Another school year has started! We are getting to know each other and where things are located in the building. Seventh grade is very different than the other grades in our school. In 7th grade, the students from Rye are joined by the students from a neighboring town (and island) of New Castle. It's an exciting time of year to catch up with each other and get a glimpse of the coming year.

This was our 5th year participating in the Earth Day webcast. Unfortunately, Earth Day, April 22, fell on a Sunday, so we chose to webcast on April 20th. Our school created a live stream on the internet (webcast) for 7 hours! We broke our record!

This year, each of the 7th grade science classes discussed extreme weather. We researched the definition, causes, safety precautions and more about tornadoes, hurricanes, lightning and flash floods. During the discussion, we had a chat room available for listeners to interact with the students. We had participants from NH, MA, CA, AZ, Canada, Argentina, Korea and United Arab Emirates that we could recognize in the chat. We also had many parents and community members, even my parents, listen in during the day. The chat room provided immediate feedback for the students. We answered questions and learned from the participants.

We tried a new piece out this year. A small group of students went across the street to the bank with a cell phone. We had permission from the bank to ask their patrons what they would be doing for Earth Day. It wasn't a busy time of the day but we did get some people who were happy to speak with us.

We also webcasted for other schools. North Hampton, NH's 7th graders were on remote, reporting in via cell phone. They have a tradition of cleaning up a local park. The students reported what was happening and how important Earth Day is to them. We also interviewed a school in East Los Angeles, CA. They had started a garden and an ecology club. We spoke with the students and the voluteers who had started the programs. Well done third graders of Mr. Rodiguez!

As the day, progressed, we had students come in and out of our classroom studio. [It was also our Sports Day at school.] Just before school let out, we were visited by our Superintendent, Dr. George Cushing! The students asked him about his memories of the first Earth Day celebration in 1970. We even continued after school, on the day before our April vacation! Mr. Betournay and the 8th graders discussed their progress on creating solar cars, both small scale and the actual car out back!

I love the enthusiasm and the professionalism of the students! Never underestimate what they can do if given the opportunity!

Make your own slide show at Animoto.

Mr. Pete DeMeritt returned to our class to share his experiences about his trip to Belize, in Central America. He was a participant in the Belize-UNH Teacher Program and delivered some ABC books from our 7th grade class. (see previous post) Our books were enjoyed by students in the rural Toledo District. This is the 23rd year that we have exchanged projects.

Mr. DeMeritt was able to bring back a gift from one of the classes. It was their own ABC book about Belize! He read each page aloud to us and was able to share about each student who created the page. The pages had information about their food, animals or ways of life. Each page reminded him of an event or story on his trip. It was a unique way to share. Our imaginations could create our own 'picture' of each child and the country.

Thank you, Mr. DeMeritt!

For the 23rd year, our 7th graders created projects for students in the southern district of Belize, Central America. This year, Pete DeMeritt will be delivering ABC books to Belize. The 7th graders created ABC books about New Hampshire in English to share our culture. We also created some books in their native languages of Garifuna and Ketchi (Mayan). We discovered that the Ketchi language has no F or V sounds, therefore, we didn't create pages for these letters.

Make your own slide show at Animoto.

- Posted by Ms. Adams

Digital Learning Day was February 1, 2012. Ms. Adams' Flex class participated by skyping with a kindergarten class at Dondero School in Portsmouth, NH. They had created pages for a NH ABC book. We were about to create a similar project. Each student shared their image and read their letter and word that went with it. They gave us many ideas for our ABC book which we were going to send down to Belize, Central America.

Submitted by Ms. Adams

During the week before February vacation, we skyped with a Kindergarten classroom in Deerfield, NH. One of our students had done some research on the Northern Cardinal for science class and one of the Kindergarteners was working on the same bird for their Bird Wiki. They shared notes and their projects.

Webcasting in the classroom requires several skills. This was our first webcast for the year and I was so pleased with the way the students handled all the jobs. We first researched information about Dr. Roper then developed questions. The questions were prioritized and then arranged in a logical pattern that would keep the interview interesting.

