webquest.

Reading Rate rockets at Rancho

2009-10-29T12:03:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of September, I reported 117 books read, or.looking at the data another way,3 million words read. On Oct.14 , thirty four days later, we're up to 882 books reported read,or 21,151,123 words. Today, Oct. 29th, we're at 1,507 books and 32, 684,304 words. In two weeks, Rancho students have doubled the number of books they're reading(was appoximately 22 books/day,now is 44 per day).

Halloween Parade- OCt.30th details

2009-10-23T12:35:00.001-07:00

Rancho's Halloween parade will be in the Multipurpose room and through the hallways on Friday, October 30.

Grades 1 - 3 parade will be at 8:45am.
Grades 4 & 5 parade will be at 9:15am.
Kindergarten parade will be at 11:15am, and ALL Kindergarteners will attend school from 8:05 - 11:30am.

Please carpool or use the United Methodist parking lot on October 31!

NOTE: The parade will run INSTEAD of the usual Friday Flag Salute, so there will be NO Flag Salute October 30.

Please help us make this a fun and safe day by adhering to the following guidelines for costumes:

Costumes must be in good taste and appropriate for an elementary school.
Costumes must comply with the NUSD Board policy dress code (i.e., no bare midriffs, spaghetti straps, etc.)
Weapons (guns, sword, bombs, etc.) and blatant messages of violence are not permitted.
For safety reasons, masks may only be worn during the parade.
Thank you for your cooperation.

Reading Progress report

2009-10-14T13:21:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of September, I reported 117 books read, or.looking at the data another way,3 million words read. Today, thirty four days later, we're up to 882 books reported read,or 21,151,123 words. I should explain that we don't count the books read by the students; we count the number of quizzes the students have passed on the books they have read. So the number of tests is always running behind the number of books read.
This year, we started at a distinct disadvantage: our Library Clerk unexpectedly took a leave of absence for family reasons, and the school library was clsoed for the first month of school. We finally found a wonderful substitute library clerk, Martha Paulos, and the library is now functioning well again. This means the kids are reading and testing at a much faster rate than the first month of school. I'm anticipating the number of books read per week here at Rancho to take another big upswing in the last two weeks of October.

Why I haven't been blogging recently...

2009-10-14T13:09:00.000-07:00

But why I'm really happy to be alive. On my way to pick up my son from his uncle's house September 13th, I had an unfortunate run-in with a Pick-up truck. The pickup truck won. Miraculously, I walked away from the wreck alive and in one piece. But it took the wind out of my sails for a while, as you can imagine. I had to take some time off, and then I had to get all my projects back on track, one by one.
This is my week for starting up the blog again. Hopefully, I won't have this excuse for not writing again.
View every day as a gift to be treasured.

Another computer donation today

2009-09-10T09:38:00.000-07:00

Today we recieved yet another old but serviceable Imac, which we are adding to our pool of reserve computers.
Remember, we take all working computers with the following specs:
Windows:
Windows 2000, XP, or Vista
Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent
CDrom, ethernet, usb all working.

Macintosh
OS 10.1 and up
PPC G4 or better(all intel Macintoshes)

We have given many older computers a new and useful existence here at Rancho.
Just call Cindy to make an appointment to have the computer brought into the school.

We are grateful for all donations.

Amazing Rancho Readers

2009-09-10T09:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I wrote that Rancho readers had already read a little over 2 million words.
Today, the school is up to 117 books and 3 million words. Clearly 4th and fifth grade have hit the ground running. I expect that by the middle of next week, we will have finished leveling tests for 2nd, 3rd,4th, and 5th grade, and that all the students will have the opportunity to begin doing A/R testing in the classroom.
It's going to be a good year for reading.

We're off to read again..

2009-09-09T15:20:00.001-07:00

As all Rancho parents know, our school loves to read. School has barely started. We're just starting Accelerated Reader quizzes. With only a small portion of the student body having taken a quiz, your children have already read over 2 million words. They read 9873 books last year, up from 9069 the year before. I have the feeling that we're going to beat that record this year.

Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana

2009-09-04T08:42:00.001-07:00

It's hard to believe that we're already finishing up our second full week of school.
So much has happened already. We've already set up Type to Learn,Math Blaster, and Treasure Math Storm. We're getting ready to start Accelerated Reader in the classroom next week. We're also in the middle of restarting Treasure Math Storm and Math Arena.

Nearly all of the third, fourth, and fifth grade classes have already done one full lesson on Type to Learn. I'm happy to say that most students did not forget their typing skills over the summer. This year, we have third graders who are already half way through this wonderful program. That's impressive.

We had two second classes start Treasure Math Storm. Because of the work first grade teachers did last year, it went very smoothly. The kids are very excited, because Treasure Math Storm is one of the most popular games in the lab for all grades.

We've started work on a "mini-mac" lab with 15 macintoshes. We're looking forward to starting podcast lessons in third grade latter on in the year.

Both of my my main volunteers have moved on to other projects, so I am looking for volunteers to work in the lab.
Friday I have classes in the lab all day. It's my busiest day, so I'll stop here.
More later.

Welcome back to the Rancho Computer Lab blog-2009

2009-08-21T11:01:00.000-07:00

Summer seemed too short in the beginning, but by August, everyone in our family was looking forward to its ending. We had a great time in Yosemite, got to hang out in the back yard, and catch up with old friends-we had a great time. But in the end, it's good to be back at school. I'm expecting my first two classes to come into the lab this week: Mrs. Garaventa's and Mrs. Langfords are coming in to start their Accelerated Reader program. By the end of next week,with help from parent volunteers, I expect to be have all the new classes and new students entered into our system.

Thanks to the PTA, the technology program at Rancho will be growing this year. We'll be introducing video projectors and document cameras into all the grade levels this month. Eventually, we're planning on having them in all classrooms at Rancho. We'll also be evaluating and bringing in new typing software for the lower grades, and more math software for the upper grades. I'm going to be more regular in posting to this lab.
It's going to be a great year.

Update on reading on Multicultural Day

2009-03-12T13:18:00.000-07:00

Today, as of 1:00, Rancho students have read 6,248 books or 106,353,344 words. That's 800 books since Break; far north of 200 books per week.

If I were a #15(EB)

2009-03-06T14:38:00.000-08:00

By: EB

If I were a color, I would be blue like the sky.

If I were a song, I would a soft calming song.

If I were a car, I would be a suburban.

If I were an animal, I would be a frog jumping from Lilly pad to Lilly pad.

If I were a place, I would be sunny Hawaii.

If I were feeling, I would be exciting.

If I were plant, I would be a fragrant red.

If I were a climate, I would be tropical misty breeze.

If I were a musical instrument, I would be the squeaking clarinet.

If I were a shape, I would be the round circle.

If I Were A.... #6

2009-03-06T12:07:00.001-08:00

If I Were A…

By: B.D.

If I were a color, I’d be green, the color of my house and car.

If I were a song, I’d be a heavy metal song such as “Paranoid.”

If I were a food, I’d be fish ‘n’ chips, crispy and scrumptious.

If I were a car, I’d be a Ford F-150 truck, big and tough.

If I were an animal, I’d be an elephant, crashing down trees, being a nuisance.

If I were a place, I’d be Massachusetts, filled with historic sights.

If I were a feeling, I’d be I’d be energetic, smart, and happy.

If I were a plant, I’d be a tulip, bright and colorful.

If I were a climate, I’d be rainy, cold, and wet.

If I were a musical instrument, I’d be an electric guitar.

If I were a shape, I’d be an oval, the shape of my head.

If I Were A... #9

2009-03-06T11:42:00.000-08:00

If I Were A…

By: B.F.

If I were a color, I would be orange, like a bright opal.

If I were a song, I would be a jazzy, quick-paced melody.

If I were a food, I would be a tasty delicious ice cream cone.

