Chromebooks in the Classroom

We have been using some awesome technology this year to help students prepare to interact with the world.


Mrs. Pendell, 8th grade teacher at our school, has been leading the way with innovative technology education. She agreed to share on our blog a little bit about Google Apps for Education. Enjoy the read!

GAFE is Changing the Way Our Students Learn

Teachers at our school have taken a new and exciting step toward preparing our students for the future and engaging students in a fun new way of learning and collaboration: Google Apps for Education.

Google Apps for Education (GAFE) is an online cloud-based productivity suite built especially for schools. Students are given their own school account to access the many apps Google offers and to access an online classroom. Our school has it’s very own secure domain where students can word process, create, collaborate, and share with their teachers and peers.

Education is changing. California Common Core standards expect students to use technology regularly in their classes. Not only do our standards and curriculum require technology use, but the world our students are entering outside of school also requires them to be tech-savvy and digital citizens. GAFE is a tool to help us lead our school into the 21st century of education.

Students love using GAFE in their classrooms. They love learning via varying modules such as video, song, game, slide show or blog. No longer are students limited to a textbook or worksheet. GAFE gives students the freedom to create and show their learning, instead of being limited to one type of assessment. In GAFE, everything is online; no longer are students carrying work back and forth from class to home or worried of losing their work. Students’ work is accessible anywhere with a device and Internet connection. Students love to access their work from home on their smart phones!

Teachers love using GAFE in their classrooms, too. The collaborative feature of GAFE allows teachers to view student work in real-time as the students are working. This results in nearly instant feedback. GAFE provides tools for efficiency in the classroom, allowing teachers to spend more time with students and less time on paperwork.

This is an exciting time for our school. The sixth grade has new Chrome books and is using GAFE in nearly all of their classes. GAFE is also being used in two seventh-grade classes and two eighth-grade classes. Next year, we should be seeing GAFE in all classes at our school. Students are creating, innovating, and engaged in their education because of our devoted teachers and GAFE. It’s a great time to be a Bulldog!

By Emily Pendell

Mrs. Pendell teaches eighth grade and is site technology coordinator. She is a Google Certified Educator and has been using GAFE in her classes for three years. She can be reached at ependell@palermok8.org.

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Mrs. Casner, classroom instructional aide, gets the opportunity to see 6th grade students use technology in all of their classes. Her observations make me excited to be a teacher right now.

As an instructional aide in the 6th grade classrooms, I've had the opportunity to observe students using Chrome books. Students enjoy the ability to use their own computer. They seem genuinely excited to do projects and research subjects. Overall, they seem to be more focused on the assignment when the Chrome books are in use.

The potential for lesson expansion is an additional bonus. Students love to watch videos and take mini quizzes. It allows students to work at their own pace. Those that don't finish have the ability to work on the assignments at home or in tutoring. Students that struggle to keep up are not getting overwhelmed or feeling rushed.

It is amazing the growth I've seen since the beginning of the year in regards to computer skills. As students are learning the programs, projects are being produced that are complete, spell-checked, organized. They are also learning to type. The development of these skills will serve them well in high school and college.

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GUEST BLOGGERS

Famous Person

This person is 32 years old. She is a famous country singer, and she just had a son who is 6-months old. This is my favorite singer. One of her songs is “Something in the Water,” another is “Before he Cheats.” She was one of the singers at the stadium in New York. She sings “Something bad” with Miranda Lambert. Her husband is Mike Fisher and she is 35. She sang right after Blake Shelton for New Year's Eve. She plays Sara Hill in the movie “Soul Surfer.” She was born on March 10,1983. Her husband was born on June 5,1980. She is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. She has set and broken several records throughout her career. Who is my person??

By: Rebecca


Question of the Week

I asked Charles what he did over the weekend and he said that his little brother burned his hands on a fire place and they had to take him to the hospital. He had 3rd degree burns and his whole hand had blisters. Today they have to take him to UC Davis. He is only nine months old. The rest of the weekend he played GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption and watched Family Guy. He also had to watch his little brothers. He is sure his little brother won’t go by the fire place ever again in his life.

-Richard


Two Truths and a Lie

1. When I was little I used to think I was the Hulk and Hulk out. When I was the hulk I wrestled my dad and use to beat him up.
2. I broke my whole arm when I was 5 and I had to go to the doctors for 2 months. It was horrible the doctors were mean and stuck me with
3. I love to participate in sports. I used to dance and play football and baseball. I just started playing basketball last year and we won the championships. This year we are undefeated right now but we might lose against a good team we haven’t played yet.

-Hayden