For the webcast, each student had a role. Some of the roles included monitoring the chat room for questions, welcoming people into the chat room, question navigator (someone to queue the questions), photographer, and each had an opportunity to ask questions. The students learned that during the interview, they had to be able to multitask. They had to ask a question, listen to the answer, respond if necessary, read the questions in the chat room, and then determine the next question based on his response and the activity in the chatroom. It's a bit more difficult than it appears!

We connected with Dr. Roper using our science classroom's Skype account and I was able to webcast from my computer which showed the video of Dr. Roper. Each student received a 'webcasting badge' for their own blog.

A small group of 7th grade students had an opportunity to interview Dr. Clyde Roper. He is a Giant Squid expert among other things. He has studied cephalopods for many years in many parts of the world. He is internationally recognized as an expert in the field and has participated in several documentaries. He has worked at the Smithsonian Institute's Museum of Natural History since 1966.

We discovered that Dr. Roper grew up in our town of Rye, NH! He even went to our school. Dr. Roper shared how he got interested in marine studies. He even had an opportunity to discover a new species!


The whole conversation was webcasted live on the internet which allowed others to listen in real time. We webcast (or stream) on the Earthbridges Channel which supplies a chat room. Other classes and individuals used the chat room to ask questions and comment during the webcast. We had guests from NH, NY, AZ, Canada and others who didn't share where they were from.


This webcast is part of a series of Earthcast Echoes with Ms. Adams.[http://earthbridges.net]


Here is the webcast for you to enjoy.

Video streaming by Ustream

I had a great opportunity to talk with the Gems (Year 2 students) from Brisbane, Australia. I was introduced to the Gems earlier in the year (2011) through videos and reading their blogs. In June, their teacher, Mrs. Marrinan, was able to visit our school for a day.

Recently, another NH teacher, Mrs. Knee, and I were able to skype in the evening in order to talk with the students during their day. The students were winding down their school year as it was their last two days of school! We had conversations about their year and blogging in the classroom. They were well versed and articulated their thoughts very well. In fact, we recorded the skype call and used it in our workshop the following day!

The Gems will be moving on to the Year 3 classrooms and we wish them well!

The students started the year investigating the eye! We learned about the parts of the eye, how each functions and how it all works so that we can see.

The students used the netbooks cameras to capture an image of their eye. We used this image to create a study guide of the outside parts of the eye. The finished product looks easy but there were several steps involved that required the students to put their technology skills into practice. Some of the skills included taking the photo and saving the photo into their own server folder. They also needed to rename using a naming protol and changing the format of the image. The students used Gimp to edit the photo. As it's a free program, it's not as user-friendly as we would like, but it works well. Students edited out the rest of their face and added text to label the parts of the eye. The final product had to be uploaded to blog. This procedure sounds easy, but it needs to be uploaded in a certain way. Our final products are located in the assignment called "Eye" See You on the 7th grade blogs.

We are off for another school year. Our students get combined with the students from New Castle and anyone who moves into town of course. It's a nice time for the students to meet someone new and meet their new teachers!

In science, we started off the year investigating our eyes! We learned about the parts of the eye and their functions. The students created their own notes by taking a picture of their eye and labeling the parts using a free editing tool called GIMP. The students not only learned about their eye but they also tackled some of the technology standards for this grade level.

You can view the assignment on each individual student blog or they can be viewed together on this page.

Our blogs also register the end of one year into the next with our counter. On the side, the blogs contain a 'ClustrMap' which keeps track of the visitors to our blogs. We are always surprised how many people read the blogs!

My blog.                        7th grade blogs.

It was a busy day day with two guests today! First, Mrs. Amanda Marrinan visited our classes. She is a Year 2 teacher from Brisbane, Australia. She will be receiving an award at the end of the month as an educator using technology in K-2. We've been reading and learning from her classroom blog and videos and trying some of the tools her students use. Thank you 2M Gems and Mrs. M!

At lunch time Mr. Stewart came in uniform and provided lunch for the 7th grade. He is in the Air Force Reserves and is an air traffic controller. He frequently visits our classroom to share about his work and travels to Afghanistan and Haiti.