If I were a car, I would be an energy-efficient hybrid.

If I were an animal, I would be a brown sea otter, riding the waves.

If I were a place, I would be Mars, with its mysterious nooks and crannies.

If I were feeling, I would be happy and creative.

If I were plant, I would be a tall oak tree with children climbing all my limbs.

If I were a climate, I would be warm.

If I were a musical instrument, I would be a group of noisy drums.

If I were a shape, I would be the 3-D pyramid.

If I Were A... #19

2009-03-06T11:34:00.000-08:00

If I Were A…

By: C.V.W.

If I were a color, I would be green like the light green leaves of the waving trees.

If I were a song, I would be “Climb Every Mountain” from the Sound of Music.

If I were a food, I would be a sweet delicious lollypop.

If I were a car, I would be a shiny silver Nissan Pathfinder.

If I were an animal, I would be a graceful soaring white bellied sea eagle.

If I were a place, I would be an historical village.

If I were feeling, I would be proud that makes people smile wide.

If I were plant, I would be a bright purple water lily floating on a fresh blue pond.

If I were a climate, I would be a damp breezy wind.

If I were a musical instrument, I would be a quiet peaceful violin.

If I were a shape, I would be a rectangle, the shape of a book filled with wonderful words.

Author's day at Rancho

2009-02-12T08:43:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, famous children's author and illustrator Elisa Kleven was our guest at Rancho. She has written and illustrated many wonderful books such as Sun Bread , The Lion and the Little Red Bird, and many more.
The entire school had a chance to listen to hear talk about her books, show illustrations, and teach a little about how she draws:

The kids were very excited about meeting a real author. They asked more questions than she had time to answer. Many continued their conversations into the classroom and out into the playground. Everyone agreed this Author's Day was a great success.

Progress Report from the Lab

2009-02-09T19:31:00.000-08:00

First things first:5202 books read, 64,551,672 words read. Rancho students are the best.
Over the last 30 days, participation in the upper grades has been over 95%, the lower grades over 85%. These are truy amazing percentages. When you consider that these children are just discovering reading, this participation rate truly shows how successful the Rancho community has been in convincing the children that reading is not only important, but it fun. Remember, Success in College has a very high correlation with reading for pleasure.
I'd like to take this moment to put a plug in again for two of my favorite sites. The first is the Marin County Free Library site. The second is the Accelerated Reader Quiz finder site. With the first, you can locate almost any children's book you or your child want to read. With the second, you can make sure it has a Accelerated Reader quiz associated with it. From Sheila Rae the Brave to the Alanna series to Nothing at all to Thirteen Clocks the Marin Library has it all. And if you check the books out on your child's library card, it's free, no matter from which branch the book comes. As I continue to say, it's one of the best deals in Marin. More on what's happening in the lab tomorrow.

Rancho technology update

2009-01-29T11:26:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, I filmed Mrs. Dee's lesson on understanding how cultures differ. She used the simulation training program BaFa'BaFa, one she has been using for years. She split her class into two; one portion stayed in her classroom, the other went to the Music Portable. What did I film? Well, the BaFa'BaFa site describes the training this way:

What happens in BaFa'BaFa'?

After an initial briefing two cultures are created. The Alpha culture is a relationship oriented, high context, strong ingroup outgroup culture. The Beta culture is a highly competitive trading culture. After the participants learn the rules of their culture and begin living it, observers and visitors are exchanged. The resulting stereotyping, misperception and misunderstanding becomes the grist for the debriefing.

What I filmed was the students in the act of observing and visiting another culture whose language they do not speak. They must pick up clues to how this culture works using only their powers of observation. It was truly a wonderful experience to see them so engaged, so passionate, and so perceptive. Ms. Dees was amazed at the quickness with which her students divined the rules of the "other" culture. We're planning on showing them the video we took of them in this "teachable moment" as a way of reinforcing what they learned last Tuesday.

