Happy New Year! (Or something like that)

We've kicked off the new school year and I am ecstatic about the days we have ahead of us. It's science 2.0. A new look, new features, and a brand new interface. The lab is a blank slate waiting to be decorated by the things we learn and do together.
Students have heard quite a bit about what is to come but I'll explain here for the benefit of parents whose children don't run home and immediately repeat every word that Mr. Ewen said to them over the course of the week.

There are three electronic features that are different from 5th grade. The first is this blog. The blog is primarily a place for communication between me and y'all. For the most part, if it is written here students have already heard/experienced it. I'll write about upcoming events, post resources that I find, and recap highlights.

The second feature is a space that's primarily for students. In a week or so they'll be getting their laptops back and I'll provide them with student accounts for our classroom wiki. A wiki is a webpage that can be edited by members. Below is a short video by CommonCraft that explains its use better than I can.

The 3rd feature your students may not have had in a class before is access to class podcasts. Podcasts are free audio recordings that can be listened to from their laptop or downloaded from a service like iTunes. I'll be podcasting notes, directions, and other important info for students who just need to hear it one or two more times. Sometimes notes just aren't enough.

I really look forward to seeing you all at parent night and answering some of your questions about what's in store for us this year. If you have questions before then, feel free to leave me a voicemail @ ext 283, or email me at work. JE

Let the Podcasting Begin!

Hi all,

Most importantly, on our right is a picture of the first snow angel of 2008-2009 created by MBO. Yeah for snow!

Wow, we have been focused on the class wiki for the last few weeks. So much so that I haven't taken the time to blog anything; I feel like I've been online so much I'm starting to forget what the real world looks like. I have here something that I think might make class and studying a little bit easier. I made a podcast of today's notes. Some students are audio learners, so this will help them quite a bit. Some students spend a lot of time in the car so this will let them study for science with their headphones on. Now, these aren't professional-quality audio productions. It's me. With a microphone. And 15 minutes of free time.
Here's a short video of how to get hold of the podcast.

How to get the podcast

Students can listen to the notes online, they can download them and listen to them on their laptops, or they can use iTunes to put them on their iPods and listen to them that way. Let me know how this works out. If no one uses the podcasts, I'll stop wasting my time. But if your child really makes good use of them and feels like they help I'll keep it up.

I should make it clear that these recordings do not replace classroom notes. The podcast is not as comprehensive as our classroom note session. But it does give a quick overview of what was discussed, and offer another "quick and dirty" study option. MrE