This time Mr. Stewart brought MREs for the students. MRE stands for Meals Ready to Eat. The military supplies these to the troops. There were several different meals to try, including lasagna, omelette, chili, veggie burger and more. We learned how to heat them up by adding water to the special packets. It boiled the water in less than 30 seconds! The packets contained iron, sodium and magnesium. The packages contained everything you would want for one meal including a spoon, drink, dessert, candy and gum!

Thank you to both Mrs. Marrinan and Mr. Stewart for making it a special day!

The Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space (EOS) hosted an event at the University of NH on June 2, 2011. Students who were interested attended the event knowing they were responsible for reporting back in some format for the rest of the school and UNH. They came prepared with note paper, pencils and cameras. Many brought their own devices to document and record information.

The event was celebrating the 20 years of space grants. We received a tour of the facility stopping at the machine shop (for metals), freezer room, classrooms, and research labs. We went outside to view the Sun safely using two telescopes with filters. One telescope had a special film covering the reflector telescope and the other had an Hydrogen-Alpha filter that looked red. The students learned about the ice core samples collected from all over the world and then we donned coats to see them in the freezer. We also went into an inflatable dome to view a planetarium show. Our guides then took us to the researchers who are shooting rockets into the aurorae near the North Pole. They are examining how our magnetic field changes and the particles that come through the magnetosphere. Lastly, we visited various displays of research projects and spoke with their project leaders.

Many of the day's photos are located on our Flickr account. http://www.flickr.com/photos/31386636@N06/sets/72157626875791664/

The seventh graders have completed projects sharing what they have learned. Some students chose to type up their notes in an outline, while others created poster displays, powerpoints, movies, and Animoto presentations. [An Animoto presentation allows for the student to choose their photos, music and format of the presentation.] All will be embedded shortly to their blogs to share with others. Please feel free to view and comment at http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=266813&assignmentid=12585

This year Earth Day fell on Good Friday and vacation for most schools in the US. We were not able to connect with schools on that day, but we were able to connect before Earth Day. Students from 3 different schools in Argentina skyped with our science classes to share their work (using Glogster) about Earth Day. We asked each other basic cultural questions then moved to questions about our endangered species, our areas of pollution and what we are doing to celebrate Earth Day and protect the environment. They asked thoughtful questions that really made us think. Later, our students commented on their posters.

On Earth Day, the 7^th grade students presented information about fair trade, energy conservation, Rachel Carson, the future of nuclear energy, water, where our food comes from and more for our live webcast. We webcasted the whole school day (and after school). This year, we did something new, a live remote. Two students used a cell phone (still live on the webcast) and interviewed students and staff in the hallways. Perhaps, next year, we can expand our interviews to local areas in town, including the recycling station and the public library!

We received feedback from parents and listeners from Mexico, Canada, Argentina, California, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Maine that we could determine. Bill Nye, the Science Guy, gave us a personal, video message for the students, which were able to webcast! Each student earned a badge for webcasting that they posted to their personal blog. During vacation, I was surprised to receive an email from a student appreciative to have the webcasting experience!

By the way, all 6.5 hours are archived and available for your listening/viewing pleasure! The student work will be posted to their blogs.

Ms. Cronin and I have spoken with our classes about our experiences in Belize, Central America. Here are some photos about our trip. This was part of a graduate course at the University of NH. [http://belize-unh.wikispaces.com

I had applied for the Teacher in Space program too, so I was thrilled, and admittedly disappointed, someone from NH had advanced in the selection process. Until the announcement of Christa McAuliffe joining the space program, I felt there was very little press about the space program and an overall lack of interest. Remember this was before the internet, so it was difficult to get information and you were at the mercy of the news channels to show any video. I remember videotaping anything I could to show in my classes. The Teacher in Space program was going to change all that and indeed it did.

Christa McAuliffe and back-up, Barbara Morgan, were on tv, radio, magazine covers and more. As a teacher, I received posters and information from NASA. Christa was an icon for education and the space program. Interest was renewed and some of the mysteries in the life of an astronaut were revealed. Through all of this, she still had time for NH. I was able to meet her at a reception for NH educators. She seemed down to earth and didn’t rush off. The conversation was relaxed and surreal. Every now and again, I realized I was talking with a teacher, an astronaut-in-training and a celebrity.