QuickJanuary update

2009-01-14T14:23:00.000-08:00

Reading: Rancho students have read 4,068 books, or 67,678,903 words. That's a lot of words. If each word were an inch long, and a carwidth wide, you could drive on them all the way to Butte, Montana.
January has been a time for gearing back up for more exciting times. Lots going on under the hood, but little to show for it yet.

We have installed the new color printer in the lab. 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade parents should expect examples of the use of images in exposition to come home soon.

Fourth grade has started Power Point presentations again, and 5th grade is starting to do a presentation.

We're planning on making a student produced video of Ms. Dee's Wax Art Museum.

The 1st graders are beginning their annual migration to the lab. They seem to be enjoying it, but then they always seem cheerful, no matter where I see them.

We will be posting the same links that your children use in the lab on the Rancho Website. Watch the Library page for more.
Enjoy the warm weather.

4th Grade Missions just in time for Christmas

2008-12-18T12:09:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Stanek's class finished their Mission Reports the day before their party. I don't have space to put up all the reports, but I do have the space to put up all their drawings. Ms. Stanek says she is always amazed every year by the striking differences in drawing styles these pictures show.

Rancho students have now read 3, 517 books or 58,193,367 words.
Tomorrow is our last day of class before Christmas break. I hope that no matter how you celebrate the holidays, you have a safe and restful two weeks off, with as much family time as possible.
See you back here in January!

Rancho Lab December update

2008-12-10T14:37:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy few weeks. Here's a few highlights.

Our district is in the process of upgrading its information infrastructure. During this upgrade, Math Blaster broke. No one could play for four days. The kids were heartbroken,and I was frantic. Without going into details, I finally finished reinstaling it on all lab computers today. I learned more than I wanted about Server migration, but it does mean it will never be broken this long again. Quite the learning experience.

The fifth grade classes are in a race to make their State Boards the best they can be. That means they are here in the lab every spare moment they have. The projects I have seen so far are beautiful. I 'm hoping I can post pictures of many of them on the blog so everyone gets a chance to see them.

The fourth grade classes have been busy building Power Point presentations. I posted some of them on the Blog where I could contact a parent for permission. One class even did a presentation for the NUSD School Board. It was taped. Let me know if you would like a copy.

Second and Third grade classes have been using Type to Learn and Kid Pix. In Kid Pix, they're learning how to change font styles and sizes. They are simply amazed at how much they can do on their own. In addition, they're writing Haiku and Acrostic Poems.

First grade classes will start to come to the lab in January.

Finally, we're up to 3,152 books and 52,489,439 words.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-21T13:30:00.000-08:00

We're off all next week for Thanksgiving. Click here to see what the fifth graders learned about Thanksgiving this year.
My family always cooks an eighteen pound hen turkey that has been soaked for a day in the famous Chez Panisse brine that I found in the SFgate Thanksgiving Guide years ago. Where would we be without the Internets?
I hope everyone has a happy,happy Thanksgiving holiday and comes back ready and rested for school next Monday.
This weeks Reading stats:
2,658 books read. 42,980,297 words read. 91% participation over the last thirty days. 65% of all students taking Accelerated Reader quizzes scored 85% or better. Rancho kids are truly amazing students.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

A slide show project from Mrs. Langford's class

2008-11-14T12:20:00.000-08:00

Here is yet another student's work from Mrs. Langford's class. This is the first year that the fourth graders have created PowerPoint presentations, and they are very excited about this. They like choosing the transitions and the animation schemes the most. However, SlideShare doesn't preserve either the transitions or the animation schemes when I upload the presentations to the web. I'm looking for another solution, but for now I will continue to use SlideShare.

Indian Tribes Of Californiarancho

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

I wanted to add that I apologize for the length of time between posts of student work on the blog. This is the first time we've done this as a school, and we're still working out the kinks. We're trying to insure that we are respectful of the student's right to privacy while still giving them the pleasure of being able to show their work to their parents, relatives and friends... I'm confident that as the school year gets older, we'll get faster.

More software we use at the Rancho Computer Lab

2008-11-03T14:53:00.000-08:00

Today, a young gentleman in Mrs. Kreuzberger's class asked her if she could tell him how to find an online version of Kid Pix. It was a reminder to me of how much the educational software business has changed over the last few years, and how much today's children and their parents might not know about the great software that is out there.
Kid Pix was originally developed here in Novato by Brøderbund Software. In the great consolidation of the educationalsoftware business of the late '90s, They were taken over first by The Learning Company, which in turn was eventually taken over by Riverdeep. Riverdeep now owns most of the old classic educational software that we use in the lab. But because their focus is on online learning and educational publishing, they don't do a good job of promoting them(in my opinion).
You can buy Kid Pix online for 19.99 from Riverdeep. The Kids all love it, and it helps them learn how to use a mouse and begin to type. Plus they already know how to use it. They'll probably get bored with it in fifth grade. At that time, you consider either donating it to the school or passing it on to some one
with younger kids..it's what the trade calls an evergreen classic.

Halloween at Rancho

2008-10-31T10:37:00.000-07:00

This morning we held the annual Rancho Halloween Parade. The children were very excited about dressing up, as were many of the staff. I 'm showing some of the staff in their costumes for those of you who couldn't attend:

This week we're learning how to use Tom Snyder's Graph Club to discover that you can display the same data many different ways. We did a survey of which holidays the children liked best, and then used the data to make both a pie chart and a bar graph. Oddly enough, the holiday with the most votes was Halloween...

Have a happy & safe Halloween!
P.S. Rancho students have now read 1876 books this year!

The reading pace continues to be brisk.

2008-10-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

On October 13th, I reported 977 books read at Rancho. Today, that number is 1,484. You can say that translates to 50 books a day if you count weekends, 60 books a day if you just count week days. Either way, it's an impressive number of books.

The Most Popular Program in the lab

2008-10-22T15:19:00.000-07:00

The most popular program in the lab this week is Math Blaster. I like Math Blaster because it's aligned to Standards and entertaining to the kids. Stealth learning at it's best. It also has some unattractive features, but that's for a different post.
At this point, all the students from 2nd grade on know how to find the icon of "The little man with the star":

Math Blaster has eight games: Juice Booth, Time Travel, Number Zapper Arcade,Animal Arena, Dunk Booth, Pie Throw, Roller Coaster, and Roller Coaster. Each one teaches a different mathematical skill.

The two most popular games are the Number Zapper Arcade and the Dunk Booth. In Number Zapper Arcade,
Here, you learn your basic math facts by shooting them down along with the rogue meteorites that are attacking your home base. It's interesting to note that a common problem in the lower grades is not in comprehension, but in the physical ability to shoot down the math facts. It requires real hand eye coordination.

The second most popular game is Dunk Booth. Here you have to discover the hidden pattern in a list of numbers on
the top of the screen. Every time you find the pattern, you use a sling shot to hit the target that shows that pattern to light up one of three bulbs also near the top of the screen. When you do this three times, the character in the middle of the screen falls into vat of water underneath. I am amazed that the kids never tire of doing this; it seems like every time the experience is as exciting and fresh as the first.

Parents often ask me where they can buy the software the kids use in the lab.

If you're a windows family, you can download a free trial at ZD Net downloads. There's no free download for Macintosh, but it's widely available on many websites for both platforms for approximately thirty dollars.
If you have an Intel Mac, be sure that you buy a version that says it is compatible with the newer Macs; many of the older games like Math Blaster only run in Classic mode on OS X. Classic is no longer supported by Apple...Which reminds me, in the Windows world, the same applies to Vista-it won't many of the older programs either.

A/R progress report

2008-10-13T14:59:00.000-07:00

Just one month ago, we finished setting up Accelerated Reader on all the computers, and launched the program. As of today, the kids have taken an astonishing 977 quizzes.
That's approximately 50 quizzes per day. As I said, the kids really love the program.