On the day of the launch, of course, I had the tv on in my classroom. [I can’t remember but it could have been the only tv in the building.] The office staff came in to watch with us. I knew something had happened before they had mentioned anything on air. I had to make a quick decision; do I turn the tv off and tell the students or stay tuned in? What would you do? I still ask my students today, what I should have done. Interestingly, I get a mixture of answers. I ended up leaving the tv on and explaining the situation as best I could. It was a tough day for everyone!

Through all of the sadness and disbelief, a few days later, my students realized if I had been selected . . . We had an interesting and touching discussion, not part of the curriculum, but one that showed empathy, sympathy and maturity in the future generation.

I still have my certificate that shows I applied for the Teacher in Space program and every now and again I pull it out to show my students. About 15 years ago, we were discussing the space program in class and one student raised her hand to ask one question that threw me off. She asked, “How did your parents feel when the Challenger exploded?” Through all these years, my thoughts were always about the crew’s families and my students. I had never had the conversation with my parents. I felt terrible in neglecting to touch base with my parents and rectified that.

I also knew the aunt of Michael Smith, the pilot of the flight, STS 51L. She taught chemistry in Manchester, NH. The press often focused on Christa McAuliffe, and rarely mentioned the rest of the crew here in NH. I often wondered how she dealt with the loss of her nephew and the lack of recognition for him.

Recently, Christa was brought to mind again. I won a contest through NASA via Twitter and was selected as one of 150 (out of 2700) to attend the November launch of the next space shuttle, Discovery, at the press site. As I drove into the NASA complex, past the Vehicle Assembly Building and in view of the shuttle on the launch pad, I had to pause and take a breath. So many emotions and thoughts ran through my mind. I couldn’t believe I was actually there in person and then to think of all the others who had left the Earth from this point. I documented the moment with a photo 600 yards from the launch pad, with Discovery in the background, while holding a copy of my certificate. The shuttle never did launch in November but I was able to skype and webcast with students in the US and Argentina about the space program.

Christa helped me to take risks, make the most of teachable moments and to keep my and ‘the’ dream alive!

Discovery shuttle in the background. STS-133 waiting for lift-off.

Crew of the Challenger Shuttle Mission in 1986

Recently, we learned about light and how our eyes function. We had lab stations set up to learn the importance of two eyes, review the parts of the eye, examine optical illusions, discover our blind spot, how our eyes focus and to better understand parallax. We incorporated the technology to take a picture of our eye, label the parts and post the results on our blogs. Go to http://tinyurl.com/7thblog and then go to the assignment for “The EYES Have It.”

In art class, the students created an illusion with their photos and these are posted on their blogs under the “Hiding in the Art Room” assignment.

I can tell when a new school year has started as my ClustrMap on this blog will be archived shortly with the year's worth of visitor locations. I'm always curious who visits this blog so I added a ClustrMap. It shows where the visitors live on the map. There's also a list of the countries involved. It always amazes me how connected we can be around the world. See who visited this past year.

      See the country lists below.

Term 3 is about to start here at RJH. The students have revisited their goals in science class for term 2 and revised them for the end of the year. As a visual reminder, they created spring flowers for each classroom. Parents, if you would like to discuss your child's goal(s), they are written in the March calendar section of the agenda.

Our afterschool technology club created another Earthcast Echo Webcast. We spoke with Florence Reed of Sustainable Harvest International. This organization's mission is "to provide farming families in Central America with the training and tools to overcome poverty while restoring our planet's tropical forests." Flo shared her experiences of traveling to different countries, meeting the people who live there and learning about the different cultures. She also shared pictures from the various areas.

This year, 2009-2010, all of the students' work is located in one combined location, RYE 7th TEAM. This allows for the students' work to be contained in one place and the teachers share the account.

To reach the RYE 7th TEAM blog go to http://tinyurl.com/7thblog

If you are looking for last year's work, the assignments are still posted on the side of my blog.