If you want to know if a book at your local library is one your kid can take a quiz on, here's a website at which you can find that out:
The AR Bookfinder website. Just enter the name of a book, or an author-They have literally tens of thousands of books that will work with A/R.

If you happen to know the book title you want and are looking for it on line, here's a tip: Search for it on the MariNet Web Catalog. If it's in any Marin public library, you can have it sent to your library for free if you use your child's library card. One of the best deals in Marin.

PowerPoint at Rancho

2008-10-10T14:59:00.001-07:00

California Native Americans

From: rogerpowelson, 2 minutes ago
The last two weeks, we have been teaching the Fourth grade classes how to make a PowerPoint presentation.
We chose a very simple project and format: Four slides on four types of California Native Americans. They were allowed to put clip art on the slides and pick their own transitions between slides. They had a great time doing this; they loved trying the different transistions. Here's one example of what they did:

California Native Americans

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

4th grade class project

SlideShare Link

What we did this week in the lab(Sept. 15-19)

2008-09-24T12:52:00.001-07:00

This week we spent most of the training all the students at Rancho Elementary School on how to use Accelerated Reader. As many of you know, we use an online program called “Accelerated Reader”, abbreviated as A/R, to help encourage our students to read. A/R uses a combination of approved books, , Book Quizzes, and a reward system to make sure our students enjoy and excel at reading. At the heart of this system is the Rancho Library, with its good selection of well-cataloged books. The other important part of the system are the computers you see in every classroom.

At the start of the year, the teacher determines the level at which every individual student is reading. As you can imagine, there is quite a range in ability in every class. Every child is different, and develops at her own pace. It's important for us to match each child with the books that are they can read comfortably. A child who reads too high above or too far beneath her capability is a child who is not advancing to their full capability.
The student then reads each book on her own. She may read it in class or home, but she must finish it. When she has finished the book, she takes a test to determine how much of the book's content she has remembered.

Each child gets points for quiz she passes. The child then selects another book, and the cycle starts over again. As she reads more books, she receives more and more points. The children really like this system. Last year, the school as whole took over 7000 quizzes. Reading Experts agree that the best training for reading is to read more. This program helps Our students to be the great readers they are.

A new year, a new beginning

2008-09-12T13:36:00.001-07:00

Two days ago I gave a report on our tech plan to the Leadership Council. During my presentation, I made a promise to start blogging this year on what we are doing in the lab over the course of the year. This week the upper grades are using Sunburst Technology's Type to Learn to improve their typing skills. There's a great article about the program on Technology and Learning Magazine's website.

Here's a screen shot of one of their favorite activities, Famous Figures:

Tangrams

2007-09-08T17:26:00.001-07:00

I just love Tangrams. I'm not that great at doing them but I love to watch my mind think as I work out a solution. The shape of "the sitting man" for instance seems easy because you know right off where two of the pieces go just by looking at the shape. So there are only 5 other pieces to place. But as you do it you discover that getting those large triangles in place can be tricky, and if you listen to your mind thinking about the options you'll find it's fascinating to see your strategies of looking at the areas of pieces, and lengths of sides, and ways that pieces could fit together to fill a certain space. And for kids - if we can get them to be aware of their thinking I believe there will be a great deal of transfer to all kinds of problems related to area, distance, angles, triangles and more. Play with it and see what you think. Try Interactive Tangrams

Inspiration for Math Education

2007-09-08T10:12:00.000-07:00

In light of NCLB and the standards movement, teachers are so pressed to raise test scores that it's easy to forget some of the intriguing, fun, math things we used to have time for in the "good old days". So this blog will occasionally help remind us of some of the conversations, resources, and really "cool things" that inspire math learning.
Here, for exampe, I just came across a very elegant simple puzzle, called Ball of Whacks - a 30-sided polyhedra made up of 30 identical magnetic pieces that just pop into place. You've got to feel it to believe it.
Check it out. Here's a little movie of it - Ball of Whacks