Earthcast Echo (environmental webcast) December 15, 2009

Today we spoke with Michael Harrison while he was attending the UN Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen, Denmark. Thank you, Mr. Harrison for giving us a first hand account of your visit to the conference. Learn why he was there and the purpose of the conference.

Earthcast Echoes are extensions to the 24-hour webcast (Earthcast) on Earth Day, April 22. You can learn more about the Echoes or Earthcast or our school's involvement at our school's webpage or http://Earthbridges.net. Schools are encouraged to produce content for an Earthcast Echo and have them webcast by a member of Earthbridges. Contact me for more information or leave a comment here.

A Chat With Ms. Adams' Class from Kathy Cassidy on Vimeo.

Anorthosite

Although the Harvest Fest did not coincide with the Harvest Moon, we decided to celebrate the event with the Moon and more. We started learning about astronomy in class. We welcomed a visit by Mr. John Gianforte, the Sky Guy (http://www.theskyguy.org/). He spoke with the 7th graders about the Phoenix Program on Mars, other space explorations and the solar system. The photos he shared were amazing! He also answered a lot of questions for the students. The time flew by and the discussion continued later in class. Mr. Gianforte also came back to the school the evening of the Harvest Fest with his telescopes. He was able to connect one of them with a tv enabling more viewers at one time. Mr. Ted Blank also volunteered his telescopes and expertise for the evening. One of the telescopes was a replica of a telescope Galileo used 400 years ago. With that telescope we could view Jupiter and two of its moons. When switching to the modern day telescope, we could view 4 of the moons. The highlights from most of the viewers were the Moon and Jupiter.

Thank you to Mr. Gianforte and Mr. Blank for their expertise and time. Also, we would like to thank Mr. Gardner, Ms. Ridolfi and others who made sure the children and equipment were intact that evening.

UNH’s telescope is available for public viewing - http://www.physics.unh.edu/observatory/

Some of the 7th grade team attended a workshop about 1:1 computing. 1:1 is the term used when each student has access to a computer. In our school, the 7th graders have access to netbooks in their classes. A netbook is a small laptop that has just the basic applications on it. It got its name as a netbook because it reaches its full potential by using tools on internet and a notebook computer.

The workshop allowed us to learn about new tools and network with other schools implementing a 1:1 program. I was able to present a session about blogging with students. I created a slideshare page with the information for others to reference later. It is located at: http://www.slideshare.net/sadamsrjh/reasons-for-blogging If you do use the slideshare, please leave a comment.

The 7th graders are fortunate this year to have a netbook available to them for all of their classes. There were several factors that enabled this program to take place. First and foremost was the support of the Rye Education Foundation for the funding. Also, this particular grade has an usual low number of students and the price of netbooks have become very reasonable.

Unlimited access to the technology has impacted the classroom. Students are able to access information in real-time, create work in a variety of new ways, share their work with a world-wide audience, think critically, communicate ideas, collaborate with others (not necessarily within our school) and observe and analyze more of the world. We are learning to do old things in new ways, and new things in new ways.

Here is a list standards for the Language Arts curriculum. Imagine how technology can support and enhance this curriculum area alone!

K-12 Broad Goals for English-Language Arts

• Students will read fluently with understanding and appreciation.

• Students will write effectively for a variety of purposes and audiences.

• Students will speak purposefully and articulately.

• Students will listen and view attentively and critically.

• Students will understand, appreciate, interpret, and critically analyze classical and contemporary literature as well as works of nonfiction and informational texts.

• Students will use reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing to:

     - gather and organize information;

     - communicate effectively; and

    - succeed in educational, occupational, civic, and social settings.

Please check back to this blog and the students' blogs to find more examples how technology is used in class.

We are studying the solar system now in class. Often students (and adults) do not have the understanding of the scales of size and distance. You can study one scale but it's difficult to study both at the same time. You can find out why by doing our planet walk.

The students started their walk at the RJH sign. If the Sun was the size of a beach ball, how big are the planets and where would they be? We needed to walk down the street to view some of the planets. How far did we go?

The names of the planets are spray painted on the road. (Yes, I do have permission to do this!) Feel free to walk the solar system anytime!

Although Pluto is not considered a planet, we did include it on the road! Keep an eye out for it!

We started out the school year with a quick investigation with Fortune Telling Fish. I remember getting these things as a child and wondering how it work. Well, that's what we did as a class! We came up with several ideas and then designed a way to determine if ideas were true. We won't tell you why it works, because exploring is fun!

What is your guess? Or your experimental design? (Leave a comment!)

Here is my blog in a wordle. I copied all of the text from this blog and dropped it in wordle.net. The more frequently used words will appear larger than the others.

One 7th grade class was able to participate in the first Earthcast Echo. This online event was a follow-up to the 24 hour, Earth Day webcast called Earthcast. Here is our contribution to the "echo."

For more information, archives and how your school can participate, go to http://earthbridges.net.

Congratulations Earthcast09 participants! Here is your badge of participation. Use the URL below to include your own blog.

Please make the width 200 for this size.

URL is http://www.picvault.info/images/537088963_badge388504.jpg

Earth Day Webcast = Earthcast !

Our school will be participating in an Earth Day webcast-a-thon for 24 hours on April 22nd. Our school is responsible for the hour of noon to 1 pm EDT. For more information, go to http://tinyurl.com/earthdayNH.

Join us! Listen live and join the chat at http://earthbridges.net/studio.

During February vacation, I was able to travel to Belize, Central America. In preparation for the trip, I had the 7th graders create some projects to share. Many 7th graders chose to share their favorite things with some students in Punta Gorda, in the Toledo District. Our students created alphabet books about NH, the seasons, food, sports, winter and more. One group created a book about a day in their life.

In Belize, I was able to visit several classrooms. I returned to one particular classroom at the PG Methodist School. The students were in Standard VI (8th grade) with Teacher Vincent. I had visited this group of students last year! Lots of familiar faces! We talked about how different our weather is. I shared our weather charts and one student-created booklet about a snow day. Then I pulled out our "favorite" cards. The students read them enthusiastically! In return, they created some for my classes. - Sheila Adams

Here are some photos. 

7th Graders, you have a new Art homework assignment. Click on the Ms. Bond's blog link and then on the left hand side you will find Sketchbook 10 assignment and when it is due. Thanks! Ms. Bond

Looking for the perfect Valentine? Check out our science Valentines!  Students had to use a minimum of 3 things they have learned in science class this year. The available colors were limited to red, white and black to increase their creativity. To view the sayings they used for their Valentines, click on the Science Valentines assignment on the left.

Sights in Rye, NH, one wintery day. The calm before the storm, January 27, 2009.

Our area has been experiencing very cold temperatures recently. The low temperature last night was -13ºF. Rarely, have we had night temperatures go below zero. Our school's weather station has been recording our data and can be found at http://weather.weatherbug.com/NH/Rye-weather.html?zcode=z6286">http://weather.weatherbug.com/NH/Rye-weather.html?zcode=z6286.

One student took the opportunity to experiment in the cold temperatures. He was able to capture the results on video. Please go to his blog and see the results of boiling water and very cold temperatures. Click here for his blog entry. (KRLU)

Jeff Peneston is a PolarTREC teacher heading to Antaractica on an ice breaker, the ODEN. He will spend about 2 months on the ship traveling from South America to McMurdo Station. He will help with research projects along the way. Listen in as he describes his adventure to come. (check out the hat choices, too.)

Online video chat by Ustream We liked the Penguin hat!

On Oct. 27, 2008, we talked with Dr. Robin Bell, a scientist heading to the Gamburtsev Mountains in Antarctica.



Video chat rooms at Ustream

Learn more about Dr. Bell at http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~robinb/

Thank you, Dr. Bell for your time and expertise!

We have been experimenting with myoats.com. The designs will be used as desktop backgrounds for their assigned computers. It reminds me of 'Spirograph.' It's useful for teaching symmetry too!

Hi all! This is the first blog on this website at Class Blogmeister. I'll be experimenting with some of the code to see if we can embed objects, graphics and video/audio. Let's try a 7th grade Wordle here! More to come!